[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

For years, I've been plotting a long story following a main character growing up from childhood into adulthood. It has something similar to Harry Potter series. For Asian kids, perhaps Naruto is more familiar to them. Older kids may be more familiar with Dragon Ball or Kungfu Boy. They are extremely popular among children, and some adults too. There's something we can learn from them.

Unlike those examples, the genre of my story is science fiction, and the goal is to introduce and socialize /popularize critical thinking, science literacy, and basic ethics to children so they could be equipped with mental tools to face the world in front of them.

My plot also covered the main characters in adulthood, where their decisions have higher stake and affect many people's lives.

[Origin]

My advice is have a good editor.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

My advice is have a good editor.

I don't know any professional editor personally. But since I have access to Google Bard, perhaps it can be my preliminary editor.
I've mentioned in another thread that Bard isn't a good drafter, yet. At least in its free or experimental version. So I guess I just have to type the draft myself, and only then ask Bard to edit it.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

I found these YouTube channels, and I think they have a lot of useful information on writing and publishing fictional story books.

https://youtube.com/@AbbieEmmons

https://youtube.com/@NovelistJerryJenkins

They advice to get to exciting and interesting parts of the story quickly at the beginning of the first chapter, so we can grab the attention of the reader and make them want to turn to the next page instead of putting our book down because they think that they are wasting their time. Modern people tend to have attention span shorter than those in the past.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

So I think my story will be a mix of thriller and suspense, to balance between the excitement, curiosity, and education. It will contain following components.
- Basic knowledge for survival. It's inspired by the story of airplane crash survivor kids who got lost in a rainforest, among some others. The motivation to write it down have been on my mind even earlier, when I heard about kids died untimely in various circumstances, which seemed to be avoidable.
- To hone the skill of critical thinking, the story will also contain mysterious cases like Sherlock Holmes.
- I also want to insert resourcefulness of the main character, which is inspired by MacGyver. I'll write some implementation of basic math and science by the main characters to solve their problems.
- Kids love superhero stories. So I think I'll give the main characters and some others the believable and reasonable superpowers.
- They will fight each other. So I'll put some basic martial arts skills there, including basic human anatomy and physiology, so they can practice martial arts skills safely.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

As the main characters grow up, they will experience problems in social, political, and economic fields. I'll also add some romantic relationships and deeper philosophy.

[alancalverd]

A superpower by definition is neither reasonable nor believable!

 

they can practice martial arts skills safely.

The object of martial arts is to disable or kill your opponent. There's a difference between supervised training or limited competition, and do-it-yourself practice.

[Zer0]

What if those Kidz are eaten up by a pride of hungry Lions?
Maths don't work in the Jungles!

umm...what if those Ninja powered Adults eat a raw uncooked exotic animal n succumb to a Deadly Virus?

How bout right in the middle of the story book, Suddenly the next page appears fully covered with bold letters sayin...
B
O
O
M
!!!
& the rest of the pages are Blank?
(asteroid struck n planet gone)

ps - Kidz nowadayz are Overexposed to Fairytales & Underexposed to Reality!

[alancalverd]

As the main characters grow up, they will experience problems in social, political, and economic fields. I'll also add some romantic relationships and deeper philosophy.

They will encounter politics and religion, and kill each other because some parasite has told them to do so.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

A superpower by definition is neither reasonable nor believable!

Modern professional athletes have some kind of superpowers compared to average humans, at least in their fields of competition. They can be seen from world records which keep getting broken.

[alancalverd]

There's a difference between being bigger and better at something like running or throwing, and having a superpower like being able to fly or see through walls.

[Bored chemist]

A superpower by definition is neither reasonable nor believable!

Modern professional athletes have some kind of superpowers compared to average humans, at least in their fields of competition. They can be seen from world records which keep getting broken.

To say "they have superpowers" seems to rather misrepresent the fact that they typically work very hard.
If I ran a lot, I would get better at running.
But,  no matter how hard I stare, I'm, not going to see through walls.

[Petrochemicals]

Outline your saga, pick out the best story and publish that first, then release prequel and sequel stories, sell it to Disney and retire.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

There's a difference between being bigger and better at something like running or throwing, and having a superpower like being able to fly or see through walls.

What I meant was to amplify those above average abilities to extraordinary levels as far as permitted by natural laws, like conservation of momentum and thermodynamics. It might be done e.g. by enhancing drug, genetic modification, or artificial implantted organs. The genre is sci-fi after all.
Some superhuman abilities found naturally in other species like infrared vision, electric generation, and ultrasonic hearing also have crossed my mind.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

Outline your saga, pick out the best story and publish that first, then release prequel and sequel stories, sell it to Disney and retire.

Making money is not the main objective of this project.

the goal is to introduce and socialize /popularize critical thinking, science literacy, and basic ethics to children so they could be equipped with mental tools to face the world in front of them.

Getting viral can be said to be an instrumental goal.

[alancalverd]

And get a good lawyer to draft your Disney contract.

In 1955 Peggy Lee recorded dialog and songs for "Lady and The Tramp" for a fee of "$5000 plus $1 per repeat", and the initial print run of the film was perhaps another couple of thousand - good money at the time. 30 years later it was released on VHS  video:

After its release on videotape, she sought performance and song royalties on the video sales. Disney CEO Michael Eisner refused, thus she filed suit in 1988. Eventually in 1992, the California Court of Appeals order Disney to pay Lee $3.2 million in compensation or about 4% of the video sales.

Now write the book.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

 

they can practice martial arts skills safely.

The object of martial arts is to disable or kill your opponent. There's a difference between supervised training or limited competition, and do-it-yourself practice.

There were heartbreaking news about  kids getting injuries and even died from playing smack down with their friends and siblings.
There will be some training sessions where a trainer gives advices to disable opponents without causing unnecessary damages, and explains the dangers in some forbidden techniques in competitive martial arts.

[hamdani yusuf (OP)]

What if those Kidz are eaten up by a pride of hungry Lions?
Maths don't work in the Jungles!

umm...what if those Ninja powered Adults eat a raw uncooked exotic animal n succumb to a Deadly Virus?

How bout right in the middle of the story book, Suddenly the next page appears fully covered with bold letters sayin...
B
O
O
M
!!!
& the rest of the pages are Blank?
(asteroid struck n planet gone)

ps - Kidz nowadayz are Overexposed to Fairytales & Underexposed to Reality!

Remember the goals of the story.

[alancalverd]

a trainer ........ explains the dangers in some forbidden techniques in competitive martial arts.

Do you have any dealings with real children? The bottle is clearly marked "poison", and Junior Shipman  knows exactly what not to do with it.

[paul cotter]

Nah Hamdani, it will never sell. For the great unwashed today, I recommend hard core porn!