What age is young adult and where does Adult begin?

[drybonesreborn]

My work seems to shift between 16-20 year olds. Not to say that I don't write when my age was of such, but it's obviously not k-12.

What's a typical teen book vs Adult book like besides graphic violence or sex scenes?

Do you have to make it more violent to be adult?

[suki]

My work seems to shift between 16-20 year olds. Not to say that I don't write when my age was of such, but it's obviously not k-12.

What's a typical teen book vs Adult book like besides graphic violence or sex scenes?

Do you have to make it more violent to be adult?

There are a lot of threads on this topic. If you go into the YA forum, here:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=117
There are threads on what constitutes YA fiction and what goes in "edgy" YA fiction.

But, generally, and while it is somewhat debatable, IMO, anything except extreme violence and extremely graphic sex will fly in YA if appropriate to the story and well-executed.

As for if you have to make it more extreme for adult market? IMO, no. It's more about themes and POV, than graphic-ness. There are a whole lot of "adult" books I'd give a PG or even G rating, despite being books meant for the adult market, and a lot of YA books I'd give an "R" rating, by movie standards. So, it's more theme, POV and what the characters experience, than graphic-ness.

I say, write what you write, and then decide where it fits.

But, if you are really interested in figuring it out, taking a look at the threads in the YA forum may offer some insights, as would going and reading a good amount of recent upper-YA books, as to what may be marketable as YA.

good luck.

~suki

[BigWords]

I read an article a while ago that mentioned a competition-of-sorts some YA writers had amongst themselves to see who could be the first to get anal sex into their YA book. I'm sure I'm missing out on some great stories...

[bagels]

I read an article a while ago that mentioned a competition-of-sorts some YA writers had amongst themselves to see who could be the first to get anal sex into their YA book. I'm sure I'm missing out on some great stories...

For what it's worth, Hero by Perry Moore comes very, very close (and I'd actually say that fetish porn crosses that line).

[BigWords]

I might just start reading YA to see how much people are getting away with. Things sure have changed since Enid Blyton.

[Toothpaste]

I might just start reading YA to see how much people are getting away with. Things sure have changed since Enid Blyton.

They sure have. Enid Blyton would not be remotely considered YA now. It would be categorised as MG (middle grade). I wrote an essay on what I call "The New YA" (http://ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-ya.html) over at my blog for those interested.

[Skye Jules]

I might just start reading YA to see how much people are getting away with. Things sure have changed since Enid Blyton.

YA isn't that much different from adult now. I would know. I write and read it. The only difference is the age of the characters. And people aren't getting away with anything anymore because it's acceptable to put anything in YA now--so, you can't technically get away with anything if it's acceptable. You can put anything in YA that you can put in adult. What makes YA YA is the age of the characters, not the content. Also, YA has to have some coming-of-age thing with it.

[LOG]

I read an article a while ago that mentioned a competition-of-sorts some YA writers had amongst themselves to see who could be the first to get anal sex into their YA book. I'm sure I'm missing out on some great stories...

I don't understand, what do you mean, 'first' to get it in?

[suki]

I read an article a while ago that mentioned a competition-of-sorts some YA writers had amongst themselves to see who could be the first to get anal sex into their YA book.

You mean that reactionary diatribe (The children! Think of the Children!) against the horrors on mainstream YA?

Actually, that bar has already been crossed, several times over, and the anecdote sounded contrived...given how many YA books already have anal sex in them...

~suki

[BigWords]

I don't read YA, and the article was from a non book-centric site. I've been looking for where I read the piece, but I tend to save pages rather than bookmark them... I'll have another look when I get back from my course this afternoon.

ETA: It was the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1198485/Rape-abortion-incest-Is-CHILDREN-read.html) website where I saw the article, so (as with all of their propaganda) it bears no relation to reality. Yeesh, I though it was a serious website I saw the article on, but apparently not...

Funniest thing I've read in weeks. :)