Um, yay for 500 subscribers (and then some). Now that it is summer time, I will wrack my brain trying to figure out what else should go in here. I get ideas every now and then but I never get to them and I lose my enthusiasm for the rant quite quickly. If you have any suggestions, do leave them in a comment or message.  I welcome either. 

This chapter was supposed to be Know Your Reader based, but every time I tried to write it in that format, it sounded like crap, so I just did my normal rant thing. 

Let’s get this out of the way –never censor your writing.

When one of your readers says “When I turn sixteen in a few years, I hope I don’t get pregnant,” you just need to stop right there and calm down. Okay, you have some young readers. That means 1) you write for younger audiences and 2) you have some young readers. Not to be redundant or anything.

When you realize this problem, don’t feel bad. It’s okay, we all go through that writing period when what we write attracts the wrong age group. You never want to know that your writing is attractive to young children when all you write about is … whatever the fanfic trends are now. and high school bullying and orphan. Unless you wanted young readers, then by all means, carry on.

But don’t censor your writing. Even if you write the hottest ever, don’t censor your words. Let them speak loud and free. It is not your job as a writer to make sure eleven year old girls keep their purity as they read some HunHan . If they want to read it, they will read it. Whether they have to watch on youtube or read about someone going down on someone else, they will get what they want. Make sure you have the proper warnings up and we’re all set.

It’s bad enough that Jason has to deal with this crap and all the legal issues. Don’t worry your pretty little head about the children reading the pronz. Also, don’t underestimate the newest generation of mankind. Honestly, I think children can handle mature content, at least the thought of it. At twelve years old I had maybe ventured into some overly ty manga, so what is written gore and compared to visual stuff on TV or in comics?

Of course, you might not think that there is a problem with having young readers, but there is. I don’t mean young readers as in born a few months after you, I mean born in the twenty first century. Obviously in just one year this statement will be outdated, but come on, if you were born in 2000, you are at most 14(+) years old and might have just learned how the reproductive system works. [Edit: Years have passed, people grow up. Gen Z, is that you?]

This means that they

• Don’t think the fic is complicated
• Don’t think it is boring
• Sold their soul to the internet

Children should not be selling their souls to the internet at such a young age. What is the world coming to?

At first you think that the first two points aren’t even a big deal, but they actually prove how much you at writing.

For instance, when I was in seventh grade, I was probably still twelve, maybe thirteen, I decided to read A Tale of Two Cities for a book report about revolutions. It was okay. I got through the first eighteen pages and didn’t understand any of it other than the fact that this guy was in a carriage with people and he was going to a place for reasons. A Tale of Two Cities is an amazing book full of complicated Ye Olde English and plot twists and magnificent techniques and metaphors themes and motifs and other Freshman English crap.

I could not fully comprehend that as a 12/13 year old. No, not everyone is Charles Dickens, but you want to aim higher than Stephanie Meyer (not to hate on her or anything because she is famous).

No, not all young readers will be retarded when it comes to literature. I read To Kill a Mockingbird later that year for fun and thoroughly enjoyed it. Granted, that book is much easier to read, and it made so much more sense in Sophomore English, but the point is still made. Actually, I have another point. You want your fic to be the type that the reader can come back and reread years later when they are not twelve.

When I was a younger reader and I was into a series of books, I totally loved them. Later on, like my age now, when I tried to reread them, I realized I hated everything about the books. It’s gotten to the point where I am afraid to go to the Library in fear of ruining my childhood memories.

Trust me when I say that someone commenting on your story like this  is the best feeling ever→ “I read this fic three years ago and I suddenly thought about it! Man I love it! Can’t get enough of this! You rock author-nim!” You just want to pinch yourself and question your own awesome writing skills and/or what other crap they have been reading to think you write well.

I’m going to address the pride issue now. Okay, so maybe you are popular with all your young readers now, but is your story even that good? Really? If you are reading this you either A) are looking for tips on how to improve your writing and gain readers, B) like to read rants and enjoy the logic and sarcasm behind them, or C) hate rants and choose to briefly read them to criticize the author with your generalization that all rant fics are rude and just want to make writers cry because obviously we’re all es (in that case, you). You obviously have some pride as a writer if you are here for reason A.

Are you really satisfied with the fact that your writing is sub-par? No, you should not be.

To the boringness of your fic. It’s hard to explain it so that it doesn’t seem one-sided.

One of the reasons why I started to hate a series I loved when I was younger was that I really found some of the plot incredibly ridiculous. Not just the plot but the characterization and quirky shallowness.

It’s easy to trick a young reader into believing anything you write, but an older will call you on your bull. You can make them believe that anyone can be sold as a slave to an idol group or that bullying is just a matter of teaching some really y girls that they are not the greatest people in the world just because their father is some amazingly wealthy man. Fourteen is about the age when they will ask you to stop ing with them.

Stop for a moment and think about it. What garish plot or light characterization do you have? Maybe it was that arranged marriage, teacher-student relationship, unexpected assassin/bodyguard, debt slavery, omg pregnant part. Or perhaps it was the character with a five-year-old mentality, that guy that wants to tear every apart at the limbs, or the sassy/bubbly forever alone best friend?

Having a young reader audience means that you have a serious writing quality issue that definitely needs some work.

So basically, always try to go for a mature storyline. A lot of people get in the mood for a good vampire high school fic, so the better you write, the more readers you will get. Wow, that almost sounded like it wasn’t obvious. Guys, it is totally possible to write good vampire high school fics that young readers would like but older readers would like ten times as much.

What I find makes a story more appealing for older readers is many things.

• Focus on emotions
• More attention to literary magic stuff (it’s 5 AM, I no know how speak English good)
• Less focus on the “the world hates me” and more of the “wow, I am the problem”
• A flawed main character that is understandable and relatable
• That hidden backwards thinking that throws everyone through a loop
• Originality
• Clichés actually enhance the story, not create it
• I don't know, reasons, seriously, I can't think words

I feel that if you read any decent half baked potato (almost a tomato) fic, then you understand what I mean. When the writer moves on from silly gimmicks like Hello Baby meets We Got Married and some other obscure and overused plot, then they are finally moving on to better and greater things.

If you really don’t know what age group you might be attracting, there are two tests. The first one takes many months or even years to do. You must write something, and then you must wait a long period of time before you reread what you wrote. If you want to kill yourself after reading it, there is room for improvement. The second one is much faster. Write something, read the comments about it. If the comments seem superficial, hateful, or way off the mark, you probably have the wrong age group.

However, if you are a popular writer, this does not apply to you because everyone subscribes to you whether you write well or not simply because insert Chapter 19 reference about friend here.