Aging Authors

[Elfy]

Do you ever worry that as you get older you might connect less with your audience and potential audience?

I notice that it is very obvious to me when I'm reading an ABDL story written by an older person. Certain phrases or things that happen can make it very obvious. Things like "rubber pants" and ultra-frilly things seem to be clearly from a different age, for instance. It's not that they are bad or anything but it can take me out of things a little.

It makes me worry that as I get older I'll slowly fall out of what younger people are interested in.

[WBDaddy]

Not hard to keep your finger on that pulse.  Staying active on Fetlife will make that happen for you. 

[ValentinesStuff]

1 hour ago, Elfy said:

Do you ever worry that as you get older you might connect less with your audience and potential audience?

I notice that it is very obvious to me when I'm reading an ABDL story written by an older person. Certain phrases or things that happen can make it very obvious. Things like "rubber pants" and ultra-frilly things seem to be clearly from a different age, for instance. It's not that they are bad or anything but it can take me out of things a little.

It makes me worry that as I get older I'll slowly fall out of what younger people are interested in.

It's the pop culture that throws me. I don't keep up with new music, TV, etc.

[Cute_Kitten]

Just write for a target audience of older generations and when those young whippersnappers pop up in your threads, shake your cane and tell them to get off your lawn! 

[DailyDi]

1 hour ago, ValentinesStuff said:

It's the pop culture that throws me. I don't keep up with new music, TV, etc.

I've started listening to the "hot" playlists on Amazon Music specifically to try and be in touch. I realized watching American Idol that I didn't know most of the songs they were singing.

As for writing, I am sad to say I have lost the ability to write stories. I don't know if its my meds, my anxiety, or my getting old but I just can't do it anymore.

[Personalias]

No.  I read old kid's books from the 90's and they're VERY 90's but the stories are still dope.

Stephen King doesn't know how to write a modern teenager for anything, but the elements that are "Stephen King" are still solid and entertaining.  Tell a story that you love and write it well and your enthusiasm and love for the art will be contagious to the point that newer readers will look past the references and phrasing they don't get and will go to the heart of what you're writing.

[ValentinesStuff]

@Personalias

Steven King doesn't know how to write.

 

Fixed that.

 

I will never understand how anyone considers him a good author.

[Personalias]

6 hours ago, ValentinesStuff said:

@Personalias

Steven King doesn't know how to write.

 

Fixed that.

 

I will never understand how anyone considers him a good author.

Way to derail the discussion with your personal opinion that is irrelevant to the point being made AND yuck my yum needlessly. Major sarcastic good job and slow clap. 

The principle stays the same.  I read those 90's Animorph books to my 3rd graders one year, and they didn't get the 90's references about Entertainment Tonight and certain brands.  They definitely didn't get "hanging out at the mall".  But they loved the story of kids fighting an alien invasion. That went through.

I'm not a fan of Tolkien, myself. But his work is "timeless", not because he wrote it in old timey fantastical language or whatever, but because he has a passion and a skill that shines through that his fandom finds appealing.

[Cute_Kitten]

Touching on what @Personalias said, if you put passion and love and skill into your work, it stand the test of time. Heck, I recently fell in love with a book that was originally written in 1953! Granted, the setting was Ancient Egypt but it had all the earmarks of classic 1950's era Hollywood romance (but that was a side focus). The main narrative of royal intrigue, spies, betrayal, murder and rebellion/ revolution still sucked me in- well written, fleshed out characters plus a tense and fast paced plot= a very entertaining read even 50+ years after its original publication date.  The book was Mara Daughter of the Nile. 

As a kid Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer were some of my favorite books. (Yes, yes, it's super duper double plus  problematic when you judge works 100+ years old by today's social standards. They're products of their time. My point with mentioning them- stories that old can still be read and enjoyed purely for the story themselves- the combination of plot and characters that pull a reader in and get them emotionally engaged in the tale. Other stuff is just window dressing.) 

Another example- it doesn't even have to be time. It can be cultural. I'm currently reading a Chinese mahua graphic novel- it's written in Chinese, for a Chinese audience, western readers can get bent- so there's a lot of cultural elements that leave me confused. the comic is like Game of Thrones meets Cinderella set in feudal China- engaging plot and characters that pulled me in, even if I have to look up a bunch of stuff that often leaves me confused lol!

[InkuHime]

I've never been worried about that. As has been said, if something is written well, prosaic objects, terms, and ideas are not going to be a problem, even if they are ones that the reader is not familiar with.

Cleaving too close to the social norms of the time can be an issue, especially if you make it clear that you are completely supporting those norms.

[Cya]

Modern music is very hard for me to get into but thankfully we are writing about diapers not whatever flash in the pan pop song is hot in the clubs these days. That being said, I'll always be able to write a good Goth character since I love black metal and goth rock. 

Oh, and I don't care what the kids say; bonnets are the quintessential garment after diapers in this fetish. So, yeah, my advice to you is not to worry about being hip; if your story is good enough it will transcend yhe barriers between the zoomers and the future Alpha/Omega readers who will read our smut in ten or fifteen years from now. 

[Cute_Kitten]

7 hours ago, Cya said:

Modern music is very hard for me to get into but thankfully we are writing about diapers not whatever flash in the pan pop song is hot in the clubs these days. That being said, I'll always be able to write a good Goth character since I love black metal and goth rock. 

Oh, and I don't care what the kids say; bonnets are the quintessential garment after diapers in this fetish. So, yeah, my advice to you is not to worry about being hip; if your story is good enough it will transcend yhe barriers between the zoomers and the future Alpha/Omega readers who will read our smut in ten or fifteen years from now. 

Or fifty! Who knows what will be popular by then!