Things to avoid in YA?

Zelenka · Feb 2, 2008

At the moment I'm working on plotting a project (actually a complete from-scratch rewrite of a 100,000 word MS) and I'm starting to think, just based on the new 'feel' the plot has taken on, that it might be a YA book, and perhaps that's what it's always meant to be and why the first drafts didn't work. My MC is in his late teens (I'm thinking 17 at the moment or thereabouts) and although the main plot is a fantasy / otherworld sort of thing, a big subplot in the story is the pressure the MC's under to work in his family's 'business', whereas he's watching all his friends and neighbours carrying on at school and able to do what they want (or so he sees it), and how he's never really had a chance to find out who he is because there's always been this idea of what he should be based on his family background (I know, that probably sounds really cliche and dull at the moment but I am just starting out in getting things set down

)

Anyway, I've never written YA. Although I read a lot of YA fantasy, I've never really looked at it in terms of 'what makes this YA rather than adult'. I've read a few threads here, including the edgy one, but I wondered is there anything that should be avoided in YA? Or any advice on things like voice or style - is it right that I should just write the way I would normally write?

Any help greatly appreciated. This is quite a scary prospect, stepping into new territory!

melaniehoo · Feb 2, 2008

Funny you should ask. I don't write YA but I did read this blog post regarding the most common things that appear in YA:

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2008/02/ya-top-25.html

They made a point to say these aren't necessarily BAD things, just things that writers use when they want to be unique, not realizing many others use them, too.

Good luck!

Sage · Feb 2, 2008

As a matter of fact, Kristin Nelson just posted a list of the top 25 things found in YA novels. It's actually from another site and she's reposting it, but anyway, here's the link.

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2008/02/ya-top-25.html

ETA: Darn you, melaniehoo and your faster fingers

Zelenka · Feb 2, 2008

Lol, thanks guys. It's a good list. Luckily I think I only have #12 so far and none of the others would fit in with this, however I shape the plot from here.

Moonshade · Feb 5, 2008

I had to laugh while reading the list. Thankfully, I'm guilty of only two things--the raised eyebrow and calling the parent(s) by the first name. Oops, actually three, one of my characters had a scar through his eyebrow, but I think I deleted that from my manuscript... I can't remember anymore since I'm knee-deep in my next novel.

Viral · Feb 5, 2008

*reads through the list*
# 5 – Raising one eyebrow

Bah bah bah! I do that in real life XD

Charlie Horse · Feb 5, 2008

I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not as none of the things on this list (well maybe the dead mother) has ever occured to me.

Hapax Legomenon · Feb 5, 2008

I'm a walking YA cliche according to that list, so

But there are two things to avoid in YA.

1) Adult protagonists (it looks like you've got that one down)

2) Condescension. That's the worst offender.

Anthony Matias · Feb 5, 2008

That's a great list! I might be guilty of #14. Sorta.

BTW Sage. Love Sara Bareilles!

Hopcus · Feb 5, 2008

Oh no...

I made it through almost the whole list (I'm thinking: Yay Me! I'm unique!) and right before I get to the end I see it---redheaded best friend. How about this rationalization: I doesn't count because I am a redhead. Does that work?

Hapax Legomenon · Feb 5, 2008

Hopcus said:
I made it through almost the whole list (I'm thinking: Yay Me! I'm unique!) and right before I get to the end I see it---redheaded best friend. How about this rationalization: I doesn't count because I am a redhead. Does that work?

I fit six or seven of these IRL. That's not an insubstantial number.

Sokay don't say anything.

Shady Lane · Feb 5, 2008

#22 – A tiny scar through the eyebrow, sometimes accompanied by an embarrassing story

# 20 – A beautiful best friend who gets all the guys but doesn’t want them

#15 – Main characters named Hannah and making a note of it being a palindrome

# 7 – Fingernail biting

# 6 – Characters who chew on their lip or tongue in times of stress – usually until they taste blood

# 5 – Raising one eyebrow

# 4 – Main characters who want to be writers

# 2 – Best friends with red hair

Assuming I am the main character, the following are true about my life.

eyeblink · Feb 6, 2008

I've got a redheaded protagonist - does that count?

OverTheHills&FarAway · Feb 6, 2008

Hannah/Hannah--maybe this is your own personal Mary Sue test?

Charlie Horse · Feb 6, 2008

Haphazard said:
But there are two things to avoid in YA.

1) Adult protagonists (it looks like you've got that one down)

2) Condescension. That's the worst offender.

I'd wager that a good majority of YA books have adult protagonists. I know when I was a teenager just about every adult I came in contact with I considered to be a protagonist. I'm not sure that should be on a list of things to avoid becuase it works so well. I suppose you could say avoid being cliche about it, but to avoid it altogether? That's like someone in another thread warning against using the word 'it'.

Hapax Legomenon · Feb 6, 2008

Charlie Horse said:
I'd wager that a good majority of YA books have adult protagonists. I know when I was a teenager just about every adult I came in contact with I considered to be a protagonist. I'm not sure that should be on a list of things to avoid becuase it works so well. I suppose you could say avoid being cliche about it, but to avoid it altogether? That's like someone in another thread warning against using the word 'it'.

Excuse me? I meant as main characters. YA stories typically have main characters (protagonists) that are teenagers along with a primarily YA supporting cast. I didn't mean that there can't be adults on the MC's side. In fact, I'd say it's more cliche to make all adults TEH EBIL.

You're writing a story for teenagers and generally about them, so I'd say you should have a teenage protagonist, yes. If you have an adult main character, then I'd wager that you're not writing YA anymore.

Charlie Horse · Feb 7, 2008

Haphazard said:
Excuse me? I meant as main characters. YA stories typically have main characters (protagonists) that are teenagers along with a primarily YA supporting cast. I didn't mean that there can't be adults on the MC's side. In fact, I'd say it's more cliche to make all adults TEH EBIL.

You're writing a story for teenagers and generally about them, so I'd say you should have a teenage protagonist, yes. If you have an adult main character, then I'd wager that you're not writing YA anymore.

Sorry, I got mixed up there for a little bit.

Never mind.

bethany · Feb 7, 2008

In case anyone else is confused, Hap's right. The MC should be a YA, themselves. or perhaps themself. I myself may be confused.

bevmacrina · Feb 7, 2008

Confusion is a way of being. I myself spend most of my life confused and enjoy it. But not about YA having teen main characters. I've always heard that adults should be minor characters at best, whether they're on the MC's side or neutral or on the 'other' side.

These days, other than the list, I don't think there's anything to 'avoid' in YA. And dead mothers is a cliche, apparantly. When I mentioned it to an editor, she groaned, rolled her eyes and just about hit me. So I gather that this is a really bad thing.

Zoombie · Feb 7, 2008

Does pink hair count as a sub-set of red hair?

Cause she's got naturally pink hair. Wait, can you say naturally when you're talking about a cyborg?

Is it okay if the mom is dead because the house was blown up?

Cause, other than that, I'm in the clear.

Well, one character bites his lip, but not *that* often.

Er, I think I might be worrying over nothing...having most of these things is impossible because my story takes place on a planet devouring spaceship...

So far, however, the only adults are 2 space lizards, a few giant insects, a woman with horns and a tail who's monosyllabic and a hilariously overdressed ex-history professor playing at being intergalactic crime lord.

Though, there are only three kids...

Sage · Feb 7, 2008

One of my Fti girls has reddish hair, and the MC has brown hair with pink streaks. There are only so many (natural) hair colors, so with two blondes, one brunette, one girl with black hair, the last being reddish-brown seems okay to me.

bevmacrina · Feb 7, 2008

Zoombie said:
Does pink hair count as a sub-set of red hair?

Cause she's got naturally pink hair. Wait, can you say naturally when you're talking about a cyborg?

Is it okay if the mom is dead because the house was blown up?

Cause, other than that, I'm in the clear.

Well, one character bites his lip, but not *that* often.

Er, I think I might be worrying over nothing...having most of these things is impossible because my story takes place on a planet devouring spaceship...

So far, however, the only adults are 2 space lizards, a few giant insects, a woman with horns and a tail who's monosyllabic and a hilariously overdressed ex-history professor playing at being intergalactic crime lord.

Though, there are only three kids...

I suspect with that cast, you can get away with the dead mother, the pink hair and the biting lip. Nobody's gonna notice them in the rest of the plot. Sounds really intriguing.

timewaster · Feb 8, 2008

JessRamage said:
Lol, thanks guys. It's a good list. Luckily I think I only have #12 so far and none of the others would fit in with this, however I shape the plot from here.

There is quite a big range of books marketed at YA and, I think, some difference between US and USA.
Don't recognise any of those features on the list at all - but I mainly read UK stuff in the Fantasy sub genre.

I don't think there is a definitive answer to your question. There is often more of a subtext in YA fantasy
than is necessary in adult stuff. I think you have to be more disclipined with the writing generally in that it has to have a certain pace. You don't have to make concessions on language, subject matter or complexity but the story's treatment has to feed into concerns and emotions that are relevant to the target age. ( You can have adults in it and they can even be the protag, as long as their concerns make sense to the reader.)
If you read YA you are probably OK because it is often the case that you can recognise the appropriate tone even though it is quite hard to define.

timewaster · Feb 8, 2008

[
You're writing a story for teenagers and generally about them, so I'd say you should have a teenage protagonist, yes. If you have an adult main character, then I'd wager that you're not writing YA anymore.[/quote]

The successful 'Montmorency' series by UK author Eleanor Updale has an adult protag and is marketed as a children's book. 'Biggles' my personal childhood favourite was a grown up.
It is more usual to have a teenage protag as editors think teenagers empathise more easily with younger people and their concerns.
Like pretty well everything else in writing there are no absolute rules.

Things to avoid in YA?

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And thus we begin the edits

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