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Broadening an Audience
3 years ago
One of the features of the Terah novels is supposed to be that they can be enjoyed by all ages. Officially, they are considered young adult. That's because the reading level is about 10th grade and the plot structure is closest to that age category. But people of all ages should be able to enjoy it. I've heard of it being read to six year olds. The oldest readers who have enjoyed the stories, that I know of anyway, are in their 80s.
The tricky part is that different age groups tend to look for different things in a story and what one group might want is not something you can even consider giving to a younger audience. By the same token, older readers won't enjoy a story that's written exclusively for a younger audience.
What you end up doing is something I like to think of as multi-layer story telling.
Here are a few concepts that help:
Sexual tension - this is actually the most common one out there and while just about everyone seems to know it exists, they often miss WHY it exists. Sexual tension means that there are two characters in the story who are appropriately matched to be sexually attracted to each other, but for one reason or another, mostly avoid a relationship. If you're familiar with Disney's TaleSpin, then you've watched Baloo's interactions with Rebecca. They even go on dates, always business related, but the relationship stays employee/boss. To a younger audience, it looks like two adults whose interaction is closest to child/parent in their understanding. An older audience will see that they might be interested in a relationship. Adults will sit there wondering when they're finally going to get together. Since relationships are a constant in all stories, this has a very universal appeal. By specifically NOT defining the relationship, you automagically scale it to the age of the reader. A Ship Called Hope uses this technique extensively, almost constantly.
Innuendo - You've seen this tool many times. You're watching a cartoon because either you're confident enough in your own adulthood to do so, or you're watching with children because it gives you an excuse. Out of the blue comes an inuendo. It's probably not even that subtle if you're an adult. But it's nearly impossible that someone under the age of 10 is going to have any sort of clue about it. I'm actually not supposed to use this one in my stories. I've never needed it to be honest. But by putting that vague reference in, you've increased your audience.
Unqualified actions - There's a rape scene in Faux Scent. Just about any adult who reads it will recognize it for what it is, but you can safely read it to a six year old because at that age, all that will be seen is that someone is about to get hurt. I did this by never defining the specific actions of the villain. He's moving her to another location and uses a knife. His dialogue hints at his intentions without directly saying them. He only takes actions that are open to interpretation. It also makes use of my next point.
Fade Out - In the scene above, the rape is stopped before I get to the point where I'd have to describe more. By bringing the scene to the point where the reader is sure what is happening, if I leave off or end the scene before it's defined, I don't need to be specific. If the scene ends definitively, the reader imagines the scene to have come as close to the horrible event (an event that is totally defined by the reader) as desired. If the scene is dropped completely, the reader will, just by nature of being human, fill in the blanks and those blanks are drawn 100% from the reader's previous experience and knowledge. Another example is in the first chapter of Wolf's Pawn. Sestus draws a pistol and fires it. The scene ends. You know he just mercilessly killed an unarmed person, but you don't need to see it happen to know that. This scene also makes use of the final concept I'll cover today.
Unwritten descriptions - There are some rather violent scenes in my books. At one point in What Once Was Eden, someone gets her throat ripped out. I don't even tell the reader that's what happened. The lady is pinned when the vykati over her bites down on her throat. A little later the vykati spits something out. Just about all ages are going to know what happened, but the level of detail is entirely determined by the reader, not by me. How much blood is there? Is the heart still beating and causing blood to surge out? Is there some other gross thing I can say here? Probably, but I don't want to. I'm done. Another reader might have filled in more blanks and some might have filled in less. It's determined by two factors: what the reader wants to see and what the reader's experience allows to be seen. This is often under-used in writing. Author's often feel every detail must be describe, but like the drawing of a sheep in a box in The Little Prince, by leaving out the specifics you're allowing your readers to envision that scene perfectly, at least in their own minds.
There are many other techniques, but these are the ones I've used the most often in my writing. Feel free to leave a response or send a note if you'd like suggestions on a scene you're working on. (keep it as PG as possible please. I'm old enough to be your mom, if not your grandma.) May you keep running forward and never look back.
The tricky part is that different age groups tend to look for different things in a story and what one group might want is not something you can even consider giving to a younger audience. By the same token, older readers won't enjoy a story that's written exclusively for a younger audience.
What you end up doing is something I like to think of as multi-layer story telling.
Here are a few concepts that help:
Sexual tension - this is actually the most common one out there and while just about everyone seems to know it exists, they often miss WHY it exists. Sexual tension means that there are two characters in the story who are appropriately matched to be sexually attracted to each other, but for one reason or another, mostly avoid a relationship. If you're familiar with Disney's TaleSpin, then you've watched Baloo's interactions with Rebecca. They even go on dates, always business related, but the relationship stays employee/boss. To a younger audience, it looks like two adults whose interaction is closest to child/parent in their understanding. An older audience will see that they might be interested in a relationship. Adults will sit there wondering when they're finally going to get together. Since relationships are a constant in all stories, this has a very universal appeal. By specifically NOT defining the relationship, you automagically scale it to the age of the reader. A Ship Called Hope uses this technique extensively, almost constantly.
Innuendo - You've seen this tool many times. You're watching a cartoon because either you're confident enough in your own adulthood to do so, or you're watching with children because it gives you an excuse. Out of the blue comes an inuendo. It's probably not even that subtle if you're an adult. But it's nearly impossible that someone under the age of 10 is going to have any sort of clue about it. I'm actually not supposed to use this one in my stories. I've never needed it to be honest. But by putting that vague reference in, you've increased your audience.
Unqualified actions - There's a rape scene in Faux Scent. Just about any adult who reads it will recognize it for what it is, but you can safely read it to a six year old because at that age, all that will be seen is that someone is about to get hurt. I did this by never defining the specific actions of the villain. He's moving her to another location and uses a knife. His dialogue hints at his intentions without directly saying them. He only takes actions that are open to interpretation. It also makes use of my next point.
Fade Out - In the scene above, the rape is stopped before I get to the point where I'd have to describe more. By bringing the scene to the point where the reader is sure what is happening, if I leave off or end the scene before it's defined, I don't need to be specific. If the scene ends definitively, the reader imagines the scene to have come as close to the horrible event (an event that is totally defined by the reader) as desired. If the scene is dropped completely, the reader will, just by nature of being human, fill in the blanks and those blanks are drawn 100% from the reader's previous experience and knowledge. Another example is in the first chapter of Wolf's Pawn. Sestus draws a pistol and fires it. The scene ends. You know he just mercilessly killed an unarmed person, but you don't need to see it happen to know that. This scene also makes use of the final concept I'll cover today.
Unwritten descriptions - There are some rather violent scenes in my books. At one point in What Once Was Eden, someone gets her throat ripped out. I don't even tell the reader that's what happened. The lady is pinned when the vykati over her bites down on her throat. A little later the vykati spits something out. Just about all ages are going to know what happened, but the level of detail is entirely determined by the reader, not by me. How much blood is there? Is the heart still beating and causing blood to surge out? Is there some other gross thing I can say here? Probably, but I don't want to. I'm done. Another reader might have filled in more blanks and some might have filled in less. It's determined by two factors: what the reader wants to see and what the reader's experience allows to be seen. This is often under-used in writing. Author's often feel every detail must be describe, but like the drawing of a sheep in a box in The Little Prince, by leaving out the specifics you're allowing your readers to envision that scene perfectly, at least in their own minds.
There are many other techniques, but these are the ones I've used the most often in my writing. Feel free to leave a response or send a note if you'd like suggestions on a scene you're working on. (keep it as PG as possible please. I'm old enough to be your mom, if not your grandma.) May you keep running forward and never look back.
