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My WIP focuses on a 15-year-old girl in the 1960's. Three years pass over the span of the story, in which the girl runs away from home, gets involved with drugs, and faces an important decision about abortion. I've always written in an adult literary-type prose, very character driven, and there's much much more narrative than dialogue. The language is unhindered and the sex (though brief) is explicit. The story contains very adult situations, though they are being seen and experienced through the eyes of a teenage girl who is coming slowly into adulthood.
In my original concept, I meant for it to be literary fiction. But there may be some aspects that appeal to teenage readers... I have no experience whatsoever with YA, and I wonder what differentiates it from literary? Would sex and harsh language make this story a no-no for the YA scene? Would the fact that it's about a teenage girl isolate it from the adult literary scene? Is word count a factor in any of this? (It's not complete but I'm aiming for 80-90K words).
Thanks for any advice.
In my original concept, I meant for it to be literary fiction. But there may be some aspects that appeal to teenage readers... I have no experience whatsoever with YA, and I wonder what differentiates it from literary? Would sex and harsh language make this story a no-no for the YA scene? Would the fact that it's about a teenage girl isolate it from the adult literary scene? Is word count a factor in any of this? (It's not complete but I'm aiming for 80-90K words).
Thanks for any advice.