Story Stumped

Anybody that knows me a little knows I'm a writer. Those who know me a little more know I've spent the past two years drafting a novel. I'm going through it a second time but I'm stumped. I do a couple things when I come down with a case of writer's block. Sometimes I reach for a glass of wine. But since I do most of my writing at Starbucks I don't think they'd appreciate me getting sloshed every time I hit a wall. Other times I'll pretend my head is a flint and bash it against the table until an idea sparks. Unfortunately that usually results in headache and memory loss. So I figured this time I'll try something different and write about what's holding me up and see if I get an idea.

I'm stuck on two things. Number one: I have no idea what to name the place. And by 'the place' I mean the world in which the story takes place. There are names for towns, characters, landscapes, but not for the whole thing. And I got nothing.

There have been suggestions. One person suggested to call it terra-something...or something-terra. The point is, involve the word 'terra.' My take on that, I have a hard time hearing 'terra' without thinking of some cheesy sci-fi show. Another person recommended I take a random word, drop the first and last letters of that word, then spell it backwards. For example, “business” would turn into senisu. Interesting idea, welcome to the world of Senisu!

The second thing I'm stuck on is the age of one of the main characters. Should he be teenage or young adult? Or something different altogether? The guy is supposed to carry a youthful whimsical quality. Doesn't necessarily mean he has to be young. Then I think about how many pop-lit novels feature a young main character. Harry Potter, for example starts off as a boy then ends the series as a teen. The Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan features characters in their teens. The Ranger's Apprentice series has a blend of youths and adults but the main protagonist is a teen. It seems that having a young character makes the story more accessible to younger readers and also allows for upward mobility, meaning young people and adults can enjoy the story.

Then I keep going back and think making this character too young won't fit with the way he interacts with other characters. So what then? Follow the pop-lit trend? Risk icing out a potential reader demographic? Am I over-thinking this? Probably. What if – wait, I have an idea...