Many writers focus on one particular genre. Mystery writers can choose from a plethora of subgenres: Cozy Mystery, Police Procedural, Hard-Boiled Detective, Soft-boiled Mystery, and Thriller, for starters. Sub-sub genres can include vampires or fairies or science fiction characters that meld with cops and robbers. But even with all these choices, mystery writers sometimes decide to branch out into a totally different genre, such as Young Adult fiction.
Stories in every genre hold a mystery, and mysteries remain at the top of my list for reading and writing. Yet all genres have unique appeal, with young adult fiction ranking high. Some of the articles concerning YA fiction writing are timeless in their information or advice. Much has changed in the marketing industry, but when writing novels for a specific genre the rules, guidelines, and writing process remain fairly solid.
As has my addiction to dark chocolate.
For those of you interested in or toying with the idea of writing YA, several timeless blog posts I've found interesting offer excellent advice for writing in the Young Adult fiction genre.
Links are included below.
Cherie Colyer wrote an article, Writing for a young adult audience, that gets right down to basics of audience, character development, and protagonist backstory.
http://cheriecolyer.blogspot.com/2016/07/writing-for-young-adults-audience.html
This is an interview of author Stacy Juba by author/interviewer Judy Penz Sheluk:
http://www.judypenzsheluk.com/2015/07/24/interview-with-an-author-stacy-juba/
plus: 10 YA Sports Novels for Teens and Tweens:
http://stacyjuba.com/blog/2015/07/20/ya-sports-novels/
Brian Klems welcomed teenaged writer Jamie S. Margolin to his blog site, The Writer's Dig, to discuss What NOT To Do When Writing YA Books:
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/what-not-to-do-when-writing-ya-books-advice-from-a-teen-writer
This is a post about the " Top 5 Dos of Writing YA Lit" on the WiseInkBlog (actually 4 with a "don't" included):
http://www.wiseinkblog.com/self-publishing-2/the-top-5-dos-of-writing-ya-lit/
And here are some writing tips from editors concerning authenticity, subject matter, and trends when writing YA:
https://blog.reedsy.com/editors-tips-write-young-adult-novel
With this information at my fingertips, I may decide to write a young adult mystery of my own. Of course, this will require a whole new mindset and a willingness to take myself back to the days of my youth. Maybe I'll begin by stocking up on chocolate - and rereading a good YA novel by a fellow mystery writer to get me in the mood:
Review comments:
The character development is awesome
Wonderfully interwoven twists and turns
*****
http://cheriecolyer.blogspot.com/2016/07/writing-for-young-adults-audience.html
This is an interview of author Stacy Juba by author/interviewer Judy Penz Sheluk:
http://www.judypenzsheluk.com/2015/07/24/interview-with-an-author-stacy-juba/
plus: 10 YA Sports Novels for Teens and Tweens:
http://stacyjuba.com/blog/2015/07/20/ya-sports-novels/
Brian Klems welcomed teenaged writer Jamie S. Margolin to his blog site, The Writer's Dig, to discuss What NOT To Do When Writing YA Books:
http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/what-not-to-do-when-writing-ya-books-advice-from-a-teen-writer
This is a post about the " Top 5 Dos of Writing YA Lit" on the WiseInkBlog (actually 4 with a "don't" included):
http://www.wiseinkblog.com/self-publishing-2/the-top-5-dos-of-writing-ya-lit/
And here are some writing tips from editors concerning authenticity, subject matter, and trends when writing YA:
https://blog.reedsy.com/editors-tips-write-young-adult-novel
*****
THE RAINBOW CONNECTION by Laurie Hanan
Review comments:
The character development is awesome
Wonderfully interwoven twists and turns
Thanks for the links. I reached the point where I have been writing the stories down without trying to conform them to genres. I figured I could maybe structure them better afterwards. Well, I know the structure will suffer. Anyway, it has dawned on me that my stories are coming of age stories. So this is a big help.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Ann. So often it is difficult to pigeon-hole a story for a specific genre, especially after the final draft when things have turned complicated. My genealogical novel (historical fiction) is very much a coming of age story but a toss up for first billing.
DeleteThanks for this post. I think my biggest concern to write YA is that I'd get the way kids talk wrong. A good example of a mystery author who can do both well is Megan Miranda. I inadvertently read one of her YA books (because I enjoy her adult suspense) and while it was a bit simplistic for me, I appreciated the way she did it.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest complaints I hear about YA stories that don't hit the mark is the forced dialogue of the characters. Also probably the most worrisome for the authors writing the stories. One author modeled the dialogue of her character after her daughter's speech patterns. Thanks for visiting today, Judy.
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ReplyDelete