As I don't want this group to go stale, I'm going to start implementing discussions. Hazzah! I'll start off this one, and you add in your own thoughts. Hopefully we can get a good thing going here. Anywho, I'm going to start with a deceptively simple topic this week: what do children want in a story. Let's dive in shall we?

I feel that the answers to this question will vary with each person and with gender so I can only speak from my personal experience (go crazy sharing your own down below). As a young girl, there was nothing quite like the excitement building up to a new episode of one of my shows. Two of them I adored more than anything were Digimon and Oban Star Racers. So what drew me in about them?

An intriguing, overarching plot was what drew me into these shows into the first place. Take Digimon for instance. The fight scenes were epic, especially those with Garurumon (he was my favorite, probably because he was a wolf). Still, I don't believe I ever watched the show solely for those scenes, but for the story it was telling. The plots varied with the seasons and series. Still, no matter what season or version of Digimon I watched, I always wanted find out what happened next. I wanted to see the characters solve a long running mystery and grow. I didn't want the episode to end, only to watch them forget all the lessons/adventures the next episode.

Oban Star Racers. Could there be a more epic plot than this? If you haven't seen the show, I encourage you to check it out. Brought over from Japan and given an epic English dub, this show blasted any American series at the time out of the water for me. One of the reasons it was so epic was of this massive plot. The stakes were high (if Eva loses the race, her entire planet will be wiped out) and the little details scattered throughout make it more than just a race show. Every episode gives a logical progression of plot until the final race to decide the fate of the galaxy as a whole. Epic doesn't do this show justice. Just check out the intro song.

Getting back to what I wanted in a show, the most important to me was and still is characterization. I didn't understand why as a child, but to me the most interesting part of any of my favorite books/shows were the characters.

In Digimon the original series, all the main characters have interesting backstories and motivations. They had faults, interests, hopes, dreams, fears, and goals beyond just sticking to their assigned character type. Take Izzy for example. At first he seems like a stuck up computer geek who thinks himself better than every other character. The show gradually reveals his inner insecurities at being adopted and shy that cause him to act cold and unfeeling. Then there's Digimon Frontier. There is one episode in particular I was dying to see more than any other. After a season of epic build up, one of the main characters Koji finds out that the villain they've been facing all season is none other than his own brother. They build up the drama, the sad backstory, the motivations, and the stakes, all culminating in this epic episode.

Oban Star Racers however, takes a special place in my heart in terms of characterization. My favorite part of the show was not the epic plot, but the way the interaction between the main character Eva and her father Don Wey. After an accident takes the life of her mother, Don Wey sends Eva to boarding school for years. She is essentially abandoned by her father while he becomes the racing industry's greatest manager. When Eva goes to confront her father, he doesn't recognize her and she takes a false identity as Molly. Throughout the series, we see Eva struggle and grow in her relationship with her father, all while he has no idea who she is. The episode where Don Wey finally learns the truth was the most interesting, and heart wrenching scene in all the series.

So, now I go back to the question at the beginning of this rant. What do children want in a story? I feel the answer is simple: they want what we want. They want a compelling plot with well-developed characters. They don't want to be pandered to, having the subject matter "dumbed down." We as authors don't need to try and avoid asking the more difficult questions.

Take my love of Oban for instance. The main conflict with Eva and Don Wey was not a happy one. There was no clear cut this is wrong this is right solution to their issue. No, there was hurt, there was anger, and there was distrust. In essence, the writers decided not to cow tow to stereotypes, and flesh out three dimensional, interesting characters with complicated motivations. That friends, is how it's done, not these stupid one note characters plaguing children's stories these days.

So no, I don't feel children's stories should avoid asking difficult questions. Ask away, challenge the younger audience to think critically, because the real world is full of grey areas. As a child, it was always the deeper conflicts that drew me in, not the stupid fight scenes or comedic sequences.

That's my interpretation of the issue, I'd love to hear yours down below. Let the discussion flow.

3261899 I think it definitely makes a great story if children are encouraged to think critically. That is, as long as it's in a way they can understand. As an adult, I'm seeing that the greatest stories, shows, even movies challenge the audience to use their minds. It also helps if they characters are relatable and realistic. Children will see how the characters they love are exactly like them in real life; which makes the story even more amazing. I definitely agree with a lot of this, as long as it isn't too extreme or dark for a young audience.

3276402 Yeah. It's always a balancing act to find content with a bit of grit that's still age appropriate. You make a good point with the realistic characters. All too often we get characters that are too unrelateable and it kills the show. I think it's always going to be a struggle for children's show authors

3261899 3276402 I'm a bit on the other side with this issue. I think there is a difference between children story/show and the adult one. Even when it comes to characteritation. Children mostly detect that on a subconscious level. They don't think very analytically like, Twilight knew how to teleport since the first episode, why did she decide to jump on the rocks over the cliff? Why didn't she just teleport over to the other side when hydra was chasing them? Instead, they are more taken by the action. They care more about the moment then the overarching plot.

When I was young I went to a seaside vacation with my grandma to the seaside house near the border. I could have gone swimming or I could have played with the other kids. Instead, all I was thinking about was the cartoon channel where they played action series all day long. She didn't like me watching cartoons and forbade it. When she was busy with her gardening, I would sneak into her room and turn on the TV. The shows were in a different language that I couldn't understand. I couldn't get any of the characterization that comes through dialogue. I was taken by the action scenes. The awe. The feeling that there is a possibility of things that transcend the boring ordinary life. The feeling of stakes being higher than anything I could have ever imagined. My mind was blown and my view of the world was expanded by those action scenes.

3277094 Hmm food for thought to be sure. I certainly would agree that action sucks us in as kids. There were times I wanted nothing more than to see the scope of an action scene. Still, I feel that the impact and importance of action to children varies from person to person, from their age, stage of development, and of course peer influence.

It's monumentally difficult and frustrating for us to try and quantify all this, and even though companies like hasbro throw out tons of dollars on researching it, I doubt there'll be a clear cut answer. After all, children's shows we loved as kids often rose to meet us at whatever stage of life we were at.

Our interests change, though sometimes they don't. This I feel is the struggle with writing for kids; you'll never be able to grab every child's affection and interest in the same way. We cannot see into their minds, to understand what will speak to them most. For you, it sounds like action was the key, for me it was internal conflict in the characters, though when I was younger, I enjoyed action too.

And that's the beauty of fiction, it doesn't all have to conform to the same mold, even children's stories. As authors, I feel we ought to try and remember how it felt to be a kid, and think on why we loved certain shows. Write stories that cater to those interests and fascinations. Our end results might be entirely different, but I don't see the harm in that. After all, children have a variety of interests just like adults, even if they haven't been developed as well.

It's a very tricky question to answer that's for sure. I love to hear all the viewpoints on it, as this question comes into my head when I think of writing a story for kids.