i like to write.
that's where this all started.
i like to write.
i enjoy writing. i like to make myself remember a feeling and hopefully help people to feel a feeling, or experience something they may not otherwise experience, or perhaps remember feeling or experiencing the 'exact same thing'.
no this is not the shame. this is what i LOVE about writing.
what I'm sad to admit is that i don't really know where my writing fits. I'm pretty new, i mean i have always loved to read, as a young person i read constantly! and wrote a lot of short stories and poems in high school. after high school (and losing my first love) i abandoned reading and writing in favour of moving out, drinking, drugs and promiscuity. As I think a lot of us do at some point. (no? just me?)
starting a life together with a wonderful man i now call my husband has grounded me, and reminded me of what i have been through, what i have lost and what i have gained as a person, and wanting to channel that into something creative, something i can share.
i don't know how to describe why I'm unsure, and i don't know who to ask 'where does this fit' without sounding like an idiot.
i have a general idea: somewhere between YA and women's contemporary "chick lit" (sorry to all those who can't stand this genre, but i like it, think marian keyes, liane moriarty, cecelia ahern). i say in between because a lot of WC is about women in their thirties-forties (not that this is bad, but I'm not there yet, so couldn't write about it without sounding presumptuous), married, kids etc, where as i like to write about the experiences of the twenties. at this point you are the person you are because of what happened in your teens. its less of an "in-between" place than your teens, but still so so SO much confusion and naivety.
what makes a book YA? what makes it Adult? where is the line? what is totally NO-NO! for writing YA/Adult?
i know i should know where i stand... so I'm ashamed to admit that i don't.
I just responded to the comment you left to me about this. Here's some more info on the new adult genre, which from what it sounds like, your work might fit best.
ReplyDeletehttp://jmeadows.livejournal.com/723382.html
you are a LEGEND! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't really do YA (yet...I think I have one in me, but it's not what I'm working on right now).
ReplyDeleteI think what makes a book YA is the protagonist is generally a young adult (teen). So many teens are fumbling with adult issues the subject matter isn't the deciding factor. I'm sure there are plenty of others who can give you more specifics.
I think its YA if your protagonist falls into the 'young adult' category (like 14-18). If it's over 60,000 words. If there's no graphic sex.
ReplyDeleteIf your pg is under 13 or under, the book is less than 60k, and there's no sex talk at all, it might be Middle grade.
If your pg is young adult, but theres lots of graphic language, sex, violence and its over 90k- its probably more adult. Same goes if your pg is adult. Does this help?
miss v and creepy query girl- thanks so much for your input, yes bit has helped very much!
ReplyDeleteMy protagonist is early twenties but there are scenes set throughout her teen years. I'm aiming for 70-80k. there isn't LOTS of graphic L,S,V (etc), but there is some. I guess I'm writing for readers like me- those who are yet to experience their thirties and fourties, so I feel unqualified to write about those age groups from their perspective, yet I don't want to focus only on the teen years. I think being a twenty-something adult has it's own story to tell. many have experienced so much already, and are the products of their youth, yet still have so much to learn. their stories are a middle ground that I want to explore.
I'm thinking Adult :)
thanks everyone for all your input!
Why are you thinking that you're "writing for readers like me"? Is that the way the book market works today? I see it opposite. I think it's more interesting to read books written by authors different from me and writing about lives different from mine. What I look for in books is non-trivial thinking. I can do the trivial thinking myself >:)
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven