Adoption

[subtletylost]

The main character of my story gets adopted in the first few chapters. Is it necessarily bad that the main plot of the story focuses on how this affects her life, school and friendships?

I have a lot of little subplots dealing with things like why the main character doesn't talk, why the parents (two women who are married) decided to adopt in the first place when growing up neither really wanted kids, what happened to the birth parents (the mc admits they were murdered, but it isn't until she's adopted that anyone really tried hard to figure out why), and some other things that I haven't gotten to yet.

 

[The Judge]

I think it depends on what kind of book you are wanting to write. There are countless novels out there dealing with family relationships in all their various forms, and in modern day or historical settings. If you're writing a genre novel it might be a little trickier. There are still SF and fantasy novels where family relationships are important, but I think having it as the main plot in an SFF setting is going to be a harder sell. Personally, I'd make the main plot what happened to her parents and the detective story of her uncovering the truth behind their murders, which could work equally well in any genre you wanted, and in that way her adoption and its ramifications are important, but are sitting behind the main plot.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I can't see how it's bad if it makes the story work.

 

[Parson]

As a reader I can say that even in a genre novel I wouldn't find the idea of adoption being a central feature of the story would discourage me in any way. What makes a story work is the story and how much a reader can buy into the characters.

 

[tinkerdan]

There are many good stories that begin with orphans and what they have to endure. Charles Dickens is a great source of outstanding children characters and not all are orphaned. I have to say for the times that he had a number of outstanding female characters.
I would recommend
Oliver Twist
David Copperfield
Little Dorrit
and Dombey and Son
for the development of good characters.
And as some have begun to mention good characters will put the shine to any plot you tangle them into.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

The Old Curiosity shop ...

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Bottom line - it's a big event for her. It should be part of the focus.