When writing fiction for 12-18 years olds what's ok and not ok?

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linfred4

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I am enter a contest and I am writing a fiction and I don't know if what I am writing is to graphic or not.
I was going to have my god daughter read it since she is 12 soon to be 13 and would know. But I also know what great adv you guys give!
So, what is too much graphic's w
hen writing fiction for that age group?
 

Lady Ice

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KGOY- Kids Growing Older Younger. So probably a good idea to make your protagonist at least 14, if not 16. 12 year olds are not quite teenagers but they are anticipating becoming them. What genre is it?

I'd probably avoid probing too far into more adult subjects, especially if it's a comedy. Passing references would suffice (I'm sure 12 year olds know what drugs are). Anything involving a great deal of emotional maturity probably ought to be avoided-12 is too young for most people to fully appreciate very difficult situations unless they've been in them and you don't want them to get the wrong idea. But then again, this is your story.
 

linfred4

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I write Mystery/Thriller/Suspence, I can give you a taste of what i am thinking if you would like? There is two story I am trying to see witch one would be good!
Let me know.
 

Sage

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There are actually quite a few threads on what's acceptable for teens and preteens. Check out the stickies at the top of the YA forum.

You should definitely decide which age group you are writing for. What's acceptable in YA is not always going to be acceptable for MG (middle grade). 12-18 is a very large age range that includes both MG and YA.

Teens and tweens read up, so assume that whatever age your protagonist is, the readers will be a year or two younger. If your 13-year-old character is saying the F-word a lot, it's not really going to go over well. If your 18-year-old character is, bring it on. ;) Similar thoughts are going to be on the level of violence, swearing, sex, and substance use.
 

Sage

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Or you could just wait around for me to add some links from the non-existent FAQ

Is my novel too edgy? (including what's acceptable, will it get banned (and is that a bad thing), and whether we have a responsibility to not include sex, drugs, violence, swearing, drinking, etc. without some kind of lesson about it)

Shady's Edgy YA
What Constitutes YA Fiction
Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult: How do you categorize your novel?
Yes, your characters can have sex
Pet Peeves in YA lit
YA novel with slight homo-erotic overtones
May I join the club? (starting page 2)
Swearing
Curse Words in YA....for 10yrs and up ---
Teen novels
Would this turn off teens (about age difference for teen romance)
Should we be aware of the message
Edgy or Not? (is really more about specific WIPs)
I require assistance (killing at school done by the protagonist)
Ah, feels good to be home
YA Book Banning
Homosexual predator
YA books
YA or just read by YA
How much tragedy is too much???
The Best (and edgiest) YA out there
How dark can YA be?
Romancing Dilemma (homosexuality)
Pops! and Borders (sex)
Appropriate or not for Young Adults (terrorism)
Edgy YA Fantasy - Any books like this out there?[url]
[url="http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39389"]YA books involving alcoholism[url]

Is my novel not edgy enough?

[url="http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124779"]"Purity" Teen Fiction: a new genre/style?

Sick of Edgy YA???
Bubblegum Writers

What age should a YA protagonist be?

What Constitutes YA Fiction
What Should You Remember When Writing YA?
Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adult: How do you categorize your novel?
St. Martin's Press contest (This is actually about New Adult, which is post-YA, but it deals with whether it belongs in YA or not and what to do with those twenty-something protags)
young adult books with adult protagonist?
New Adult - determining target audience
20-year-old protagonist?
Could my book be YA?
I'm not sure if what I'm writing is YA

What age is YA targeting?

What Constitutes YA Fiction
What Should You Remember When Writing YA?
Pet Peeves in YA lit (age discussion on page 3)
YA novel with slight homo-erotic overtones (touched upon a few times)
Curse Words in YA....for 10yrs and up ---
YA Word Counts
Appropriate or not for Young Adults
 

linfred4

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Thanks, Sage some of what i wanted is in what you left here. But I am worried about being to detailed in what happens to someone, like if someone is getting attacked by something. I think that is mostly what I worry about. I really wnat to write for 16 and up not any younger but when I was checking this contest out it was close to what i want to do but the age is 12 to 18.
 

Sage

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linfred4

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Hi, Sage

I could send you a bit of the middle page and get your info on it. I already know the grammer sucks and i am working on that. Plus this is just a rough copy.
Let me know if you want to read I could post it here.
Talk with you soon.
Also thanks again for the info you ahve been great help :)
 

Danthia

12-18 is two age markets. What an 18 year old reads is NOT what a 12 year old reads. Standard market breakdown is 9-12 is middle grade (sometimes you see 7-12), 10-14 is upper middle grade, 13+ is young adult.

Knowing which market will help in knowing what's appropriate. YA can do anything pretty much adults can do, and that's too much for middle grade. UMG, can go either way depending on the topic.
 

linfred4

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(Sage) But of course if anyone wnat's to tell me what they think this would be great :)

This is in the middle of the story and I am just giving you guys and taste of what I am writing, oh and please remember this is a rough copy and my grammer I know I need to work on it.

I watched as Carl left, half of me wanted to go and get him but knew we need to think of a plan and head up.
“OK, Kiel what is your plan?”
He pulled out a sheet of paper with drawings on it “Now I was talking to Jillian on the phone on the way here and she did adv me that this thing has been here for years, it moving from the other family here is just weird but this is where it all started from. See Molly, was a little girl she had an older sister that was not all there and she loved to play but not like us or kids. She would take things a part dead or live, her father being a doctor he did tests on her and her sister. Sad to say they both were killed by him then the sheriff and the town killed the doctor because he was testing other kids!”
Sophy, looked at him “You mean he was petafill?”
He just nodded “Now, when Carl comes in we can ask him”- “ Now, I think if you need to talk to him you need to treat him with respect he did give us the ground! I know, you are here to help but he is the sheriff!”
Kiel, just nodded again!

As we made their way back to the step's Kiel looked back at his team “OK, everyone no matter what you see or hear you must keep going!”
We headed the up the steps slowly, the coolness of each step we took!


James, looked down at his stomach and saw blood on his shirt!
“Why, are you doing this?”
He grabbed his stomach, and reached for the door handle with his other hand!
“Because it's fun, you know if you just let it you will think it's fun too!”

James, opened the door and when he did he felt such pain inside his stomach!
“Oh, God help me!”
He made it to the top step's, we looked up and saw him!
“James!”
I screamed out, I wanted to run past everyone but Kiel looked back at me and shook his head!
“Oh Sophy, it hurts! It's like something is ripping through my stomach!”
He lifted his shirt, we could see scratch marks on his stomach and blood pouring from it and it was like something was moving around inside. When Kiel reached him James fell into him “Oh, help me!”
As he said that blood started to pour out of his mouth!
“Make her stop!”
When he said that we could hear laughing and the door to the kids room slammed shut! Even the door down stair's to the outside slammed shut too!
“OK, everyone this is it. No turning back now!”


I was talking with Ray when I saw the door slam shut and Jillian yelled for us to come over to see what she is seeing!
“What's wrong Jillian?”
When Ray and I reached her we didn't need her to tell us, we saw the video in the living room! It was Molly and she was dancing with something in her hand!
“Is that a Doll?”
“Yes, I am seeing that too!”
She got closer to the video camera and then bent down so we could see her face and it changed, her eyes and that smile just put chills down my spine!
 

MGraybosch

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I am enter a contest and I am writing a fiction and I don't know if what I am writing is to graphic or not.
I was going to have my god daughter read it since she is 12 soon to be 13 and would know. But I also know what great adv you guys give!
So, what is too much graphic's w
hen writing fiction for that age group?

I'll admit that I don't do YA, but I figure that if it's NSFW (Not Safe For Work) then it probably doesn't belong in YA fiction.
 

suki

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I'll admit that I don't do YA, but I figure that if it's NSFW (Not Safe For Work) then it probably doesn't belong in YA fiction.

Since you "don't do YA" you might be surprised to know that you are probably wrong about this... ;) Many many things that would not be "work safe" in my workplace would be tame in contemporary YA novels.

Again, read the stickies, or, you know, the multitude of threads Sage has been kind enough to post links to. ;)

And maybe I'm just cranky today, and of course anyone can post responses to anything on AW, but it always strikes me as odd that folks who don't read or write YA will hazard guesses on what is acceptable in the genre. :)

~suki
 

Marzipan

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I'll admit that I don't do YA, but I figure that if it's NSFW (Not Safe For Work) then it probably doesn't belong in YA fiction.

Wrong. No probably about it. Just flat out wrong lol.
 

Shady Lane

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I stopped reading YA when I hit puberty, so it's quite likely that the standards have changed in the last 20 years.

Okay...congratulations on growing out of YA.

Maybe this isn't the forum for you. Just sayin'.
 

Sage

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What's funny is I've been listening to YA audiobooks at work, and when the guys cleared out of the lab we're using, I've been giving my ears a break by putting it on speakers instead of my headphones. Yeah, I figured out really fast that this was not a good idea (just because the guys working in the same room weren't around didn't mean that nobody else was walking around the lab sometimes)
 

linfred4

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Hey, Sage

Did you happen to read a bit of the story I post on here for you to read? I just wanted your input. Plus I am so Happy I just got e-mail and they want to get together and talk about my story. So i am pretty happy :)
 

bertrigby

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linfred, your content doesn't seem to be too graphic to me. You may want to take a look at your punctuation, though, in addition to your grammar. I think you mean 'paedophile' as well.
 

linfred4

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Hi, Bertrigby

Thanks, I am thinking its not too bad. I know my grammar needs work but that will come too. I also will be changing my punctuation once i am done the story and I start to edit it. Thanks again :)
 
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