Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Young Adult Guidelines?

This is topic Young Adult Guidelines? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :

I've been hijacked by this story and I'm not able to write anything else at this time.

I'm thinking that this story might be more appropriate as a young adult fantasy. Nothing I've written so far is inconsistent with that. Well, I might have to tweak one thing.

But I've never specifically tried to write young adult. My questions are:

What is the appropriate length? I'm thinking it's probably a little shorter than adult fiction.

What level of detail is appropriate? There is some unavoidable sex and violence. I don't have to show anything explicitly. But when the main character gets pregnant, well, there'd better be at least a hint that something like that was possible, don't you think?

Are there any other guidelines I should be aware of?

Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :

I think you can't go wrong with an 80k YA novel. There are bigger and smaller ones, but I think 80k is about the right amount.

The biggest thing I hear from both adults and kids about writing for kids is don't talk down to them. And don't let the adults in the stories solve the kids' problems. Let the kids work it out (however old - I read/write mid-grade on up.)

I think for level of detail around sex, violence, and things like pregnancy you're going to have to pick up a few YA in the subgenre you're aiming for and see how they handle those themes. I suggest choosing works published in the last 5 years or so, as it's something I've noticed has changed over the years. I do think that alluding to things and glossing over details will increase marketability of your work, but like I said - things have changed a lot in the last few years, you may be shocked at what is out there in print.

Good luck with this story. I can understand being hijacked by a story!

Posted by Gan (Member # 8405) on :

quote:
What is the appropriate length? I'm thinking it's probably a little shorter than adult fiction.

The YA fiction I've read is typically between 200-300 pages. This might not be the standard, but its what I've seen.

quote:
What level of detail is appropriate? There is some unavoidable sex and violence. I don't have to show anything explicitly. But when the main character gets pregnant, well, there'd better be at least a hint that something like that was possible, don't you think?

There's a book called "Looking For Alaska", by John Greene. It's not very violent, but it has quite a bit of sex, or things pertaining to sex. It's labeled as young adult.

quote:
Are there any other guidelines I should be aware of?

Not that I know of.

[This message has been edited by Gan (edited January 20, 2009).]

Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :

Thanks. I'll have to take a look. Other than Harry Potter, I haven't really read much that I would consider young adult.

I didn't even read young adult stories when I was one.

But this story feels like it might easily go in that direction.