Monday, October 18, 2010

YA Writing -- No Preaching Allowed!


As many of you know, I've been struggling with a particular set of suggestions that don't seem to mesh with the other critiques I have gotten on my latest MS.  It is the nature of our beast for us writers to dissect every comment and suggestion, often trusting others judgments over our own.  That changed for me this weekend, and I owe that debt of gratitude to one Julie Duck.  I’d been so lost in my own manuscript that I’d forgotten how truly remarkable and amazing it is when an author, like Julie, truly manages to capture the YA voice.  

Many of us YA authors, like myself, are mature adults with families and responsibilities. We've got a lifetime of experiences to guide our choices -- a lifetime our MC's have yet to live!  It is hard but critical for us to keep our mature perspective of the world out of what we are writing and/or beta reading.  Take my latest MC – she’s seventeen and has been diagnosed with a cancer.  Now as a parent, I'd be concerned about treatment options, and medical insurance, and whether or not there is enough money to cover the cost of drugs, and the mortgage, and groceries.       

I venture to say that a seventeen-year-old girl/MC who is academically, athletically, and socially active would be less concerned about affording her next meal or paying rent.   She’s more apt to focus on things like the loss of her hair, weight loss and body image, whether her friends will see her differently, school, and of course her boyfriend's reaction to her failing health.  Do these things seem trivial to me, a thirty-plus woman with bills to pay and mouths to feed?  Sure, but I'm not a teenager, and I'm not the MC. 

Will our teenage MC’s make some choices that we as adults think are idiotic and in many cases cruel and/or selfish?  Absolutely!  Will they use language that is crude, choose only to think of themselves, and be completely clueless as to how the real world actually works?  Of course.  They are teenagers after all – they do know everything!  The key to amazing YA writing is lending credence those bad choices and letting the MC’s chips fall where they may.  Remember this YA writing – no preaching allowed!

8 comments:

  1. I agree! Relevance is so important as is credibility. You have caputred what I think a teen's biggest fears would be when confronted with the situation. I was a teen once and I thought I knew everything...heck, I still do!

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  2. Well in your case, Natalie, you do know everything. I bow continually to your superior knowledge LOL!

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  3. Duh- Nathalie does know ALL! You said it right- we as adults have FAR different fears, so I think you are getting right on what a person that age would be scared of. If you remove the house, the bills, and the groceries, what is there to worry about?

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  4. I know that perspective is one I struggled with in one of my YA novels. However, I haven't had the same problem with writing middle grade, and I'm not sure what that says about me, haha.

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  5. Man, Trisha!

    Thank you for the mention. I am blushing (like a teenager). Um, can I beta for you when you're ready? Please? Please? Please? LOL! Seriously, please?

    - Julie

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  6. Terrific post! So true - we have to be honest about our characters :)

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  7. Good post Trish. Now I don't feel so badly about my immature moments - maybe they are good for my writing:)

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