Sex scenes could be a great addition. I personally adore reading novels that have the romantic evenings that make me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Well, not to beat a dead horse, but Harry Potter has themes of death of parents and friends, betrayal, evil people/beings, murder, serious bullying, etc.. It all depends on how it's written.
Yeah, and the fact that a major plot point in the original story was a romance between two characters on different sides of the conflict may demand that such a thing happen, though it would most likely be a "fade to black" affair depending on the age group I go for. I still worry that the "anthro animals" thing may scare off a lot of readers, thinking it to be too childish, but I just can't see humans working in this setting without eliminating one of the most potent parts of the narrative. You see, the two "sides" in the conflict are a colonizing force and the "natives" of the world to be colonized. The catch is that both the capitalist-imperialist colonizing faction and the natives are made of members of the exact same species(anthro animals) yet they each treat the members of the other side as some kind of foreign "other." In fact, they even come from the same world. The capitalist-imperialist faction had been the "original" civilization of the world but had polluted the planet so much that those who could fled, fearing that their planet was unable to sustain their civilization any longer. Most of those left after the mass exodus died off, but a few survived and eventually came to form the "native" civilization which was more egalitarian and eco-frendly then the previous. Eventually, the capitalist-imperialist faction had gotten the notion that they should re-claim their home, but when they returned they where surprised to find a civilization very different from their own but made up of those just like them. The irony is both factions are the same exact species, yet act as if the other side is a different race entirely. It is meant to comment on the absurdity of racism, and if I make one side human the story just becomes a typical alien invasion plot rather then commentary about racism. EDIT: Hippocampus ninja'ed me. Sorry about that.
I, personally, am not a furry/anthro fan but that sounds like a very interesting plot. Depending on how long the capitalist-imperialists were gone, though, there might have been enough genetic drift to make them different species (we humans are 96% genetically the same as chimps and 98.7% the same as bonobos but of course that speciation took millions of years). The culture clash here sounds like it'll be fun to explore (among other things of course)!
Your idea sounds interesting but it doesn't seem like something you would want to pitch to an audience of the ages you talked about. Kids at age 10 don't know about genocides, don't want to know about genocides and don't need to know about genocides.
At what age do you think this is an appropriate subject? When should kids be allowed to learn about these darker aspects of the world they're a part of?
Lots of kids learn about the Holocaust at this age or even younger. There are even children's picture books set during the Holocaust. Especially if the story has these fantastical elements, it may very well be okay -- perhaps you should just write it the way you feel it should be written and see how it plays out. It may be that your story could appeal to younger readers, but many of the themes will be over their heads, but it would be best enjoyed by slightly older readers or even adults who do understand the underlying themes.
They learn about the Holocaust as a fairy tale, the way they learn about Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great. They don't actually learn specifics about what happened during the Holocaust or how it happened. A book exclusively dealing with that theme is a very different thing.
The average 13 year old can't understand the gravity of words like genocide or tyranny and probably won't understand them fully even if someone explains them. If you expose them to something that needs to be understood in depth but they can't understand it deeply enough it is likely that it will stick with them.
Ok, if I shouldn't soften the story to market to kids is there room for it as YA? I fear that the anthro characters may be just too much of a turn off for the YA audience, but, again, I can't envision this story without them. Do any of you think that there is a market in YA for a story with anthro characters or are they just "too childish" for the YA audience?
It think it's a very admirable and noble idea you have. Oscar Wilde once said that if an idea is not dangerous, it's not worthy of being called an idea at all. I say you write it exactly what is your heart, worts and all, and you might have a chance at creating literary history. Best of luck!
cd... get richard adams' 'watership down' and george orwell's 'animal farm' from the library and read them... then go ahead and write the story you envision! don't worry about a target market at this point... if it's well written, it will find its own... love and hugs, maia
I grew up reading a lot of YA stories with darker themes, though each of them tended to have only a handful. I think a big part of your balancing act will be clearly demonstrating all those themes in a book that's the right length and tone for your audience. As for anthros, I think there's a niche market. Give it an honest try and see, though.
I once overheard a woman saying something and I'd like to include her as a character in a story I want to write. Since I couldn't mention her name if I wanted to (I don't know who this woman was, only what she said more or less), would it be problematic to make a character based on her?
How else does one create ancillary characters? Of course you can. I take notes all the time when I'm out and about. I use Notebooks on my iPhone. I'm sure people think I'm texting. I'm actually writing them, the people around me, down for later use.
I've always thought the distinction between fanfic and original fiction is pretty clear-cut, but then I started writing a story that is a bit of a gray area for me. It's based on another person's general concept of a race of creatures. This person made up an entire species of intelligent creatures that live underground, complete with their culture and attitudes and government. They use the creatures to roleplay and write a forum adventure (which is kind of like a webcomic except for the fact that it incorporates readers' suggestions into the story). This person said that their idea for the creatures is a "free-to-use Intellectual Property in whatever format people might like" (direct quote from them) and they personally gave me permission to write fanfiction about it. The thing is, I use none of their specific characters in my story, and even the setting is totally different. The only thing in common are these creatures they made up... Just the idea itself. So I have two questions: 1. Is my story even a fanfiction at all, or original fiction that simply draws influence from that person? 2. I want to post this story on the internet to get reviews for it, and just generally get people to read it... because right now the only person who has read it is the guy who made up the creatures in the first place. Do you have any suggestions for where to put it? Is it more of fanfiction.net, or fictionpress.com? And any other sites you could suggest? Keep in mind that it's not complete yet, so it would have to be a place that lets you post it chapter by chapter. Thanks
So these other people invented a whole new world with new characters and creatures, one of these creatures we'll call a Wumpachumpa (for arguments sake). Now you've written something completely different, in a different setting with different characters but you've incorporated the Wumpachumpa? Is that correct? If so carry on. Somebody else invented vampires and shape shifters etc and squillions have written about them since.
Are you saying you saw a woman on a bus and she said something that resonated in you and you're wondering if you can base a character on her? There's probably not a written character in the whole literary world who isn't loosely based on someone.
Yep, that's correct. So what you're saying is that my story is more of original fiction than a fanfic?
Yeah, it's totally fine if she's some random person who said something once. I've based characters off people before... It's hard to make them up completely from scratch.
I would imagine so. I have a leprechaun in my book - does that mean it's a work of fan-fiction because I didn't invent the little fella?
