While writing the third book in my Star series I've struggled with a problem. How old should a hero be? The book starts with my characters, the twin heirs of Oasis, Zander and Elle, on the day before their eighteenth birthday. Boone, Ruben's adopted son is twenty.
Then they do lots of stupid things which are typical for people that age and time passes before they are all together again. But how much time? I don't want to give away too much of the plot but lets just say they all travel in different directions due to the evil Circe.
Boone is the hero of this book and hopefully Zander will get his own story. My idea is to have Boone return at the age of twenty six. So what do you think? Is twenty-six a good age for a futuristic hero?
Suggestions are most welcome.
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I think it really depends on the 'stupid things.' Were they 'Darwinism at Work' stupid things? That is, were they so stupid that they would eliminate idiots from the gene pool? (think riding a motorcyle without a helmut) Or, were they stupid things which young people do as a process of learning and growing? Whatever the case, how you portray those stupid things the young people do will determine whether young people will want to buy your books or not. If it's Darwinism-at-Work stupid things, your younger readers are going to be insulted. Personally, I'm quickly hooked on a story when the characters start out beautifully flawed (regardless of age) and grow through the course of the story. Most young people have grown-up by age 26, if they're going to grow up at all. Are you the mother of a young man? Have you asked your husband or male friends these questions? Can you re-live the thoughts and feelings of that stage of life? A huge turn-off to any reader are characters who do not feel real. So, I think the important issue here is can you write these characters in a way that feels real and drives the plot in an engaging way.
ReplyDeleteI have two sons, one twenty four and the other twenty one. Both could be heroes to love stories, that is as soon as they find the right women.
ReplyDeleteMy characters do stupid things because of the impetuouness of youth. And because their parents try to protect them to much. Consider it a rebellion. And I've seen this happen with parents who do try to shelter their children. Then these children don't have the live skills it takes to survive in the real world. Boone, Elle and Zander all have some hard lessons to learn.
This book has really been the hardest for me to write because of the mistakes my characters make in the beginning. Or it might just be I have too much plot and too much to resolve. I realized as I got overhalfway through that it was in reality two books.
I consider this a melding of two genre's because I also write YA under the name of Kassy Tayler. So the beginning is pretty much a Young Adult story and the ending a romance.
It works for me that are even alittle older
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