Right now I'm doing Nano - not exactly power boating along, but I think I'll catch up. Not too concerned. But I'm having issues with nailing down an age for my mc for my fantasy/sci-fi short. I've had no problem before picking ages but most of my characters have been 20-40 which I'm now thinking has more flexibility than children. The story is not ya but it's one of those awkward anyone-can-read-them stories that feature a child mc. When I first jotted the blurb out a while back the character of Oliver was 13-14 but I'm concerned that this age automatically assumes a need to reference a girl or love interest. Which I'm not interested in portraying. I have bigger fish to fry ( 'scuse the dumb-ass cliche ) in my story, so I don't have time for a romance. However making him too young he practically needs a guardian for his adventures. Or he'll look over cute or over-smart. Does anyone ever go through this agony of trying to decide on an age?
Oh, I dunno. He could be a late bloomer. And/or he's so into whatever it is that he doesn't have time for girls. He might have a girl as a friend, but not be interested in her romantically. Or leave that out altogether. Observing junior high kids as a sub teacher, I've noticed there's still a lot of natural gender separation at that age. Not that boys and girls aren't interested in each other, but there's still a lot of awkwardness. If your MC wants to avoid that for now, let him.
Good to know! It's just seeing a lot of fiction on the sites, the romance angle seems to be seeping in younger age groups. Though a few I read did avoid romance. I just don't want readers unnecessarily disappointed.
I always thought writing a child (/under 15) was difficult. In the books I read, 8-10 year olds seem soooo smart and wordly and go on epic adventures. Then I look at the teens around me and I wouldn't bet they could do half what the kids in book do... I don't believe there is any inherent need for romance. No matter what Hollywood thinks, romance does not make a movie better and same goes for books. If there is no need for romance, then don't write it. I personally know a lot of people who say they grew up late when it came to sex and romance so for me, having a young teenager not overly interested in girls is normal. Also, depending on the situation the MC is in, maybe a love interest would be the last thing on his mind (ie; busy climbing the side of a volcano to throw a mythical ring into it.. yeah, Suzy's gonna have to wait)
At that age, it's little more than infatuation and unless it's absolutely critical to the character or to the plot I'd leave it. I recently watched a film which involved the old vampire/human interaction and I was just waiting, and waiting for a romance blossom. It never happened, and I was really pleasantly surprised!
Not usually. My characters tend to float around my own age, not unlike what you mention in your OP. 30-ish to 40-ish years of age. I have a feeling that were I to try to write much younger people, they would end up with Wesley Crusher syndrome.
I'd say when you want to write a character under 20, age specificity becomes a big deal, as every year makes a dramatic difference on his intelligence, maturity, sexuality, etc, and in many cases I think it winds up being a give and take situation. Say I want to make to make a wild ten year old boy. He's crass, stupid, impulsive, in other words an awesome character. Say, now, I want to put him into a sci fi adventure. How do I make a boy like that have any success in the world without being completely dependent on adults? I could raise his age, make him less dependent, but then his maturity rises and it sort of defeats the purpose of writing a kid in the first place.
