How graphic is too graphic?

yellosharpie · Jun 14, 2009

In terms of language f-words or no? Graphic language as referring to sex and just general banter? Also sex, just making out, hinting at the actual thing, or is it alright to go into slight description leaving out talk of specific anatomy?

I would have read books when I was a teen that included things like that but just wondering what the general consensus was.

Zoombie · Jun 14, 2009

NOTHING is too graphic!

NOTHING I TELLS YOU!

All graphicness does is change your market. So don't worry about your book. Just WRITE IT and then decide who to sell it too later.

gonovelgo · Jun 14, 2009

I've never read a YA novel that I thought went 'too far', and that includes all the ones I read when I was an actual 'YA'. I wouldn't worry about it unless you're planning on doing something really extreme, in which case I'd reconsider it regardless of your target audience.

yellosharpie · Jun 14, 2009

Well then on with the sex scenes

Zoombie · Jun 15, 2009

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet!

I have like, a billion sex scenes.

No, wait, it only feels that way.

Becky · Jun 15, 2009

To quote Red.Ink.Rain:

Repeat after me: Teens can handle everything adults can. And if there are a few who can't, then they won't buy your book. Simple as that.

If you write the book, you can figure out who you're aiming it at after. YA varies widely - if a few teens feel your writing is too much for them, they won't buy it. Most teens can handle a lot more than people think they can! Take a look at a YA book such as "Forever" by Judy Blume. It has sex scenes and swearing and it's still a YA book read by a lot of people. (I have a feeling it may have been on a banned books list at some point. But never mind.)

kaitlin008 · Jun 15, 2009

Do whatever you want. As long as it's not there just to make the book look 'edgy'. Not that I think this is what you're doing, but I will actually roll my eyes if I'm reading something and it's obvious to me that the writer is just trying to make themselves look like they know what teens get up to by including sex or drug use. But if it does fit, there doesn't seem to be much of a limit.

(FYI there's a stickied thread at the top of this board that would answer this question for you

For future reference.)

Rachel · Jun 15, 2009

I agree with Katilin. It has to have a purpose. But teens can handle pretty much anything we throw at them.

yellosharpie · Jun 15, 2009

I'm probably going to include things that will be considered edgy, but it shouldn't seem contrived because some of the things will be based on actual events. I'm not planning gratuitous sex scenes for the sake of sex hopefully it comes across right. thanks for the input

wandergirl · Jun 15, 2009

I might be quoting the unpopular opinion here, but I tend to disagree when people call YA & adult books exactly the same. I honestly don't think they've read enough adult books.

Maybe the majority of (older) teens can handle everything adults can, but the genre can't, at least for now. There's simply a lot more gratuitous/explicit sex and violence in adult books -- enough that there are entire genres called erotica and horror. Sure, YA horror is fine, but scroll down a few threads -- we just had trouble coming up with more than a few contemporary YA horror novels. And sex in YA is also fine, but never gratuitous sex; and even when the camera doesn't turn away (Little Brother, Anatomy of a Boyfriend, etc.) it's still not porny or even graphic.

If you disagree with me, go get The White Hotel by D. M. Thomas and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (both literary, not horror or porn). Then, maybe after the nightmares have stopped, try to tell me that sex/violence in YA parallels adult novels.

Red.Ink.Rain · Jun 15, 2009

Becky said:
To quote Red.Ink.Rain:

I haz been quoted! *feels special*

Personally, I do not freak out when I read f-bombs. I do, however, get annoyed when it seems that said f-bombs are there just for the heck of it. I hate reading a book where every other word is a swearword; it's like too many adjectives or adverbs. A few are very effective; too many and the story gets bogged down in them.

Becky · Jun 15, 2009

wandergirl said:
I might be quoting the unpopular opinion here, but I tend to disagree when people call YA & adult books exactly the same. I honestly don't think they've read enough adult books.

Maybe the majority of (older) teens can handle everything adults can, but the genre can't, at least for now. There's simply a lot more gratuitous/explicit sex and violence in adult books -- enough that there are entire genres called erotica and horror. Sure, YA horror is fine, but scroll down a few threads -- we just had trouble coming up with more than a few contemporary YA horror novels. And sex in YA is also fine, but never gratuitous sex; and even when the camera doesn't turn away (Little Brother, Anatomy of a Boyfriend, etc.) it's still not porny or even graphic.

If you disagree with me, go get The White Hotel by D. M. Thomas and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (both literary, not horror or porn). Then, maybe after the nightmares have stopped, try to tell me that sex/violence in YA parallels adult novels.

I'm not going to say that it parallels adult novels all of the time, because there are certainly some much tamer novels in YA. But there are also adult books that are tamer than some YA books, so I think it just depends which sector of the market - whether within YA or adult - the book is being aimed at.

I accept that gratuitous use of sex is restrained in YA, but isn't that a general rule in adult fiction too, excluding the genre that was made for gratuitous sex scenes - erotica?

Generally, I would say that however graphic your novel is - as long as it's not gratuitous - there will be a sector of the YA market interested in it.

Ctairo · Jun 15, 2009

If f-bombs make sense given the tone of the project, run with them. Otherwise, uh why? Just because you can, doesn't mean you should, but it's your call. Same goes for sex scenes.

Which is pretty much what everyone else has said. :tongue

How graphic is too graphic?

yellosharpie

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse

gonovelgo

yellosharpie

Zoombie

Dragon of the Multiverse

Becky

kaitlin008

Seeing newness all the time

Rachel

Stuff and nonsense.

yellosharpie

wandergirl

~kirsten hubbard

Red.Ink.Rain

Not your kid brother's YA

Becky

Ctairo

Why Isn't IGNORE Available in RL?