The next big thing
- Thread starter Windcutter
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I decree the next big thing: Teenagers who run away from home to break into the top secret Gate Facility, where the US government has hidden away our Stargate. They then go on a planethopping sightseeing tour through the galaxy, for kicks.
This just got posted on io9... Thought you guys might like.
10 ways to update the Peter Pan story that wouldn’t suck
http://io9.com/5865155/
10 ways to update the Peter Pan story that wouldn’t suck
http://io9.com/5865155/
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All the people that said scifi nailed it. The Hunger Games is slowly revving it to life; there just needs to be one breakout book to kickstart the entire genre into motion.
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I don't know how big they were, but I read the first few and absolutely loved them. They weren't really a "retelling", but they were like a prologue to the original "Peter and Wendy", telling how Peter could fly, and what Neverland was, and who Tinkerbell was, and so on and so forth.
The Star Catchers are supposed to be prequels to the original play 'Peter and Wendy' (you know with the Darling Children Wendy and John and Michael and such), it involves the origins of both Neverland, Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, it involves fallen stars and "star dust" which causes all kinds of weird mutations which cause Neverland and it's inhabitants to come about....they're...okay/fun kids adventure novels, completely not canon by any means but a lot of fun. I heard a couple years ago Disney was tossing around the idea of adapting them to movie to make them a prequel to their Peter Pan, but nothing ever came of it sadly.
(BIIIIIG Peter Pan fan >_> I have yet to see that ScyFy series!)
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THG isn't sci-fi; it's classed as dystopian, which was what kicked off that trend in a HUGE way. Sci-fi is gaining steam with books like Across the Universe and such.
I really am doubting my ability as an educated writer considering how long it took for me to get that....
The sky is no limit. We've been to the moon
(Though with the end of NASA and the ISS, that might change...)SF. Especially cyberpunk, too. The twenty-first century is going to bring cybernetics. Which means what used to be SF will become realistic social criticism.
Maybe, anyway.
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Here is what I think the next big things are based on all the unpublished works I've been reading online:
Mermaids
Pirates
Superheroes, oh yeah, a lot of superheroes.
Mermaids
Pirates
Superheroes, oh yeah, a lot of superheroes.
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Ooh. Mermaids would be nice. I have a flesh-eating mermaid story that I started awhile ago but...never really finished it.
I have a super hero story but it will probably end up not being young adult. I have a very particular starting super hero in mind, and he's more like 25-30.
I am hoping the next big thing will be science fiction, but much of what I have read so far, the rumblings of the science fiction trend, have been underwhelming. On one hand, I think I am being too particular because I have read a lot of non-YA SF and it is different, but the first SF I ever read was YA, like Feed & House of the Scorpion. So there is a precedent.
I am hoping the next big thing will be science fiction, but much of what I have read so far, the rumblings of the science fiction trend, have been underwhelming. On one hand, I think I am being too particular because I have read a lot of non-YA SF and it is different, but the first SF I ever read was YA, like Feed & House of the Scorpion. So there is a precedent.
Mermaids flamed out a while back (before angels, IIRC, with so many coming in that some agents put them on their "do not want" lists. It's been several months, so the clamor (and likely flood of bad stories) has probably died down enough that a great mermaid tail ( had to say it ) could get through.
Superheroes seem to go up an down pretty regularly.
Sci-fi's poised to spring off the edge of dystopian, so it will probable spike if not become an all out trend.
had to say it ) could get through.Superheroes seem to go up an down pretty regularly.
Sci-fi's poised to spring off the edge of dystopian, so it will probable spike if not become an all out trend.
Pirates would be awesome. You could really play with the bad boy trend if you were writing about pirates.
I always seem to dislike trendy books, so my bet is on some genre that I dislike, heh.
Seriously though, it seems to me that dystopian is going strong, but I see more and more Steampunk-like books popping up. I believe if one of those gets really popular like Twilight or the Hunger Games, then Steampunk will become the next big thing--which I would LOVE. Finally! A genre I like being popular!
If it were up to me, I would have some more lighthearted, humor-ish novels. I'm tired of walking into the YA section and being overwhelmed by the blacks, dark purples, and blues in all the covers.
Seriously though, it seems to me that dystopian is going strong, but I see more and more Steampunk-like books popping up. I believe if one of those gets really popular like Twilight or the Hunger Games, then Steampunk will become the next big thing--which I would LOVE. Finally! A genre I like being popular!
If it were up to me, I would have some more lighthearted, humor-ish novels. I'm tired of walking into the YA section and being overwhelmed by the blacks, dark purples, and blues in all the covers.
Boneshaker is supposed to be a really good book and they're making a movie out of it already. I think it's steampunk. I don't know if it's YA, though; from the sounds of the plot, it's more of an adult book that appeals to YA.
RANDOM ILLOGICAL THOUGHTS
Are there more sci-fi/dystopian/fantasy writers than contemporary? Can anyone hazard a guess as to why fantasyish trends - mermaids, angels, dystopian - seem to die out and over-saturate, while recycled contemp plots like I FEEL SOOOOO OVERSHADOWED BY MY BIG SISTER or MY BOYFRIEND IS DEAD AND I CAN'T MOVE ON or EVERYONE WISHES I'D DIED INSTEAD OF MY SISTER/MOTHER/FRIEND don't?
Are there more sci-fi/dystopian/fantasy writers than contemporary? Can anyone hazard a guess as to why fantasyish trends - mermaids, angels, dystopian - seem to die out and over-saturate, while recycled contemp plots like I FEEL SOOOOO OVERSHADOWED BY MY BIG SISTER or MY BOYFRIEND IS DEAD AND I CAN'T MOVE ON or EVERYONE WISHES I'D DIED INSTEAD OF MY SISTER/MOTHER/FRIEND don't?
It would be great to see Dark YA gain a bit of popularity. Something like YA crime thrillers, or psychological thrillers, or just psychological novels in general. I find the human psyche fascinating, and books that explore that would be pretty awesome.
@Emtock - I have yet to really enjoy a 'trendy' book (excluding HP) but I have tried - I even tried a paranormal romance (Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (sp) ) and the whole instalove thing put me off.
@The Ink Goddess - as a massive contemporary fan, while I think that some ideas/plots are used again and again, such as your examples, I think that there are plenty of original, interesting, and new stories to be told (and have already been told) with contemporary. Maybe the 'fantasyish trends' die out because everyone brushes off contemporary as bland and focuses on things like 'mermaids, angels and dystopians'.
@Emtock - I have yet to really enjoy a 'trendy' book (excluding HP) but I have tried - I even tried a paranormal romance (Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (sp) ) and the whole instalove thing put me off.
@The Ink Goddess - as a massive contemporary fan, while I think that some ideas/plots are used again and again, such as your examples, I think that there are plenty of original, interesting, and new stories to be told (and have already been told) with contemporary. Maybe the 'fantasyish trends' die out because everyone brushes off contemporary as bland and focuses on things like 'mermaids, angels and dystopians'.
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The trends don't really die out; editors get tired of them and look for "the next" thing in hopes of something new. There are still tons of readers wanting paranormal, even vampires and werewolves according to reader polls and interviews with teens (not just more by established writers, either).
I'd imagine it would be easy to burn out on a trend if you read 50-60 submissions that make your eyeballs bleed or say 20, out of which maybe 3 don't read like total clones.
I'd imagine it would be easy to burn out on a trend if you read 50-60 submissions that make your eyeballs bleed or say 20, out of which maybe 3 don't read like total clones.
Kriven
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Post proving that it's all about the quest to create the next big thing, and not always about hopping on the moneywagon.
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A bit of forum necromancy because it turns out I missed some replies in this one.
1) MC begins in the position of a more or less average person. None of them starts out as a member of any elite group.
2) MC enters a world that's new for them and they have to learn the new rules. It might seem like typical for storycrafting, but, say "a book about a guy who befriends his new stepbrother" would be different. Here the change is a journey = incl. literally.
3) MC has to choose between remaining in the old life or entering a new one. Harry going to Hogwarts, Bella can give up Edward, entering the game in HG.
Also, at some point there was a total craze for kitchen sink type urban fantasy in adult fantasy, I believe it crossed over.
*shocked into silence*
I can name a few things all those books have in common.
1) MC begins in the position of a more or less average person. None of them starts out as a member of any elite group.
2) MC enters a world that's new for them and they have to learn the new rules. It might seem like typical for storycrafting, but, say "a book about a guy who befriends his new stepbrother" would be different. Here the change is a journey = incl. literally.
3) MC has to choose between remaining in the old life or entering a new one. Harry going to Hogwarts, Bella can give up Edward, entering the game in HG.
Yes, definitely. Holly Black, Aprilynne Pike, Melissa Marr. Urban fairies, twisted fairytales.
Also, at some point there was a total craze for kitchen sink type urban fantasy in adult fantasy, I believe it crossed over.
Everyone mentions beautiful dead sisters in relation to YA contemporary and I don't know a single book like that. xd
I heard the same thing. Cinder seemed to do quite well, but I bet it was promoted as SF/dystopian instead. Which it is--it's more like a play off the tale rather than a retelling.