Old People Writing for Teens, IV

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Smiley0501

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Awww.

I just mean, the way it is written into YA nowadays is just....too much and unrealistic. I'm sure your FH didn't drop everything for you right?
 

justbishop

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Awww.

I just mean, the way it is written into YA nowadays is just....too much and unrealistic. I'm sure your FH didn't drop everything for you right?

A little, lol. He worked 7am-5pm, and I worked 4pm-2 or 3 am. He would stay up and hang out with me when I got off of work, and got made fun of a lot when he napped in the break room on his lunch hour. There wasn't much else to be dropped aside from work. His friends back then were D-bags.
 

Smiley0501

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Damnit. I was trying to make a point here! :tongue

On positive notes - I just added like 100 words to a scene and got some feedback from a friend (on , literally, drop of the hat). Yay!
 

Stiger05

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Seriously, though. He told his Mom that I was the girl he was gonna marry when he got home from our first date :)


My hubby and I were similar. We both knew after 2 weeks we would get married. We didn't tie the knot for 3 years though, and we were 21 and 22.

The kind of love Smiley is talking about that's so popular in YA right now is what I'm sick of. Two 16 year olds meet and instantly know they're meant for each other and would give up everything just to be near each other.
 

Smiley0501

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I'm at 52,640 words :D Only 360 words to go before 53,000 words! Wo0t to making headway to upping my wordcount :snoopy:
 

mellymel

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it was instant for me and my husband as well. I hear a lot of people hating on the instant love thing or trashing the idea of a soulmate, but perhaps instant love is not the right word? Maybe instant attraction that can quickly (but not instantly) turn into love? I mean, the attraction/chemistry between me and my husband was immediate. We saw each other across the floor in a dance club and we've been together since. :D

Sometimes I think it's easy for people who have never experienced that kind of instant attraction ("love") to say it's unrealistic or doesn't exist. It's like people saying ghost don't exist until someone has an experience of it themselves. However, what you described in that book (the scene you whited out) does annoy me because it makes no sense (for the reasons you mentioned) and therefore it makes the situation forced and an obvious way of sticking these two characters together. I mean, it's kinda like Adam and Eve and the apple tree or Pandora's box. It just makes no sense.
 

Smiley0501

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Oh I definitely think it can happen in real life however I don't know how realistic/common it is to the kind in YA novels lately. (i.e Bella/Edward in Tw!l!ght, Violet/Jag in P0$$3$$i0n, etc)
 

mellymel

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My hubby and I were similar. We both knew after 2 weeks we would get married. We didn't tie the knot for 3 years though, and we were 21 and 22.

The kind of love Smiley is talking about that's so popular in YA right now is what I'm sick of. Two 16 year olds meet and instantly know they're meant for each other and would give up everything just to be near each other.

Again, I think this is typical behavior/mentality for a lot of teens and something a lot of teens can relate to. Not all but many. It has become pretty gimmicky and tiresome in YA literature, but obviously teens (the intended/average audience) are devouring this kind of thing. *shrugs*
 

lisalulu09

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Ahem, I wasn't.

ETA: Going to bed now. Goodnight. :)
 
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Smiley0501

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Again, I think this is typical behavior/mentality for a lot of teens and something a lot of teens can relate to. Not all but many. It has become pretty gimmicky and tiresome in YA literature, but obviously teens (the intended/average audience) are devouring this kind of thing. *shrugs*

LOL "the intended audience"

Wait....you mean to say WE'RE not the intended audience? ;) :tongue

I am just so tired of insta-love, and love triangles. I'm just...done with romance in YA novels at this point. Ironic since I write YA novels with heavy romantic plots.
 

mellymel

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haha :tongue:

Yeah, that's probably what it is. it's the romance element you are done with (or at least with it being the center of the story). I mean you can only do it so many ways, ya know? LOL Otherwise the whole book has to be about the development of the relationship and how it turns to love. So much easier and quicker for an author to make them fall in love instantly so we can get to the plot of how this new relationship turns the MC's world upside down. :D But that is why I loved Perfect Chemistry so much. I love how complicated the romance in that story was. Gah! Love that story so much. I'm a sucker for the bad boy from across the tracks interracial hot steam sexy complicated relationships. LOLOL
 

Smiley0501

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Definitely. I read 2 YAs that were not romance centric - Things A Brother Knows (omgsogood) and The False Prince (high fantasy). Both were excellent and had little to no romance. It. Was. Awesome! :D
 

mellymel

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I'm assuming you've read Graceling, yes? that book was FANTASTIC. There was a romance element to it, but it never felt like it was the center of the story even though it sort of was. Well, I guess because it wasn't instant, but man, that story was just perfect in every way.
 

Aslera

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I found Bitterblue hard to fall into, though I thought the worldbuilding was stronger in Bb than in Graceling. I cannot even express how much I love Fire. As a book, as a character, as a story, as having multiple strong, good hearted, well developed, complex characters. I never thought I'd ever feel so much empathy for a character who slept around and acted selfishly.

In other news, I'm handwriting this current contemp WIP and it's going so much easier because it's a lot harder for me to censor the first draft when I just WRITE.

In bad news, I sense a lot of me in this narrator. I think there's a bit of me in all my narrators but I worry a bit, that it's too much, you know?
 

parumpdragon

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I'm at 44k on book #2. Almost done. Another battle scene and all is well ;)
 

justbishop

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My hubby and I were similar. We both knew after 2 weeks we would get married. We didn't tie the knot for 3 years though, and we were 21 and 22.

The kind of love Smiley is talking about that's so popular in YA right now is what I'm sick of. Two 16 year olds meet and instantly know they're meant for each other and would give up everything just to be near each other.

The LI in my WIP has known he and the MC were meant for one another ever since they met in third grade...eek!

I'm at 52,640 words :D Only 360 words to go before 53,000 words! Wo0t to making headway to upping my wordcount :snoopy:

I'm at 44k on book #2. Almost done. Another battle scene and all is well ;)

*high fives you both!*
 

JKRowley

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On the topic of insta-love. I think it exists. I have seen it happen. When I met my dh, I knew in the first week I would marry him. It took him a bit longer to figure that out. Twenty years later, I wonder about those decisions made by my 19 year old self. LOL. He has always been the more reasonable of the two of us.

In teen literature, I think it is annoying because I know teen girls are just waiting for love, and perhaps define themselves by getting a date to the prom, finding love in any way they can, make it a goal. In reality, it is much more beneficial not to get swept away by a hot guy (who might want to eat you) and develop personal goals first.

I hate the love being everything perception, because it isn't. Although I have read that your choice of a spouse accounts for the majority of your happiness in life. That is a heavy choice that should be considered wisely. It shouldn't, however, be the choice that defines your life.

Soapbox aside, I love the idea of a playlist for a novel. I have three boys and treasure silence, but a little music is good too. I am just too lazy to set that up when I steal some moments to write.
 

Dorothy

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Invest in some good headphones, perhaps, Jill? (re: playlists to your writing) :)

Headphones get me into trouble. Someone eventually yells at me that they were trying to call me downstairs to ask or tell me something VITALLY important and I didn't hear them. How dare you, Mom! LOL Or the phone rings or there's a package being delivered and of course *I* have to be the one to sign for it.

Or, you know, someone breaks something. ;)
 

Dorothy

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My sequel now stands at 13K. I'm holding off on adding more to it until after my editing round. Kind of nervous about how much work I probably have ahead of me with edits. But hey, it's all part of the process, so it's okay. My editor said "Wednesday" - and that's today. So if you don't hear from me for a while, you know why, lol.

No, I'm sure I'll pop in to get a chance to breath now and then. ;)
 

x_Kathy_x

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*peeks in*

I haven't been here in ages, but I just had to point out that Mellymel has a crit for auction up on my blog. YAY!
http://kathybradey.blogspot.com/

BE HERE NOW writer's auction

Along with Mel, there are upcoming auctions for critiques from...
La.ura Tim.s (intern at FinePrint Lit)
Ta.ryn Al.bright (intern at Movable Type Lit)
Su.zie Town.send (agent at Nancy Coffey)
Sus.anne Win.nacker (author of THE OTH3R LIFE)
Ka.ra Tay.lor (author of PREP SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL)
Min.dee Arn.ett (author of THE NIGHTMARE AFFAIR)
and many more!

Btw, congrats on your book deal Dorothy! :) A friend of mine, Nicola Marsh, is also being pubbed with Month9Books. :)
 
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