I have a daughter in 6th grade, who is suddenly facinated with scary stuff. Being that I don't want her to watch slasher movies and be subjected to stuff I would find inappropriate. I have finally agreed to write her a "scary" story. My first attempt at this. I genarally go with fantacy stuff.Anyhoo, I need some advice. Does anyone know what the page count or word count per chapter should be for a Ya Mystery/thriller book? From what I have seen in what I have allowed her to read. standard is about 150 pages for book, Does that sound right?Also what are your thoughts on a 6th to 7th grade book dealing with several deaths within the book? It's not slasher stuff, It's about a boy that is discovering that he has the gift of foresight. (the third eye) What so you think? Too strong a subject matter?Thanks for any advice you can offer.
YA mystery/ thriller question.
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Well, to start off I would question if this is really YA. Grade 7 is kind of gray area, but I think you have two options here: Do a YA book with an older protagonist (grade 9 at the youngest) that could appeal to a wide age range (grade 6+, maybe) and include darker content, or write a MG mystery that's more of the light and fun variety. I think generally genre fiction for middle grade readers is expected not to be too serious.
Having said that, perhaps this isn't genre fiction. Perhaps it's not a thriller so much as paranormal or even literary? How do you deal with the deaths? Are they murders (part of the plot) or do they deeply influence your MC? The more 'depth' your story packs (while still being accessible) the darker it can probably be. If you want it to remain more mainstream, I would suggest putting it in the YA category.
As for word count, 30,000 - 70,000 is about norm for MG (it seems to be getting longer all the time) and YA is 40,000 + (roughly).
Sounds like you have some neat ideas. Good luck with this
Having said that, perhaps this isn't genre fiction. Perhaps it's not a thriller so much as paranormal or even literary? How do you deal with the deaths? Are they murders (part of the plot) or do they deeply influence your MC? The more 'depth' your story packs (while still being accessible) the darker it can probably be. If you want it to remain more mainstream, I would suggest putting it in the YA category.
As for word count, 30,000 - 70,000 is about norm for MG (it seems to be getting longer all the time) and YA is 40,000 + (roughly).
Sounds like you have some neat ideas. Good luck with this
Fun stuff. I remember (guilty pleasure confession here) reading a pathetic amount of Christopher Pike and Lois Duncan at that age--even though they're older I bet they're a still a good resource for feeling your way around the genre. One favorite I remember was Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall (I think).
chicken warrior-
to answer your questions. The MC is 15, so hopefully it will appeal to a wider range. As far as the deaths go, One is a stranger his first experiance of the foresight. Another is his dog, the third is the man in which is teaching him the craft predicts his own death. This is the second MC, an older Cajan man that uses channel writing as part of his craft. He speaks in riddles. It is not until the end of the book that you understand that the glimp's of the boys dreams and the riddles that the cajan man has said throughout the book are the prediction of the mother, whom the boy is very close to being killed (car accident.) This death is almost nessesary for the boy to fully except his gift in order to remain in communication with the mother.
That is the part which I think might be to extreme, Yeah know? Oh and I personally cannot go to mainstream. I am too far out of the box myself.
Thanks for the advice guys.
to answer your questions. The MC is 15, so hopefully it will appeal to a wider range. As far as the deaths go, One is a stranger his first experiance of the foresight. Another is his dog, the third is the man in which is teaching him the craft predicts his own death. This is the second MC, an older Cajan man that uses channel writing as part of his craft. He speaks in riddles. It is not until the end of the book that you understand that the glimp's of the boys dreams and the riddles that the cajan man has said throughout the book are the prediction of the mother, whom the boy is very close to being killed (car accident.) This death is almost nessesary for the boy to fully except his gift in order to remain in communication with the mother.
That is the part which I think might be to extreme, Yeah know? Oh and I personally cannot go to mainstream. I am too far out of the box myself.
Thanks for the advice guys.
My first novel was a YA fantasy that I wrote for my children. I learned an incredible amount from the experience, but I never found a publisher.
It's not unusual for your first novel to be more of a learning experience and less of a future best seller. If you're writing this for your daughter, I'd say tailor it to her. Make it perfectly suited to her tastes, her age, her background. Enjoy the process, and create something that she will treasure for years. Then, when it's finished, you can try to find a market for it, but if it doesn't sell, oh well. If it does sell, then WOOHOO!
Best of luck.
It's not unusual for your first novel to be more of a learning experience and less of a future best seller. If you're writing this for your daughter, I'd say tailor it to her. Make it perfectly suited to her tastes, her age, her background. Enjoy the process, and create something that she will treasure for years. Then, when it's finished, you can try to find a market for it, but if it doesn't sell, oh well. If it does sell, then WOOHOO!
Best of luck.
yeah, this is'nt the first one I have wrote for her, infact several. Her favorite is one about a mirror she finds in her attic that she was meant to find, it belonged to her in every lifetime she's had, and through it she is able to meet all of her past/future lives. That one I geared only toward her and would never try to sell.