December 20, 2017
Finding Perspective
One of the most important things for me to find when I’m writing is the perspective of my target audience.
Simply: for whom am I writing?
For Web of Deception, I was writing to the adventurous young adult (myself and my brother), for the Brantley Station Saga, my target is young adults, and my target readers for The Devonians are those in first through fifth grade. The Funny Sisters stories are written to be read-aloud so they are more complex. My goal for them is to entertain both the mom or older child reader and the younger preschool or elementary listener.
Story From the Inn was written when one of my girls mentioned, “I wonder what it was like to work at the inn where Jesus was born.” (We had just watched a show about the culture of Jewish life in Jesus’ time and read through a book about growing up where Jesus lived.)
I imagined the small inn at Bethlehem run by a family (most were in that time) and one daughter (one my girls could relate to) always trying to help yet always getting underfoot. This became the eyes and ears of my target audience (my little girls). Children would relate to Rachel and see, hear, and feel that inn, culture, and special event through her eyes. I dove into some more specific research and developed Rachel’s story of Jesus’ birth as remembered by a beloved grandmother while entertaining several grandchildren awaiting a new baby’s birth.
Rachel epitomized most children: full of life and expectancy, eager to help, longing to please, and constantly asking questions.
In the moment, Rachel doesn’t understand the magnificence of the event, she only feels elated that she gets to help with a birth (something “big”) and hold a newborn baby (for the first time). As the storyteller, she reflects on this as an adult, to complete the circle.
Check out Story From the Inn to read Rachel’s story!
Thanks for reading!
Type at you later…
~Nancy Tart