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The Princess and the Dragon
Nov. 29th, 2014 12:39 pmThere is a tradition amongst the ideas in my head that every November, as the current story winds down, they will pick one of their number to walk into my head and say "Hello. You're writing me next year. Don't argue." This time around, it's that weird half autobiographical, half inspired by a random Tumblr thingy, idea about the princess who runs away with a dragon because her family are all poopyheads.
I can't write this, I protested. This is a children's story. I don't do children's stories. Once upon a time I wanted to be a children's author, but I was about twelve at the time and didn't have much experience outside of children's fantasy novels anyway. Then I just wanted to be an author. Then I realised that no way was I going near the publishing industry and that I was happy to have a day job, sew things, and throw words at the internet. The concept of those words being for kids didn't cross my mind.
Because well, kid's writing is a totally different creature. You're writing it for people with a mindset you haven't had for half a lifetime and you're struggling through all these advice books on what children want and what concepts different ages are able to grasp. Okay, princesses are definitely in, if movies are anything to go by, that's not a problem. Dragons too, for the same reason. But what age group are we talking about? If this is going to be for NaNo, it's going to be 50,000 words. At what age can kids handle a 50K novel? Once they've hit that age, do they still like dragons and princesses, or would they rather read about preteens having crushes in school?
I don't know. But what the hell, it's NaNo. I don't know what sort of kids I'm writing this for, but I can always say I'm writing this for my own preteen self, who lived in a world insisting she read about crushes and school, but would have been all over a 50,000 word novel about princesses and dragons. Or a longer one. I can't say I was exactly average, but kids who aren't average need stories too, even if those stories aren't what the critics say they want. Possibly even more. Who knows more about what children want to read than your own child self?
Besides, kids are smarter than people give them credit for. And kids can understand concepts such as abusive families, even the subtle, emotional side of things. Look at Tangled, which might well be a cute fairytale adaptation but is also the most painfully accurate depiction of emotional abuse I have ever seen. Kids might never run into evil witches or wizards, but there must be plenty of them out there who have a Mother Gothel in their family.
I don't know what I'd do with the idea if I wrote this. It did occur to me that it would be the first thing I'd write that I could potentially sell. Anything Sena related (MFS and its attached stuff) is out for personal reasons, that's my baby-verse and it's not for sale ever. And I can't sell Random for legal reasons, because it's essentially NaNoWriMo fanfic and really wants to be on the internet alongside its progenitor, not in a bookshop, even if I could sell it. I'm not sure if it would be marketable, because the whole what kids want nonsense aside, basically the whole concept is "Hey kids, it's totally okay to run off with strangers who are better than your family!" and people might get a little upset at that. Maybe I'd do a POD run. I know, I know. But that's a long way off. This thing is just an idea. I'll work out what to do with it later.
But the shy, frightened princess who runs off with a dragon, finds her confidence, and stands up to her father, the evil king? Come on. It's got to happen somehow.
(And if it doesn't hit 50K, well, I can always double up. I've been thinking for a while that there also needs to be a kid's book out there called Spy Granny...)
I can't write this, I protested. This is a children's story. I don't do children's stories. Once upon a time I wanted to be a children's author, but I was about twelve at the time and didn't have much experience outside of children's fantasy novels anyway. Then I just wanted to be an author. Then I realised that no way was I going near the publishing industry and that I was happy to have a day job, sew things, and throw words at the internet. The concept of those words being for kids didn't cross my mind.
Because well, kid's writing is a totally different creature. You're writing it for people with a mindset you haven't had for half a lifetime and you're struggling through all these advice books on what children want and what concepts different ages are able to grasp. Okay, princesses are definitely in, if movies are anything to go by, that's not a problem. Dragons too, for the same reason. But what age group are we talking about? If this is going to be for NaNo, it's going to be 50,000 words. At what age can kids handle a 50K novel? Once they've hit that age, do they still like dragons and princesses, or would they rather read about preteens having crushes in school?
I don't know. But what the hell, it's NaNo. I don't know what sort of kids I'm writing this for, but I can always say I'm writing this for my own preteen self, who lived in a world insisting she read about crushes and school, but would have been all over a 50,000 word novel about princesses and dragons. Or a longer one. I can't say I was exactly average, but kids who aren't average need stories too, even if those stories aren't what the critics say they want. Possibly even more. Who knows more about what children want to read than your own child self?
Besides, kids are smarter than people give them credit for. And kids can understand concepts such as abusive families, even the subtle, emotional side of things. Look at Tangled, which might well be a cute fairytale adaptation but is also the most painfully accurate depiction of emotional abuse I have ever seen. Kids might never run into evil witches or wizards, but there must be plenty of them out there who have a Mother Gothel in their family.
I don't know what I'd do with the idea if I wrote this. It did occur to me that it would be the first thing I'd write that I could potentially sell. Anything Sena related (MFS and its attached stuff) is out for personal reasons, that's my baby-verse and it's not for sale ever. And I can't sell Random for legal reasons, because it's essentially NaNoWriMo fanfic and really wants to be on the internet alongside its progenitor, not in a bookshop, even if I could sell it. I'm not sure if it would be marketable, because the whole what kids want nonsense aside, basically the whole concept is "Hey kids, it's totally okay to run off with strangers who are better than your family!" and people might get a little upset at that. Maybe I'd do a POD run. I know, I know. But that's a long way off. This thing is just an idea. I'll work out what to do with it later.
But the shy, frightened princess who runs off with a dragon, finds her confidence, and stands up to her father, the evil king? Come on. It's got to happen somehow.
(And if it doesn't hit 50K, well, I can always double up. I've been thinking for a while that there also needs to be a kid's book out there called Spy Granny...)