It's important to me that children, particularly teens, are able to read my books and be entertained without corrupting their minds. But I also want to write content that appeals mainly to adults, as adults are my default target audience.
I call this distinction "mature content," versus "adult content." We all know what is meant by adult content. Mature content, by contrast, is not explicit, and allows the reader to infer much about the concrete details of real-world adults' lives when it comes to profanity, sex, and violence.
I think I more or less succeeded executing this balance in Tendrils to the Moon, which I would rate a soft PG-13, and only because of violence in the third act. Tendrils is about a group of people starting a Moon colony and the troubles and dilemmas they face along the way. Since the story features adults in. opposition, opportunities for explicit content abounded.
Most of the curse words in the first draft were used when one character was expressing his displeasure with another character or situation. I was able to eliminate most of them without sacrificing that effect. In the finished product, there are only 3 "hell"s, 5 "damn"s, and 1 "bastard." I almost got rid of the "bastard," but I left it in there because it marks the moment when Ames begins to actively oppose Sheridan. The curse helps the moment stand out.
The two main characters are sexually active, 50-ish-year-old men. Ames discreetly flirts with his wife in a way that I think most children wouldn't understand. Sheridan has no sexual thoughts at all--even though he has three wives. Sexual attraction simply isn't part of his character. Shaun, who is 24 and unmarried, has the third most point-of-view scenes. He briefly thinks about the companionship of women, but not in an explicit way. It serves to build his character building toward a decision he makes later, as well as set up a side plot for the sequel(!!). Several men banter with each other, but it is innocent and not objectifying. The most intimate scene is Ames lying in bed with his wife, and all they do is sleep and talk about their children while clothed.
Where Tendrils tips the scales to PG-13 is in its violence, particularly in chapters 10 and 11. Two characters die violent deaths. The emotion builds to a crescendo in the climactic confrontation and the tension releases in three confrontations. There are blood and broken bones, but no excessive gore. From a writer's perspective, there are "fun" ways to showcase how to die in space, that I was tempted to use, but didn't. My deaths are tame and conventional, a strict byproduct of the plot and action.
What gives violence its intensity is not the scale, but the key it's delivered in. Clint Eastwood movies usually are character-driven and feature raw, turn-your-insides-out violence, where the personal threat to the characters is a strong element of the narrative (see Pale Rider, Unforgiven, or Mystic River). Contrast that with Marvel movies, which have a high body count, but the plot-driven stories usually derive their tension from stopping the bad guy. My style more closely resembles Eastwood than Marvel.
As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll reply to you as soon as I can. I invite you to read the first 3 chapters of Tendrils to the Moon for free, and see if the last 9 chapters are worth your time. The paperback version is on sale at Amazon for $8.99. The ebook is still a mere 99 cents, and is available in a variety of formats via Smashwords.
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