Starting my YA with sex/heavy petting/rudies!

LadyA · Jan 28, 2012

Is it a total agent turn-off? I thought the perfect start would be the MC getting found with his teacher in a...compromising position, which is the catalyst to the book, or having the book start with him sneaking off to meet her, then having sexy-time and getting caught. I know it's fine to have sex in YA books, but is it really awful to start a YA book with it?

p.s. This isn't the teacher-pupil male rape book I talked about on a previous thread - that's been put on the back burner until I can do it justice.

missesdash · Jan 28, 2012

I think it's one of those things that may seem contrived. I only mean sex in thievery first line. I have sex about four paragraphs in and had no problems.

So a tiny tiny bit of set up would help distinguish it from people so desperate to open with a *bang* that...well, you get the point.

LadyA · Jan 28, 2012

missesdash said:
I think it's one of those things that may seem contrived. I only mean sex in thievery first line. I have sex about four paragraphs in and had no problems.

So a tiny tiny bit of set up would help distinguish it from people so desperate to open with a *bang* that...well, you get the point.

So if I started it with him sneaking off to meet her? Then it would start with tension...

missesdash · Jan 28, 2012

LadyA said:
So if I started it with him sneaking off to meet her? Then it would start with tension...

Yeah, I'd say that's okay. Especially if it's an important event andnotjust sex (mine was just sex lol).

nitaworm · Jan 28, 2012

I would say don't start it with a sex scene. The build up of how the mc feels about getting ready to commit the deed would give reader insight into the character. Also, not just how agents would take it, but parental readers, librarians, teachers etc.

missesdash · Jan 28, 2012

nitaworm said:
I would say don't start it with a sex scene. The build up of how the mc feels about getting ready to commit the deed would give reader insight into the character. Also, not just how agents would take it, but parental readers, librarians, teachers etc.

It's definitely the publisher's job to worry about parents, teachers and librarians. Worrying about adults (who don't work in publishing) when you write for teenagers is self defeating.

inspiredbymusic · Jan 28, 2012

I'm pretty sure (without actually looking at it) that The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things opens with a make-out scene, and if I remember correctly, it works very well.

Niiicola · Jan 28, 2012

I'm definitely not a prude, but I have to say I'd be a little thrown if the first sentence in a book was people getting it on. TBH, I'd like to know a bit about the characters first, so at least a little bit of set-up would help. That said, one can pull off just about anything if it's done right.

Smish · Jan 28, 2012

One of my favorite first lines of all time is from The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler:

Froggy Welsh the Fourth is trying to get up my shirt.

Sage · Jan 28, 2012

It all depends on how it's done. And I really like the idea of starting it off with leading up to the sex (the sneaking off to meet her part) because you get to meet the character a little before the act.

eyeblink · Jan 29, 2012

Look at the opening scene of Kody Keplinger's Shut Out.

KateSmash · Jan 29, 2012

eyeblink said:
Look at the opening scene of Kody Keplinger's Shut Out.

Good example.

The first line/scene/chapter sets up the tone for the rest of the novel, and often sets up the conflict too. So if I picked up a book that began with sex, I would expect a lot of the plot to sort of revolve around it. Not necessarily the act, but I expect sex to have a big presence one way or another.

Alternatively, since the catalyst is them getting caught, you could very well start with someone discovering them in lieu to the act itself. Would make for one hell of a hooky first line if done right.

lady_K · Feb 2, 2012

It depends on the agent. Some agents are more open to edgy YA, but there aren't many of them. You're list will probably have to be narrowed.

rendezvous_with_leon · Feb 2, 2012

I think it would be okay as long as, like everyone else has said, you don't open right up with "so yeah we were fucking" but you build up to it a little bit.

The_Ink_Goddess · Feb 3, 2012

KateSmash said:
Good example.

The first line/scene/chapter sets up the tone for the rest of the novel, and often sets up the conflict too. So if I picked up a book that began with sex, I would expect a lot of the plot to sort of revolve around it. Not necessarily the act, but I expect sex to have a big presence one way or another.

Alternatively, since the catalyst is them getting caught, you could very well start with someone discovering them in lieu to the act itself. Would make for one hell of a hooky first line if done right.

Yep, this.

Lauren Strasnick's SOMEONE LIKE YOU has one of my favourite first line hooks ever, though, and it kicks off straight AFTER the sex scene that begins the conflict (MC has sex with another girl's boyfriend). I think it literally begins with the guy zipping up. But, in this case, it was vitally important and the fact that we never saw it was almost more important, since the whole plot revolves around it. Such as with THE EARTH, MY BUTT... example upthread, that book revolves almost exclusively around Virginia's fear of her own body and her inability to have a proper relationship with Froggy as an offshoot from that. Also, that's a pretty tame example, in that there's no actual sex in the book.

LadyA · Feb 4, 2012

Thanks for everyone's replies - in the end I decided to go with my alternate beginning, a couple of days after the pair have been found when his nice-but-vain older brother gets beaten up by some other pupils glad to have the excuse (i.e. we didn't like you anyway, and your brother's twisted, sort of thing, they're pretty small-minded). Here it is in YA SYW if anyone's interested: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236334

What can I say - I love my sex 'n' violence

Starting my YA with sex/heavy petting/rudies!

LadyA

Always lurking, never posting...

missesdash

You can't sit with us!

LadyA

Always lurking, never posting...

missesdash

You can't sit with us!

nitaworm

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missesdash

You can't sit with us!

inspiredbymusic

Niiicola

Twitchy

Smish

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Sage

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eyeblink

Barbara says hi

KateSmash

this was a triumph

lady_K

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rendezvous_with_leon

The_Ink_Goddess

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LadyA

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