Ilima Todd had a wonderful post today for Y (yearning) which sums up that feeling in YA that I love to remember and love to recreate.
Jenny Kaczorowski had an interesting post last week, asking writers to take a minute to consider who they write for and it really got me thinking about why I choose to write YA. To be honest, I didn't really choose - it chose me. If you primarily read or write YA, why did you make that choice?
Once the decision has been made to write YA, it's not enough to just sit down and write that teenage story that's been bouncing around your head for the past x number of years. YA has it's very own guidelines, some amazingly concrete, and they need to be followed. So which are the rules which can't be ignored? As far as I can tell:
1) age of the MC (14 - 17)
2) POV (first person or a super close third)
3) voice or perspective (it has to be the way a teen views/understands the world)
4) word count (50,000 to 90,000 - but of course, there are always exceptions. Just don't expect your MS to be one of them)
Other sources might argue that language and theme also come into play here, but I don't necessarily agree. To me, there's no topic that can't be covered in YA, it's just the approach (which comes down to voice and perspective) which needs to be adapted accordingly. Here are some additional viewpoints on what makes a manuscript/story YA:
Young Adult Novel Guidelines
Six Tips for Writing YA Novels
Top Ten Tips for Writing YA
Writing YA fiction for Dummies
And here are the opinions of some YA authors on YA and why they write it:
Writing YA versus Adult fiction - What's the Difference? by Susan Dennard (SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY)
10 Reasons Why I Write YA by Emlyn Chand (FARSIGHTED)
Challenges of Writing YA by Kait Nolan (RED)
So what do you think? Is there a pillar of YA, a golden rule, that I missed? What are the ultimate guidelines which can not be broken for you? And why do you write/read YA?
While I'm not generally one for rules, I do think that the four guidelines you listed here are good ones to keep in mind when writing YA fiction.
ReplyDeleteI don't like rules either, haha, but I guess there have to be some sort of guidelines to define a genre, and those ones aren't too objectionable :)
DeleteSee, I think there are two kinds of YA, smart YA, and stupid YA. Because of all the stupid YA out there, I'm super suspicious of it. I don't mean 'stupid' in terms of story or character or anything, but rather in terms of it sounding like something an adult wrote. If I'm going to read YA, it should sound like it's coming straight from a teenager's mouth.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! I can't stand reading something where the adult author shines through - it can feel like the narrator already knows everything better than all teenagers and can also come off a bit preachy. Luckily though, I don't think there's too much of that out there since most people writing YA are doing it for the love of the genre and not because they really love to write adult but heard that YA was the new big thing (which is what, in my opinion, results in exactly what you're talking about).
DeleteGreat post! I think this is one case where following the rules is actually a teeny bit important, just to make sure that what you're writing is relevant to teens.
ReplyDeleteFor me I think the trickiest thing is the voice/perspective. I think there's a really fine line between making characters' voices too realistic vs. too polished/grownup sounding. Or in other words too annoying/confusing vs. too stuffy. In a way this is a problem that transcends YA. I mean if you were to transcribe a conversation I have with my friends and stick it in a novel, it would likely sound ridiculous. "Holy night did you see that one thing?" "Dude, I can't believe-" "I know I was so amazed and just wow." "I can't handle it." "I know."
Does that even make any sense? No. Do I want to read that in a book? Not if the whole book is like that! But it's how the peeps talk (not just YA)! Anywho. I'd like to think that I've found a balance of blending reactionary speech like this with other, more well-thought out sentences. Does it read authentic? I hope it will!
I agree - there's no real place for most average conversations in a book, haha. So the balance between writing authentic sounding dialogue while still keeping the pace and readability right can be hard to master. Dialogue is one of those things that doesn't stand out to me as a reader when it's done well but can really draw attention to itself (in a bad way) and destroy a story for me when done poorly.
DeleteI think you pretty much hit the nail on the head with the YA guidelines. Though, I have seen protagonists as young as 12 in a YA novel (such as Amy Reed's Beautiful). I think a lot of it depends on the content and the journey that the protagonist takes.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree - if a 12 year-old is for some reason as mature as a 15 or 16 year-old and is dealing with themes older than they are (can't have a YA plot about a 12 yo chasing magic dragons and building forts) then it can totally work. The most important thing seems to be nailing the 14-17 yo level perspective.
DeleteI started writing about teens and preteens because I was a young person when I started seriously writing, and it would've made no sense to write about adults when I was in the 6th grade. Over the years, I've stayed with what's familiar, even though I also write about adults. When I was younger, I remember more fluidity of age in what was considered YA, with a number of protagonists who were under the age of 14. Maybe since I began writing so long ago, before the current YA trend, I've always considered my books to be more about characters who happen to be young than specifically YA. And since I write historical, I've begun having doubts about whether my books are really YA. Young people, even earlier in the 20th century, had more adult roles and responsibilities earlier on, and even if the character is still depicted as a teenager where it really counts, modern teens might have difficulties relating to someone who's, say, engaged at 16 or shouldering a lot of the household burden at 14.
ReplyDeleteThat does sound like a tricky thing - if the voice isn't YA, even if the main character is 16, then I don't think the genre could be considered YA. But, in a historical novel like that, maybe age wouldn't come up as a specific number. If the character is considered an adult in his/her world and bears the responsibilities/perspective of an adult, then the reader would probably think of them as an adult without ever really setting a specific age for the character.
DeleteI write YA because the people in my head are primarily teenagers, and they keep me up nights if I don't write their stories down. IOW, it chose me, too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Pam above - the mc's age can go a little lower if the content is still YA, though that's an exception. And like you said, most of us are not the exception.
And I think (and read somewhere) that the reason even adults love YA is because the best coming of age stories happen in the teen years. And also, teens just FEEL so much more intensely. Adult emotions sometimes dull or get rounded off due to life and circumstance and paying bills... teens are just beginning - it's exciting!
Definitely - I think every adult likes to remember the good parts of being a teen (first date, first kiss, first love, the intensity of every new feeling)...and either forget about the rest, or laugh along knowingly at the rougher patches, glad to have them in the past.
DeleteYay, wonderful post and resources! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGlad you found them helpful :)
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