fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3307 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3307 ⌋

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

All of you writing folk here, what's your take on it?

I was wondering.
Like, is it the magic? Is Tolkien YA?
Is it the love triangle stuff?
Is it the often female authors?
Is it that the main characters are of a certain age?
Is it just a label, a marketing choice? Often kinda kitschy cover art?

I'm writing original fiction for the first time in years and I was wondering, after a friend asked me, whether it's young adult fiction or plain urban fantasy. (Main Characters are between 20 and 30, three narrators, two of them girls under 25. Magical (evil, demonic) elements, though only reluctantly acknowledged by the main characters. Violence with sometimes strong erotic undertones.)
I was aiming at Kushiel meets The Hunger (the lesbian vampire movie), but is that YA?

The age of the characters for me. The mains are usually less than 20 years old (16 seems very common). Also that is doesn't get too erotic or vulgar.

Its the teen girl mooning over the pretty boy, or the angry 14 year old bro who is going to learn he is a secret bad ass without effort or training. That is what makes YA novels.

That's one trend of YA novels that have broken out or become known, because at a time they sold really well.

In my YA section I've seen stories without romance, stories about teens dealing with illness, dealing with death some horrible reality of life, solving some mystery of a long lost sibling who disappeared. A lo of those don't get the attention they deserve which is really sad.

That's like saying what makes fantasy is Tolkien-esque hero's journey stories about fantasy and wizards ad elves and a mystical Chosen One.

It's mainly marketing.

You probably couldn't do explicit sex or really over-the-top gore, though.

Well, no. You cannot market a novel where the protagonist is a 45 year old guy as YA, even if there's no explicit sex or gore. It's the age of the main characters.

*Vocabulary level and PG-13 content. Not a lot of explicit violence, and any sex is a fade-to-black.

*Main Characters are 14-20 (young adults), and readers from 12-18 will generally relate to the events/relationships. Sibling relationships are big, and first loves.

it's the age of the characters and if the story explores issues that people that age go through

the ages of your characters would put it in New Adult or just adult (so you'd probably just call it urban fantasy)

This is YA fiction:

I grip my books to my chest as I walk through my new school. I look up and see a beautiful boy. He has sandy hair and green eyes. He smiles at me when I walk by, and I bite my lip. Hie friends give me dirty looks, and I walk faster. Why would I ever think a popular boy would like someone like me?

Or if the summary reads like this, it's YA:

Jaymee's life was perfect. She has a boyfriend, a dog, and perfect grades. But then a tragedy strikes. And suddenly Jaymee's world is crumbling. Luckily Daymn is there to save/help/rescue her.

(reply from suspended user)

Age of the main character, reading level, and marketing seem to be the main thing.

Two YA books I can think of with no romance are "Briar Rose" by Jane Yolen and "Breathe" by Donna Napoli.

Age of the characters and length of the novel, mainly. Publishers have actual guidelines for what they consider to be YA, and a key point of that is main characters who are no older than 17.

[ SECRET POST #3307 ]

What exactly makes a story YA fiction?

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Re: What exactly makes a story YA fiction?

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Re: What exactly makes a story YA fiction?