I have struggled over the idea of writing a young adult novel for quite some time now, even before the paranormal YA scene got hot. Now that it is everywhere the urge to put my story together in my computer has gotten stronger but there are still a few things holding me back. That brings us to today's blog post. When do you take the Y out of YA?
How hot is too hot for a young adult story? I remember some seriously vivid scenes in a couple of books my girlfriends and I passed along in middle school. I remember having to hide quite a few books under my bed and in other various hidey holes so my mom wouldn't find them when she cleaned my room. I learned about sex early on and it seems like today's youth is learning about it even faster than that. So how much is too much and what is off limits?
The current story I'm working on is very emotional for me and the main character in the beginning of the book has just turned seventeen and has obviously been sexually active for several years at least. She has a reputation among the guys already. In one scene she needs a favor and the guy does it in return for a favor of his own(of a sexual nature here) He is older so I don't plan to write the actual scene just allude to what took place but would this be a no-no in both the YA and the adult category? I'd love to see everyone chip in and comment on what should and shouldn't be labeled as YA.
Thanks,
Beth
www.bethwylde.com
I hope some of you in the area will come out and meet me on my mini tour in Sept. I'll be in DC w/ DL King and Amanda Young on Sept 12th, Sept 20th in Roanoke w/ Margeurite Labbe and Andy Eisenburg, & finally Sept. 26th in Durham w/ Amanda Young and Vincent Diamond.
For questions or more info feel free to email me at b.wylde@yahoo.com
5 comments:
Good question, Beth, and good topic. :)
I can only speak for my opinion, but I remember reading some stuff as a kid/teen that was fairly racy. Of course, I was reading Merrick back then and never really played in the YA pond. Heh.
Still, I'd say that anything explicit while a character is under 18 would likely be verbotten. Even after that magic-birthday, if your target demo is the YA crowd, I'm not sure how comfortable a publisher would be with explicit sexuality being depicted on-page.
It's a tough call, I think, because who can really say how much is TOO much? It's all so relative. I guess it really come down to what an author would be comfortable with their own kids reading.
I don't have kids, of course, and I never did read within my age group, so I'm probably not entirely qualified to weigh in, but there it is. My two cents (and that's about what it's worth, too :P).
I remember Judy Blume and a book called Forever that was passed around and hidden in my time. I agree they may a hard time if the character is 17 and has been active previously.
Still I had read a bit of racy stuff when I was that age, so it's hard to tell...
good luck on it!
Chloe
Beth,
As I see it the problem is that while the kids are truly sexually active well below the accepted age of consent (i.e. 18), you're not allowed to say anything about it because it's illegal and you can be accused of encouraging it.
Yes, racy books have actually been printed, and seldom do you hear of an author being sued because of it. I've written of non-human characters appearing as young as 16, but "adjusted" those passages when I wanted to be published by eXcessica.
The problem isn't in the writing of the story, or even the sharing of it. Enough so-called "pedo friendly" story sites exist, usually with story codes to warn off those not seeking this form of entertainment. And Lolita is considered a classic because of its obsession with this subject.
The problem comes in with selling it since even if your publisher would be willing to publish it, the bookselling sites (Amazon, Fictionwise, etc.) are either less likely to carry it, or your publisher has already agreed to no sexually active characters below 18. Even Steven King in "IT" had 12-year-old sex in his novel and got away with it as an important element of the story, but he doesn't do it often.
I can see no good line here that, if you scrupulously adhered to it would allow you to be accepted and published. If you wanted to argue your case you could collect other examples and show how you don't dwell on it any more than the other stories did and who knows.
Or you can write it because it matters to you so much and post it for free in the event that no current publisher will accept it.
Underage sex is a fact of life. Somehow it is said (I don't buy it) that it is less of an issue with both participants are underage than when one is an adult and the other isn't. I know I've given you no answers here because possibly there aren't any good ones out there. It happens, you can't talk much about it, and you certainly cannot be explicit about it at all if you hope to sell it.
Good luck with what remains.
AFAIK, *alluding* to those types of activities (as opposed to explicitly writing the scene), even sex between a minor and an adult, is generally acceptable so long as it is a necessary element to the story. If it's central to the plot and/or an important to character development, then it's generally considered okay by most publishers. If it's not necessary to the story, though, why would you even put it in, right? You'd probably leave it out anyway.
That's from a publisher's standpoint. IMHO, YA should really be aimed at the 11-15 age range. Anything older than that and most kids aren't reading YA anymore, they're reading what the adults are reading, you know?
I think it depends on what age range the book is aimed at. I've recently read a copule of YA novels that had frank sex scenes:
Thinking Straight and Boy Toy. Both excellent novels, by the way.
I just wrote a YA novel being published by Prizm in December. I'm writing it under a different penname (K.P. Kincaid) to keep the adult books separate. I was very conscious of making sure the sex scenes weren't too explicit but still compelling. I mean, when I was a teenager I certainly wanted to read about more than holding hands! Granted, my characters are 18 and 19, but I don't see the problem with the scene you describe if it's not explicit and/or gratuitous.
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