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Re: How much do we tell the children? - An exploration
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From: J.L. Powers <jlpowers_at_evaporites.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:36:58 -0800
Very thoughtful response, Charles. I love your quote below and included it in my response as I think it bears repeating.
I've always approached that question, "How much do we tell the children?" as a /writer/. And my response to that has always been sort of three-fold: how much I tell depends 1) on the needs of the story, 2) the needs of the audience I'm writing for (typically young adult, but I have written some picture books), and, to a much lesser extent, 3) on what I can get past the censors (i.e., my agent, my publisher, and my editor, not necessarily in that order). As a writer, I've always argued vociferously for less censorship and for being more honest with our stories, no matter the age of the audience but (of course) still keeping that audience in mind. Then parents and other involved adults can screen as needed depending on the particular child. If we write based on the assumption that we should "protect" children from the harsh realities of life, which children are we writing for? Are we only writing for those children who come from protected families? Of course not.
Before I had children, I always assumed that parents were perhaps a bit too protective. Now I'm a parent (my son is 14 months old) and I understand the parental perspective a bit more. But I would still argue that writers should listen to their guts, tell the story as truthfully and passionately as it needs and demands, and then allow the market--the publishers, the editors, the teachers, the librarians, and the parents--to let the work sink or swim.
On 11/27/2011 10:47 AM, Charles Bayless wrote:
If that is the case, the challenge becomes, how do we establish a means for teachers/librarians to assist parents in becoming more effective in creating a home environment that will foster a love of reading, how do we enable parents to more effectively find books that are consistent with the parent's values and are of interest to a child, and how do we put the whole process on to a more rigorous, fact-based footing so that we aren't always talking at cross-purposes based on opinion.
Received on Sun 27 Nov 2011 11:36:58 AM CST
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:36:58 -0800
Very thoughtful response, Charles. I love your quote below and included it in my response as I think it bears repeating.
I've always approached that question, "How much do we tell the children?" as a /writer/. And my response to that has always been sort of three-fold: how much I tell depends 1) on the needs of the story, 2) the needs of the audience I'm writing for (typically young adult, but I have written some picture books), and, to a much lesser extent, 3) on what I can get past the censors (i.e., my agent, my publisher, and my editor, not necessarily in that order). As a writer, I've always argued vociferously for less censorship and for being more honest with our stories, no matter the age of the audience but (of course) still keeping that audience in mind. Then parents and other involved adults can screen as needed depending on the particular child. If we write based on the assumption that we should "protect" children from the harsh realities of life, which children are we writing for? Are we only writing for those children who come from protected families? Of course not.
Before I had children, I always assumed that parents were perhaps a bit too protective. Now I'm a parent (my son is 14 months old) and I understand the parental perspective a bit more. But I would still argue that writers should listen to their guts, tell the story as truthfully and passionately as it needs and demands, and then allow the market--the publishers, the editors, the teachers, the librarians, and the parents--to let the work sink or swim.
On 11/27/2011 10:47 AM, Charles Bayless wrote:
If that is the case, the challenge becomes, how do we establish a means for teachers/librarians to assist parents in becoming more effective in creating a home environment that will foster a love of reading, how do we enable parents to more effectively find books that are consistent with the parent's values and are of interest to a child, and how do we put the whole process on to a more rigorous, fact-based footing so that we aren't always talking at cross-purposes based on opinion.
Received on Sun 27 Nov 2011 11:36:58 AM CST
