MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Fairy Tales: talking down to one's audience

BeccaPrice · 08-13-2013, 05:13 PM

so far the main criticism of Dragons and Dreams that I've gotten has been with writing style and vocabulary - style is style, and there's not much I can do about that, but the question of vocabulary is one that concerns me. The stories were originally written for my own kids, and we never talked down to them, and if we used an unfamiliar word or concept, we'd explain briefly and go on with the story.

I'm preparing a second collection of stories, and now I'm wondering - should I simplify my vocabulary? if so, how much? I don't mean down to Dr. Seus level, but using words like chivalry.

Each collection has stories from a range of ages, from the more simple to the more complex, and I do that deliberately, but how much should I simplify for my audience? I don't want to lose the Andrew Lang-ish tone of the stories, but I don't want to make people feel stupid either.

08-13-2013, 05:13 PM	#1
BeccaPrice Wizard Posts: 2,146 Karma: 11174187 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony 350, K3-3G, K4SO, KPW	Fairy Tales: talking down to one's audience so far the main criticism of Dragons and Dreams that I've gotten has been with writing style and vocabulary - style is style, and there's not much I can do about that, but the question of vocabulary is one that concerns me. The stories were originally written for my own kids, and we never talked down to them, and if we used an unfamiliar word or concept, we'd explain briefly and go on with the story. I'm preparing a second collection of stories, and now I'm wondering - should I simplify my vocabulary? if so, how much? I don't mean down to Dr. Seus level, but using words like chivalry. Each collection has stories from a range of ages, from the more simple to the more complex, and I do that deliberately, but how much should I simplify for my audience? I don't want to lose the Andrew Lang-ish tone of the stories, but I don't want to make people feel stupid either.