A few years ago I wrote a novel that's approximately 65k in length going by MS Word's word count. It's not a trunk novel, not that bad. But it needs some heavy editing.
Anyway, the heroine starts off at 16 years old and the book ends on her 20th birthday. To cut a mid-length story short, I'd classify it as romance/drama (as in family problems, parental divorce, blah blah...) I remember reading in this forum that young readers prefer to read about characters who are older than or the same age as them but is ending a book on the character's 20th birthday too old?
I've recently begun reading YA novels and realised, this book to which I'm referring isn't chick-lit at all - it could, I think, be re-written and marketed as YA.
So I guess I'm just running a few things by my fellow AW-ers, to see what you think.
There's mention of drug taking (in passing) and homosexuality (again in passing. One of the characters is gay but there's not much made of it. A girl makes a pass at him and can't figure out why he would dare say no). This is the one novel I wrote without using a single swear-word.
There's mention of sex, or rather, it's hinted at. The MC loses her virginity but the scene stops at the bedroom door and shows her emotional state afterwards (deep regret, seeking advice from a responsible adult).
It seemed a bit 'junior' to be chick-lit when I finished it but you know what they say, write the book you want to read. I did, but it didn't seem to fit into romance, or adult chick lit...anyway, does that sound like YA to you, as regards the length (it'll probably be somewhere round 60k after I juggle about with a few chapters) and subject matter?
Anyway, the heroine starts off at 16 years old and the book ends on her 20th birthday. To cut a mid-length story short, I'd classify it as romance/drama (as in family problems, parental divorce, blah blah...) I remember reading in this forum that young readers prefer to read about characters who are older than or the same age as them but is ending a book on the character's 20th birthday too old?
I've recently begun reading YA novels and realised, this book to which I'm referring isn't chick-lit at all - it could, I think, be re-written and marketed as YA.
So I guess I'm just running a few things by my fellow AW-ers, to see what you think.
There's mention of drug taking (in passing) and homosexuality (again in passing. One of the characters is gay but there's not much made of it. A girl makes a pass at him and can't figure out why he would dare say no). This is the one novel I wrote without using a single swear-word.
There's mention of sex, or rather, it's hinted at. The MC loses her virginity but the scene stops at the bedroom door and shows her emotional state afterwards (deep regret, seeking advice from a responsible adult).
It seemed a bit 'junior' to be chick-lit when I finished it but you know what they say, write the book you want to read. I did, but it didn't seem to fit into romance, or adult chick lit...anyway, does that sound like YA to you, as regards the length (it'll probably be somewhere round 60k after I juggle about with a few chapters) and subject matter?
