And so it begins

I should be asleep, but I'm not.  I'm wired on caffeine and I'm posting on my blog...what could possibly go wrong?  :D

So I've been thinking (insert joke here) about the possibility of story involving my stuffed animals from my childhood.  I'm really starting to get into it.  The more I think about it, the more it seems like a possibility (at least in theory).  Whether or not it happens is another thing.  However, I have a lot of characters already developed, a world developed and even some plot ideas.  From what I've read on writing, that is a big part of creating a story. ..Characters, World, Plot.

However, there are some things that I've been trying to decide on.  I have a good idea of which way I want to go, but I want to write down everything so that I can see it and maybe it will solidify, or change, my idea.

Ok, here it goes:
All of the main characters (a.k.a "Good guys") are made up of my toys from my childhood.  Their personalities, names, relationships, and jobs would all be maintained from the stories that we created as children.  This will not be altered no matter what I decide for the rest.

Question 1: Is it a story for children or not?  My biggest concern with having it be a child's story is that I may not be able to capture everything I want to in just a few words.  Most children's stories are under 1000 words for picture books.  Novels for older children can be longer, but can I tell the story I want to tell in that space or will I not be able to get the complexity I need?  Adult novels have more flexible and their complexity is greater, but then the question is, can I make a story about talking toys/animals believable enough for an adult audience?  This is the biggest decision I will have to make.
Question 2:  Do I keep them as stuffed toys or do I make them real, living, creatures?
Question 3:  Keep the original world idea or change it?


These three questions are what is really slowing me down.  Obviously, they are the most important.  If I can't answer these questions, I won't have a story.

Here is what came to mind as I was driving home today...err....yesterday as it is now after midnight...
Answer 1:  I'm leaning toward an adult story.  I find it humorous to think of a stuffed animal cussing out another stuffed animal...which answers question 2...also, I will have more flexibility with the story/concepts if I gear it toward an older audience.
Answer 2:  I will keep them stuffed...gives a whole new meaning to "beating the stuffing" out of someone... :D
Answer 3:  I'm still waffling on this one.  Originally, they lived in a terraformed area of Antarctica.  This is fine, except that having it in the real world means dealing with the real world.  However, if I had a toy uprising where all the toys got together and took over the world (insert evil dictator toy) and then all of the remaining (i.e. surviving) humans would either be slaves or live in the south kingdom with the "good" toys.  It has possibilities...

That's all for now.  This is starting to get interesting.