Re: Fanfiction for adults, part two...

In my current fanfic project, I plan on courting (pun intended) both some fairly adult content and situations (sexual, occult, and violent), though I will only take it so far. For example, sexual innuendo won't be outside the range of my work, and I might imply that they "did it," but I won't ever write something in the bedroom. In my opinion, that is certainly not needed for a good story, and if it is, you're writing the wrong kind of story.

Actually, when it comes to drugs and drug abuse, the Young Jedi Knights series had an addict in the last three books of the series (Return to Ord Mantell, Trouble on Cloud City, and Crisis on Crystal Reef). Some of you may remember Anja Gallandro, daughter of Han Solo's old nemesis, and how Jacen and Jaina helped her overcome her addiction and enslavement to Black Sun. That was some pretty heavy stuff, and those were juvenile books we're talking about! But it worked, and 12-year-old me understood perfectly what was going on.

The point I'm trying to make is: It's not the themes that matter to kids. It's the simple story itself at first, and then later they will appreciate the themes as they grow. Think about classic children's literature for a moment, and you'll see that all the stories we come back to again and again are those that continue to have meaning through our changing seasons of life and development. The relevant "themes" change as we grow, but the content of the story stays the same. So it makes sense that adult content (which I primarily see as unnecessary) can extremely damage a child and his/her growth, while heavier adult themes tend to stick with them, even if they don't realize it, aiding more than hurting in their growth. So, in truth, the only difference that should be had between adult's and children's literature is the complexity of language used to portray the story.