{chuckles} My daily update will be late. There is a reason for this...
I've been watching a lot of writing advice videos recently, and I just realized a problem with the story I've been working on, "Snow in Hawai'i." Whether I read parts of it to folks, or just talk about the story, folks get excited. They talk about loving the relationships in the story and want to see it turned into a picture book for children...
...and that's where I hit a problem. It's not kids who get excited about the story. Kids aren't getting invested in the story. It's grandparents, great-grandparents, and grand- and great-grand- aunts and uncles. That partly shows who I'm around. My creative writing class is strictly for older people. When I enquired before my 55th birthday, they said I had to wait until I was 55 when I registered. The session where I turned 55 a week or two after registration closed, I was too young. I also talk about it at church, where our congregation is largely older. Even there, it's not our "young people under 50" who are getting excited and joining the conversations, let alone our few actual kids. Most of the folks who are getting interested in and even excited about my story are older than me, and I'm 57.
And... I'm concerned. If I really want to make this story appeal to children - and cut it down to a good length for a picture book - I'll have to tighten the focus on the kids, cutting out at least one conversation pretty much entirely, and cutting others drastically back. Which... I'm afraid will lessen the excitement and the investment I see in the folks who currently love the story.
That can't be right, can it? When you find an honest and strong interest in a story, you don't cut that audience off and go court an audience which can't be bothered with it. That... that doesn't scan. It doesn't make sense at all.
Help?
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