Age restriction

Here's something I've noticed: 18 is only one more than 17. Call me crazy, but I think the numbers back me up here.

Writers want to cling to the underage number because, basically, they are targeting the underage-titillated reader (and writer?).

Aurimaz said:

Because I'm writing about young genius in a college (17 years old college freshman). If I rise his age... Well, I already did that by a few months, so there's no problem with age restrictions anymore.
As you see now, 17 years old freshman is more impressive than 18 y. old one. And THAT age causes some serious pressure for the main heroine of the story (who is a senior at the same college).

In short, I'm writing about young people, who are very mature, and about older people, who are very childish.

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I was a 17yo college freshman, albeit not a genius. I have a feeling it's not all that uncommon.

I skipped a year in grammar school, and from then on was a year younger than my classmates. This posed far more problems, mostly of a social nature, through grammar school and high school than it ever did in college. (There were other factors at work, too, such as switching high schools mid-semester, that sort of thing.) In college, people just didn't care.

I'm not trying to rain on your story parade but I just don't think a 17yo college freshman is that big of a deal.

PennLady said:

I'm not trying to rain on your story parade but I just don't think a 17yo college freshman is that big of a deal.

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If his girlfriend is pregnant, then it's a big deal...

Aurimaz said:

If his girlfriend is pregnant, then it's a big deal...

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But that's a big deal regardless of age.

Aurimaz said:

Because I'm writing about young genius in a college (17 years old college freshman). If I rise his age... Well, I already did that by a few months, so there's no problem with age restrictions anymore.
As you can see now, 17 years old college freshman is more impressive than 18 y. old one. And THAT age causes some serious pressure for the main heroine of the story (who is a senior at the same college).

In short, I'm writing about young people, who are very mature, and about older people, who are very childish.

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Then about the most you could "get away with" would be for the lad to say, "She seduced me," but with no explicit details.

I think I'll just shut up and do the goddamn writing thing before you'll ruin my mood I still need an editor for all that crap...

Aurimaz said:

Because I'm writing about young genius in a college (17 years old college freshman).

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A genius is a 14 year old college freshman.

I recommend you put him in grad school. Which would tell us that, yes, he was a genius who entered college at age 14 or 15. If he's working on his Ph.D at 18, THAT is pretty impressive.

3113 said:

A genius is a 14 year old college freshman.

I recommend you put him in grad school. Which would tell us that, yes, he was a genius who entered college at age 14 or 15. If he's working on his Ph.D at 18, THAT is pretty impressive.

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You know, I've long had an idea for writing an adult version of Real Genius. Substitute popcorn for a mountain of dildos at the end and have the 'genius-fucker' get it on with Jordan. Alas, poor Mitch Taylor would have to be a voyeur.

3113 said:

A genius is a 14 year old college freshman.

I recommend you put him in grad school. Which would tell us that, yes, he was a genius who entered college at age 14 or 15. If he's working on his Ph.D at 18, THAT is pretty impressive.

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Now that is an idea with some merit. Maybe doesn't have to be so extreme though. Maybe he's an 18 year old junior. That's still pretty much in the genius category. And the girl could be say a 23 year old in her second year of a masters program. Maybe she was even a teaching assistant in one of the classes he had. Her getting pregnant under those circumstances is a pretty serious no-no.

From what the OP has told us so far that might work without screwing up the plot too bad.

PennLady said:

Maybe not Vegas, but in some places you can. Here's a Wiki page with the various ages of consent by state. Not the most authoritative source, I realize, but a place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America#United_States

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Wish I could find a map like that but that showed when those laws came into effect per state.

I know my aunt was married, with her mom's consent, at 14. That would have been in about 1969 I think.

At that time her age was not even considered all that unusual for a girl to get married. About like a 17 year old getting married now. Everyone seemed to get married young around here at that time.

She had a son at 15, miscarried at 16, then a daughter at 17. Her and her husband were together 42 years.

Why does the character need to be a genius? Is it necessary? Can he not simply be very intelligent?

I've found--and I don't know if this applies to your story, perhaps it doesn't--that most stories that feature geniuses tend to be rather weak. For several reasons.

Firstly, it's hard to write a genius if you aren't one yourself. As a writer you can slip into many minds, many personalities, different skins, but it is hard to properly portray someone who is vastly more intelligent than you at a basic level. It's easy to write stupid characters; genius-level insight and dialogue present far more difficulty.

Secondly, it's usually an archetype used for some droll, predictable purpose--to represent something that, in many cases, the author doesn't even fully grasp. It's like going to Harvard, Yale, or MIT. I can't count the number of characters I've read about who've attended those prestigious universities, but I'm starting to suspect that it is greater than the number who have ever actually gone there. It's the lazy way a writer, who often isn't very smart themselves, says, "This guy is really bright. He went to that one place, where all the bright people go. He's that bright, man. Harvard-bright" (Once again, maybe this doesn't apply to you. I don't know.)

When I see the word "genius" in a story, I often groan. As I do when someone really rich has a house in the Hamptons, or when when a story introduces a hard-boiled ex-detective with a drinking problem. It often signals that something truly well-hashed and misrepresented is going to follow. There are, of course, many exceptions to this, stories who make wonderful use of these tropes. Most do not.

Just make sure that if you're using a genius, do it to add depth and complexity to a story and not because you are blindly following the cartoonish and frequent examples of geniuses in popular media that have served to all but kill the meaning of the word.

Good luck with the story. I hope you're writing one of the good kind.

MSTarot said:

Wish I could find a map like that but that showed when those laws came into effect per state.

I know my aunt was married, with her mom's consent, at 14. That would have been in about 1969 I think.

At that time her age was not even considered all that unusual for a girl to get married. About like a 17 year old getting married now. Everyone seemed to get married young around here at that time.

She had a son at 15, miscarried at 16, then a daughter at 17. She and her husband were together 42 years.

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If I recall aright, Jerry Lee Lewis came to England on his first tour in May 1958. Among his entourage was his 13-year-old wife. This caused wholesale chaos in a wide variety of papers (13 was considered very much a child over here) protesting this and that nonsense. It was a good while before someone enquired just how it was legal, and the relevant State law was quoted.
It took him a long time to get his fans back.

MSTarot said:

Wish I could find a map like that but that showed when those laws came into effect per state.

I know my aunt was married, with her mom's consent, at 14. That would have been in about 1969 I think.

At that time her age was not even considered all that unusual for a girl to get married. About like a 17 year old getting married now. Everyone seemed to get married young around here at that time.

She had a son at 15, miscarried at 16, then a daughter at 17. Her and her husband were together 42 years.

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My in-laws married in 1951, when they were both 17. My FIL died a couple of months ago, and they'd been married 62 years.

3113 said:

A genius is a 14 year old college freshman.

I recommend you put him in grad school. Which would tell us that, yes, he was a genius who entered college at age 14 or 15. If he's working on his Ph.D at 18, THAT is pretty impressive.

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I hadn't thought about the grad school part, but I did have similar thoughts. I don't think 17yo college freshmen are that rare. Just takes the right circumstances and/or birthdays. I think a friend of mine may have started at 17 as well, because she graduated high school in three years.

PennLady said:

I hadn't thought about the grad school part, but I did have similar thoughts. I don't think 17yo college freshmen are that rare. Just takes the right circumstances and/or birthdays. I think a friend of mine may have started at 17 as well, because she graduated high school in three years.

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I started college at 17. I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

glynndah said:

I started college at 17. I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

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No you weren't and in my case it certainly wasn't genius!

slyc_willie said:

You know, I've long had an idea for writing an adult version of Real Genius. Substitute popcorn for a mountain of dildos at the end and have the 'genius-fucker' get it on with Jordan. Alas, poor Mitch Taylor would have to be a voyeur.

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I saw that movie about 150 times.

trace_ekies said:

No you weren't and in my case it certainly wasn't genius!

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Nope, sometimes it's all about the timing.

glynndah said:

I started college at 17. I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

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Same here.

3113 said:

A genius is a 14 year old college freshman.

I recommend you put him in grad school. Which would tell us that, yes, he was a genius who entered college at age 14 or 15. If he's working on his Ph.D at 18, THAT is pretty impressive.

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Yeah, that will help with the age restriction XXX adventures of the 14 year old toddler.