So there's quite a bit of backstory here, so sit down and grab a snack. I recently visited my mother who lives in Chesapeake Bay, and my sister, who lives with her, told me about a stray cat she encountered on a daily basis at her bus stop each morning. Of course I was intrigued because I'm quite the cat lover, and I haven't had a cat companion in quite awhile. So I visited the cat and quickly fell in love with the little guy. Then one night I visited him, and found a lady trying to kick him, cursing at him, and otherwise just being really mean to the very friendly cat. So I decided to adopt him, and I've named him Stanley. Here's a picture, if you're curious: So you're probably wondering how all of that is relevant to the question. Well, I've decided to write a story loosely based on Stanley. I've plotted the major events of the story out, but the next task is figuring out who the best audience will be. Will I get published? Probably not. But obviously knowing the target audience will allow me to structure the sentences better, and allow me to decide on word choice better. The two major themes of the story are going to be finding out where home is, and figuring out those who truly matter. So, who do y'all believe the best audience to target would be?
Beautiful cat. You know I don't think it matters. Andrew Lloyd Webber, Disney with That Darn Cat (?I think that is the title) and TS Eliot proved there was an adult audience for cats. However, I've been reading Spy Dog by Andrew Cope to my children and it is amazing. Something similar with a cat could be fun. Cats have lovers of all ages and that in itself will give your book an edge if it has a fun story with it.
I agree with Elgaisma. Cat & dog stories are practically their own genre ... Dewey: the Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the World was a charming story with a wide appeal. Around the same time it came out, I also found the story of a family who lost a son in a tragedy and the cat who brought them together again (didn't finish it - just skimmed) and ran across an older story written by a former homeless man who found a sense of purpose in organizing and caring for homeless cats. Each of these stories had it's own take on adopting cats and appealed to different audiences. I'd say try developing it in the voice that comes to you naturally, and then see if in writing it a clearer picture of your intended audience also develops. You can always rewrite it if you find you would like to focus it on a different angle or audience.
just write the story YOU want to tell and then see what market it fits into after it's done... trying to tailor it to a particular readership will only restrict your creative juices from flowing freely...
