I like the idea of young readers using my stories as a sort of moral gym, where they can flex and develop their newly developed moral muscle.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Stories can bring alive the moral universe in a very vivid, useful, engaging way.
I try to write stories that are thrilling and full of mystery and funny all at the same time, stories that raise moral questions but come up with very few moral answers, stories that emotionally touch readers through the characters.
In the old fairy tales, often a 'moral' was tacked on at the end of the story - say, if a book was going to be marketed to young readers. And the morals don't really suit the stories at all, which makes them super weird - part of why I love the tradition so much. I do play with this, though I am more concerned with ethics than morals.
At around nine or 10 years of age, young people start to decide for themselves what's moral or not, and that's why I like writing for that age group so much.
I've always been interested in setting my stories against a big event, the importance of which my younger readers are slowly becoming aware of as they move into their teens.
Characters have changed my mind about some very fundamental moral issues, and that's the real satisfaction in the way I write - the ultimate learning experience.
I have always been drawn to coming-of-age stories and books and movies featuring compelling young characters.
If there is any message in the 'Wimpy Kid' books, it is that reading can be and should be fun. As an adult reader, when I see an obvious moral lesson to be taught, I run in the other direction... Kids can sniff out an adult agenda from an early age. I'm writing for entertainment, not to impress literary judges.
I like to encourage young talented writers to try and help them get published and so forth, but that's all. That's the best I can do.
Young readers have to be entertained. No child reads fiction because they think it's going to make them a better person.