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Q&A Would it be believable to defy demographics in a story?

My story is set in the US. Would it be believable to the reader if I deviated from the norm that is also supported by demographic data? How many of the following deviations can I get away with? ...

1 answer  ·  posted 5y ago by iamtowrite‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:23:55Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43678
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar iamtowrite‭ · 2019-12-08T11:23:55Z (over 4 years ago)
My story is set in the US. Would it be believable to the reader if I deviated from the norm that is also supported by demographic data?

How many of the following deviations can I get away with?

- A female character marries an older guy and have a child before she's 23. Assume this happened in the early nineties (we had Palm PDAs then, not smartphones). 
- A male character from a well off mainstream family marries and has a child before he's 22.
- a 34-year-old male to enlist in the military (maximum is 35 for Army, 34 for navy and marines).
- A 47-year-old man to have two consecutive children. That is happening in the nineties.
- Finally, a female character falls in love and is to be engaged at age of 20.
#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-17T23:06:50Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 3