Opinions Needed
So, I'm working on my story for Fiction Writing class and I'm trying to decide which story I want to workshop. I've narrowed it down to two, but I'm not sure which to submit.
The first is about two women - a 20 something office worker and her 16 year old sister. (Buffy and Dawn in my story Gotham Slayer you say? How dare you!!! But yeah... a bit.) Anyway, they have little in common and therefore not much to talk about, until one day a mysterious, gruff older man moves into their building. They begin to speculate about who and what he is. Basically, they are using the man, even though they have almost no actual interaction with him. Eventually it develops into a stalking situation as the gals need to keep “upping the ante” of their stories, trying to find out more and more about the man. Could work, but I'm not sure it'll hold my class's interest. The sisters' relationship feels awkward and strained at the beginning, which is the point, but still, it's a slow build.
The second contender is about an eighteen year old guy spending the summer between high school and college with the biological father he hasn't seen since he was 6. The father is a manly, ex military type and the son a somewhat effeminate, not-quite-openly-gay intellectual. The guy (currently named Andrew because I write way too much BTVS fic) is very earnest and emotional, and his father's nihilistic humor ends up not only rubbing off on him, but also helping him get over being dumped and outed in small town USA (the traumatic experience which led him to agree to spend the summer with the father he hardly knows in the first place.)
Now, this one has the chance of going over really well as the dad tells a lot of awful bawdy jokes but is secretly a complete sweetheart who just wants to connect with his son who, I think, shows a lot of strength of character. Frankly, I love this story. Points against it, however, 1) it's about a homosexual character and I go to school in Idaho. I don't want my class to get so caught up talking about the OMG-GAY! that they don't get around to giving me any constructive feedback on my writing. Also, it's written in present tense (works better with the jokes) which isn't my usual style and ultimately I want to get feedback on my writing style, not just this particular story.
I'm torn.
Thoughts?