My sister's kid asked me a simple question about my story idea

I was telling my 8-year-old niece about a fantasy story I was stuck on, with a hero trying to find a lost crown. She just looked at me and said, 'But why does he want it? Is he sad?' It hit me that I'd spent weeks on the map and the magic rules, but I never gave the guy a real feeling. I went back and wrote down three specific reasons he needs that crown, all tied to his family. Suddenly the whole plot had a point. Has anyone else had a kid point out the obvious thing you totally missed?

4 comments

4 Comments

robin5913mo ago

Kids ask simple questions because they don't get the bigger picture. World-building and rules are what make a fantasy story actually work, not just some character's feelings.

the_jennifer3mo ago

Tell that to the kid who asked about Hogwarts plumbing.

taylorshah3mo ago

My first draft had twelve pages on the fictional economy. The main character's name was still "Protagonist." Kids cut right to the heart of the matter because they look for the story, not the scaffolding.

spencer_park261mo ago

That reminds me of a buddy of mine who spent months building this detailed magic system for his novel. He had charts and everything. His 6-year-old daughter asked him if the main character ever got hungry or had a favorite snack. He realized he never wrote one single scene where the character ate, slept, or felt anything normal. @taylorshah said it perfectly, kids go straight to the story and ignore all the scaffolding we pile up.