Friday, July 23, 2010

Sex Drugs and Rock-n-Roll Writing

How much is too much? I'm in the middle maybe closer to the end of the rough draft of my novel "Art of Zen." It's a coming of age story with a twist. I'm in a quandary. I want it to appeal to both adult women and young adults but I think it's still a bit too adult for a teen reader. How do I describe in detail the whole "act" of coming of age for my MC without getting "down and dirty" in my description?

I want it to be exciting but not trashy and not so boring that it sounds like it came out of a medical textbook. Then again, I don't really want it to be all flowery and lovey-dovey either because that kind of goody two-shoes writing just makes me want to throw up. Personally, part of me prefers the down and dirty version but the other side of me is embarrassed that I could even write like that:/ The storyline however has a lot of heart and soul with a positive message for both women and teen girls and it's just a fun read! (And if the guys like it, well more power to me)

Let's face it, anything involving rock-n-roll is going to have a lot of sex and drugs in it. There's no doubt about that. It comes with the territory. However, trying to find the balance between exciting storyline and appropriate writing is hard. To talk dirty or not to talk dirty? That is the question.


2 comments:

  1. I know. I finally ended up going back into the parts I was referencing and tried to make it more reading appropriate. I have one more area that I need to change around a bit and I still need to finish writing the book. It can be really hard though but when I'm done it will be so worth it!

    ReplyDelete