Writing YA novels (1)
Young adult fiction is a popular and well read category of fiction in the literary world. Mostly because of the audience it is directed at ,at the style of writing, as well as the bright and shiny and colorful and attractive features of most Young adult novels.
The Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age.While the genre is targeted to teenagers, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate with the age and experience of the protagonist. The genres available in YA are expansive and include most of those found in adult fiction. Common themes related to YA include friendship, first love, relationships, and identity. Stories that focus on the specific challenges of youth are sometimes referred to as problem novels or coming-of-age novels.
Young adult fiction was developed to soften the transition between children's novels and adult literature.
Early authors whose works appealed to adolescents in the 19th and 20th century include ,CS.Lewis(author of Alice in wonderland), Enid Blyton,Mark Twain,Astrid Lingren etc.
In the 1950s, two influential adult novels, The Catcher in the Rye (1951) and Lord of the Flies (1954), which were not marketed to adolescents initially, still attracted the attention of the adolescent demographic.
The modern classification of young-adult fiction originated during the 1960s, after the publication of S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders (1967). The novel features a truer, darker side of adolescent life that was not often represented in works of fiction of the time,and was the first novel published specifically marketed for young adults as Hinton was one when she wrote it. Written during high-school and published when Hinton was only 16,The Outsiders also lacked the nostalgic tone common in books about adolescents written by adults. The Outsiders remains one of the best-selling young adult novels of all time.
The 1960s became the era "when the 'under 30' generation became a subject of popular concern, and research on adolescence began to emerge. It was also the decade when literature for adolescents could be said to have come into its own". This increased the discussions about adolescent experiences and the new idea of adolescent authors. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, what has come to be known as the "fab five" were published: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), an autobiography of the early years of American poet Maya Angelou; The Friends (1973) by Rosa Guy; the semi-autobiographical The Bell Jar (US 1963, under a pseudonym; UK 1967) by poet Sylvia Plath; Bless the Beasts and Children (1970) by Glendon Swarthout; and Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White, which was awarded 1973 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery by the Mystery Writers of America. The works of Angelou, Guy, and Plath were not written for young readers.
Publishers began to focus and week for "adolescent literature". The 1970s and the 1980s were described as the golden age for young adult literature.
The first novel in J.K. Rowling's seven-book Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. The series was praised for its complexity and maturity, and attracted a wide adult audience. While not technically YA, its success led many to see Harry Potter and its author, J.K. Rowling, as responsible for a resurgence of young adult literature, and re-established the pre-eminent role of speculative fiction in the field,a trend further solidified by The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The end of the decade saw a number of awards appear such as the Michael L. Printz Award and Alex Awards, designed to recognize excellence in writing for young adult audiences.
The category of young adult fiction continues to expand into other media and genres: graphic novels/manga, light novels, fantasy, mystery fiction, romance novels, and even subcategories such as cyberpunk, techno-thrillers, and contemporary Christian fiction.
Many young adult novels feature coming-of-age stories. These feature adolescents beginning to transform into adults, working through personal problems, and learning to take responsibility for their actions. YA serves many literary purposes. It provides a pleasurable reading experience for young people, emphasizing real-life experiences and problems in easier-to-grasp ways, and depicts societal functions.
An analysis of YA novels between 1980 and 2000 found seventeen expansive literary themes. The most common of these were friendship, getting into trouble, romantic and sexual interest, and family life.Other common thematic elements revolve around the coming-of-age nature of the texts. This includes narratives about self-identity, life and death, and individuality.
Writing a young adult novel
Writing a young adult novel is tricky ,difficult and simple at the same time.
You have to write something that appeals to young adults.
Also bear in mind what kind of young adults you are writing for?
Have solid characters with strong voices.
Have a strong solid story
Young readers like descriptions, pay attention to details.
Don't leave out lessons to be learnt.
Have a main character that is relatable to.
Whatever genre you want to encompass in your young adult novel, make sure it doesn't tamper with the way your novel appeals to the young reader.
The most important thing is to have an insight and to understand what the young adult's mind and world is.
Never be too serious.
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