Fantasy/Sci-fi authors: How do you establish character age?

[SlaveMasterUK]

Hi all,

Those of you who write erotic stories in the fantasy or sci-fi genre, where your characters may be living on a world far removed from our own, how do you clearly establish the age of the characters?

I've been working flat-out on my mainstream novel recently, but took a break before Christmas to write another erotic horror. I've left many things deliberately ambiguous - I've not specified that it does or does not take place on Earth, and therefore have no obvious reference point to age.

I ask because the story has just been rejected because it may have reference to sexual relations between characters under the age of 18. While I deeply respect the decision of the owners and editors of the site, this comes as a bit of a shock to me, since I certainly did not intend to give the impression that any of the characters were indulging in under-age sex.

Certainly, I never mention the "age" of the main character at all. At the beginning of the story, her background and self-image is rather vague; 1/3 into the story, it becomes apparent that she has had her memory erased. Any direct reference to "age" before that point will, IMO, destroy the ambiguity that I worked so hard to create (and believe me, if you haven't tried - writing a story from the perspective of someone who does not know who they are is rather hard going - but good fun! ) Later in the story I reference the age of some young soldiers as being "perhaps less than 20 years", although I never suggest how long a year is on this world, or whether they're using a solar or lunar calendar.

I was actually hoping the story would be rejected - I've recently spotted a few minor errors that could do with sorting out, and one or two passages that just don't seem right - but the reason for rejection came as a genuine shock to me.

I'm open to any and all suggestions here, because I worked really hard to put this story together and now I just don't have time to go back over it in that much detail. I don't want to have to lose the ambiguity of the story, but I've obviously failed in my task as an author to give enough information for the reader to come to the correct assumption. At the end of the day, if the story doesn't go up on Lit, it won't go anywhere. It seems a shame to have worked so hard on it to give up on it now...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Hi all,

Those of you who write erotic stories in the fantasy or sci-fi genre, where your characters may be living on a world far removed from our own, how do you clearly establish the age of the characters?

I've been working flat-out on my mainstream novel recently, but took a break before Christmas to write another erotic horror. I've left many things deliberately ambiguous - I've not specified that it does or does not take place on Earth, and therefore have no obvious reference point to age.

I ask because the story has just been rejected because it may have reference to sexual relations between characters under the age of 18. While I deeply respect the decision of the owners and editors of the site, this comes as a bit of a shock to me, since I certainly did not intend to give the impression that any of the characters were indulging in under-age sex.

Certainly, I never mention the "age" of the main character at all. At the beginning of the story, her background and self-image is rather vague; 1/3 into the story, it becomes apparent that she has had her memory erased. Any direct reference to "age" before that point will, IMO, destroy the ambiguity that I worked so hard to create (and believe me, if you haven't tried - writing a story from the perspective of someone who does not know who they are is rather hard going - but good fun! ) Later in the story I reference the age of some young soldiers as being "perhaps less than 20 years", although I never suggest how long a year is on this world, or whether they're using a solar or lunar calendar.

I was actually hoping the story would be rejected - I've recently spotted a few minor errors that could do with sorting out, and one or two passages that just don't seem right - but the reason for rejection came as a genuine shock to me.

I'm open to any and all suggestions here, because I worked really hard to put this story together and now I just don't have time to go back over it in that much detail. I don't want to have to lose the ambiguity of the story, but I've obviously failed in my task as an author to give enough information for the reader to come to the correct assumption. At the end of the day, if the story doesn't go up on Lit, it won't go anywhere. It seems a shame to have worked so hard on it to give up on it now...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

I tend to establish age through summary material. In my sci-fi world, I've used interstellar flight as the vehicle. In my world, those on intra system voyages travel in cryogenic stasis. So I can have characters several hundered years old who appear as if they are 25 and have the knowledge bas eof someone 25, since time in sleep carries no experience or ageing.

This makes it much easier to slip in a reference to apparant age vs. how old the character really is. And through that, I can establish over 18 without it seeming to be overly contrived.

In my opinion, a little summary info on the world is a perfect place to let the reader and the editors know the character is of age.

 

[NoJo]

Hi all,

Those of you who write erotic stories in the fantasy or sci-fi genre, where your characters may be living on a world far removed from our own, how do you clearly establish the age of the characters?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

You can do this: Say something like "she was young, only 48 grotches old". Then provide a really complicated table at the end, like

100 grotches = 1 stell
.001 stells = rotation of Zoth on it's axis, approximately 1 Jupter year

 

[Stella_Omega]

You can do this: Say something like "she was young, only 48 grotches old". Then provide a really complicated table at the end, like

100 grotches = 1 stell
.001 stells = rotation of Zoth on it's axis, approximately 1 Jupter year

And pages and pages of cross-indexed language translations...

 

[SlaveMasterUK]

You can do this: Say something like "she was young, only 48 grotches old". Then provide a really complicated table at the end, like

100 grotches = 1 stell
.001 stells = rotation of Zoth on it's axis, approximately 1 Jupter year

Are you the kind of reader who checks these kind of things?

hmm, lemme guess - you're the kid who got out the pencils and paper to work out what all the foreign inscriptions meant on the Lord Of The Rings maps, aren't you..?

 

[R. Richard]

To get my story "Changeling" through, I had to use an enchantment of hundreds of years. [Much like Colly's deep sleep device.]

 

[SlaveMasterUK]

BTW during one of those flashes of inspiration on the way home from work (when I should probably have been paying more attention to the rows of stationary cars that I was carving between) I actually answered my own question.

I can only think of one part of the story that might express under-age sex - when the main character is sorting through her erased memories as they are returned to her. She flicks from an early-childhood memory to a later, sexual one. There's no reference to the passage of time between these memories - perhaps it needs one.

Originally:

The next memory Seyani chose was filled with something else,

to this:

Seyani chose a memory in which she had grown from child to young adult,


hmm - maybe I can modify the rest of the paragraph to make that work

Thank you for your thoughts and inspirations

 

[SlaveMasterUK]

I tend to establish age through summary material. In my sci-fi world, I've used interstellar flight as the vehicle. In my world, those on intra system voyages travel in cryogenic stasis. So I can have characters several hundered years old who appear as if they are 25 and have the knowledge bas eof someone 25, since time in sleep carries no experience or ageing.

This makes it much easier to slip in a reference to apparant age vs. how old the character really is. And through that, I can establish over 18 without it seeming to be overly contrived.

This works really well in sci-fi; as well as establishing age, it also gives rise to a whole load of ethical questions - such as how old is the character, legally? And what happens to the family and friends that they left behind, etc...

In my opinion, a little summary info on the world is a perfect place to let the reader and the editors know the character is of age.

I give an introductory summary on the setting, describing the monastery in which the story is set, but didn't want to give too much info on the character. The rest of the story is told from her POV alone, and the important fact is that she's been brainwashed by a potion, and doesn't really know who she is, or why she is there.

I used it as practice for a non-erotic novel that I hope to have published some day, in which one of the main characters is a woman with a physical age of around 25, but was in fact artificially "grown" in a laboratory 500 years after her death. It's amazing how much about our experience of existence we take for granted until we try to imagine a life without it.

 

[3113]

I've read quite a few Sci-Fi and fantasy novels where the characters are said to be 1,500 years old (or there abouts), but they act like they're only 15. Now, personally, I hate this. BUT, if you presume that your characters age far slower and live far longer than we mere humans, then their childhood could last hundreds of years.

Hence, Lit sees your characters are, oh, 500 years old...but when you write about them, they can act like love-stricken teens having sex for the first time because the way they age is so very different from the way we age...

Even though they act exactly the same as we do...*sigh*

 

[BlackShanglan]

hmm, lemme guess - you're the kid who got out the pencils and paper to work out what all the foreign inscriptions meant on the Lord Of The Rings maps, aren't you..?

I'm, um ... I'm ... oh, bugger it.

There were WORDS there, damnit! (Numbers I could not possibly be bothered with.)

I'm surprised that they kicked yours back, and I understand your confusion. I don't think I've given character ages in years in almost anything I've ever posted, and I've never gotten a complaint. My first guess would be that you're on the right track in looking for where in the story they might receive the impression that your character is under age. My own experience has been that they'e been willing to accept characters whose ages are not spelled out, but whose behavior and social role indicates adulthood.

If it's short, I'd be happy to give it a look-over and see if anything strikes me.

Shanglan

 

[Evil Alpaca]

Hi all,

Those of you who write erotic stories in the fantasy or sci-fi genre, where your characters may be living on a world far removed from our own, how do you clearly establish the age of the characters?

I've been working flat-out on my mainstream novel recently, but took a break before Christmas to write another erotic horror. I've left many things deliberately ambiguous - I've not specified that it does or does not take place on Earth, and therefore have no obvious reference point to age.

I ask because the story has just been rejected because it may have reference to sexual relations between characters under the age of 18. While I deeply respect the decision of the owners and editors of the site, this comes as a bit of a shock to me, since I certainly did not intend to give the impression that any of the characters were indulging in under-age sex.

Certainly, I never mention the "age" of the main character at all. At the beginning of the story, her background and self-image is rather vague; 1/3 into the story, it becomes apparent that she has had her memory erased. Any direct reference to "age" before that point will, IMO, destroy the ambiguity that I worked so hard to create (and believe me, if you haven't tried - writing a story from the perspective of someone who does not know who they are is rather hard going - but good fun! ) Later in the story I reference the age of some young soldiers as being "perhaps less than 20 years", although I never suggest how long a year is on this world, or whether they're using a solar or lunar calendar.

I was actually hoping the story would be rejected - I've recently spotted a few minor errors that could do with sorting out, and one or two passages that just don't seem right - but the reason for rejection came as a genuine shock to me.

I'm open to any and all suggestions here, because I worked really hard to put this story together and now I just don't have time to go back over it in that much detail. I don't want to have to lose the ambiguity of the story, but I've obviously failed in my task as an author to give enough information for the reader to come to the correct assumption. At the end of the day, if the story doesn't go up on Lit, it won't go anywhere. It seems a shame to have worked so hard on it to give up on it now...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Using human age is a good start, but also just mentioning that they are legally an adult (in some fashion) doesn't hurt.

 

[NoJo]

Using human age is a good start, but also just mentioning that they are legally an adult (in some fashion) doesn't hurt.

Yes, just say that their gills had attained the violet frill which indicated their readiness to mate, and which entitled them to flick their tails clockwise during the Ptchatt festival.

 

[Tugari]

Age through story

Hi all,

Those of you who write erotic stories in the fantasy or sci-fi genre, where your characters may be living on a world far removed from our own, how do you clearly establish the age of the characters?

I've been working flat-out on my mainstream novel recently, but took a break before Christmas to write another erotic horror. I've left many things deliberately ambiguous - I've not specified that it does or does not take place on Earth, and therefore have no obvious reference point to age.

I ask because the story has just been rejected because it may have reference to sexual relations between characters under the age of 18. While I deeply respect the decision of the owners and editors of the site, this comes as a bit of a shock to me, since I certainly did not intend to give the impression that any of the characters were indulging in under-age sex.

Certainly, I never mention the "age" of the main character at all. At the beginning of the story, her background and self-image is rather vague; 1/3 into the story, it becomes apparent that she has had her memory erased. Any direct reference to "age" before that point will, IMO, destroy the ambiguity that I worked so hard to create (and believe me, if you haven't tried - writing a story from the perspective of someone who does not know who they are is rather hard going - but good fun! ) Later in the story I reference the age of some young soldiers as being "perhaps less than 20 years", although I never suggest how long a year is on this world, or whether they're using a solar or lunar calendar.

I was actually hoping the story would be rejected - I've recently spotted a few minor errors that could do with sorting out, and one or two passages that just don't seem right - but the reason for rejection came as a genuine shock to me.

I'm open to any and all suggestions here, because I worked really hard to put this story together and now I just don't have time to go back over it in that much detail. I don't want to have to lose the ambiguity of the story, but I've obviously failed in my task as an author to give enough information for the reader to come to the correct assumption. At the end of the day, if the story doesn't go up on Lit, it won't go anywhere. It seems a shame to have worked so hard on it to give up on it now...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

You could always suggest how long a partricular character went to school - got a degree - spent some years workning in what would obviously be an adult place to work, or have them look at thier license, or a piece of mail with their birthday on it, or she or he could simply think of their age as they compare themselves to someone else or something, perhaps they had some type of religious or cultural ritual that reflects their age at some point. Good lucj with it. I had a tough time figuring out how to use measurements and weight and time in a place that didn't use clocks, scales or standard measurment. That was a trip.

 

[Tugari]

OK - missread - lets try again

Ok, I see now - that it's not earth - I missed that somehow the first time around - my screen cut it off or something - but lets see here: Well, i don't know - IT IS a toughy. Frankly, I don't know why it would be rejected myself, when you didn't even give an age - I don't think the reader should assume that it's under age - or that the editors should assume that it's under age. That's like saying there's sex going on behind the door, even though you don't describe whats beyond the door - it's not really fair if you ask me.

 

[Goldeniangel]

since your character has amnesia, wouldn't she want to know more about her past? you could mention her looking in the mirror and thinking that she looks around 25 or 30 or something, clearly establishing her as older than the limit.
although i have a feeling that it was probably the "perhaps younger than 20" remark that did you in, it leaves it open for him to be a LOT younger than 20 and just looking older. always a problem. i'd say "perhaps about 20", and you'll steer away from the trouble age =P

*HUGS*

 

[Toilette]

Hi all,



I was actually hoping the story would be rejected -
At the end of the day, if the story doesn't go up on Lit, it won't go anywhere. It seems a shame to have worked so hard on it to give up on it now...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Maybe you were 'too aware' of your eventual-audience, which may've caused you to kind-of ignore what your story was-trying-to-say-to-you, during its birthing...
On 'aging', hmmm... I think tags-like; spins, moons, seasons, tides, circuits, etc., should suffice.
Lastly, ya hafta be able to scrap-heap brilliant stories, like classic painters who painted-over 'masterpieces'. Otherwise, you're not giving yourself enough credit for being an artist-of-unlimited-firepower.