Is it too much for a YA?

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Nonicks

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Hi!

By "too much" I mean describing a naked woman, for example?

Thanks for any advice!
 

spottedgeckgo

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Everything can be rearranged before going to print. If you are going the traditional route, then I would let the agent, publisher, and editors decide for you. They know the markets. YA spans such a vast area that it's hard to pin down the "rules." If you are talking about sexually explicit content, that would throw it immediately into NA, but I wouldn't worry too much about presenting the human form in YA. Just don't go overly descriptive with genitals.
 

Roxxsmom

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Depends on the book, the context, and on the purpose of the description. It also depends on the target audience among teenagers. What role does this description play in advancing the story or contributing to characterization? YA ranges from being quite sexually explicit to no sexual content at all.

Sexual content in YA isn't categorically taboo. It shouldn't be written the way one would write erotica, but that goes for non-erotica fiction aimed at adults too.
 
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MaeZe

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There is some nudity in the YA novel I'm writing. I address the subject of sex trafficking. I can't say it's been easy to write the relevant chapters, I'm still working on them. It is a subject that most teens know about, and some experience. I'm hoping it won't upset school librarians and parents, but I'm not worried about the readers.
 

spottedgeckgo

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If it does upset them, just get the news to talk about it. When Harry Potter came out, there was buzz about banning it from school libraries and talk of book burnings. I'm not sure how much of that was created by the publisher, and how much was organic, but the net result was that a bunch of people heard about the book that otherwise would not have.
 

CheesecakeMe

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I've read plenty of YA with full on nude on nude genitals rubbing against each other sex scenes. So no, I don't think describing a naked chick's going to rock any boats.
 

Nonicks

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Thanks, guys! It's definitely not 50 shades of grey, just a girl standing in her underwear and someone commenting on the size of her butt and breasts.
 
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Odile_Blud

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I'm not a professional at what constitutes as YA, but I think it depends on how your describing her. Teenagers are familiar with sex (I'm sure we all know that by now). Many of them are having it, if not, they are usually pretty curious or discovering their sexuality or something along those lines, so sex isn't something you have to worry too much about with teenagers (of course, this is coming from a twenty-something who does not have teenage kids herself, so parents might object). I think if you're going for a sexual sort of thing, it's probably best to keep in mind "less means more". Not that I don't think teens can't handle a naked body. They're well passed the age of cooties, but as far as parents go, some of them are a little stricter than others, and because of that, I'm not sure how well that will pass with an agent or publisher. But, again, I'm not certain about these things.

If it's for an artsy sort of thing, I think its fine. At that point, I think of it more like those sculptures you find in museums, and no ones hiding their kids from there, so I think it would be fine.
 

EMaree

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If you read widely in YA you'll see that nudity isn't a taboo, and it'll also give you some idea of how best to portray it. It's always best to know your genre.
 

Laer Carroll

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As others have said, not a taboo in YA. What IS essential is that you ensure your readers know why the scene is there: What does it have to do with the rest of the book?

It's also important that you make the emotional as well as plot context clear. Is this a friend whose criticism has been asked for? As when the near-naked woman has asked about whether she needs to sculpt her body, maybe for health reasons, maybe because she wants to work in a profession where she needs to body sculpt. Is it an enemy who's trying to make the woman feel bad about herself? An abusive husband, or a terrorist trying to make her compliant, whatever.
 

emstar94

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I don't think so!

There's sex/nudity in a fair few YA novels, including my own
 

tabathabell

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No, I don't think there's anything wrong with nudity in it, as long as you're not extremely descriptive of genitalia or anything. I think it's more along the lines of picturing the scene as if it were on the CW and then figure out what's appropriate.
 
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