To fully immerse the reader in their experience, YA novels are often written in the first person. They have strong voices that clearly resonate across all ages. Books can be an escape from the real world. It's fun to experience the nostalgia of youth .
- What is YA fiction?
- Don't think of YA as 'adult fiction that's been dumbed-down'
- Make sure your characters are the right age.
- Focus on authenticity.
- Write fully-formed, three-dimensional characters.
- Find the right voice for your protagonist.
- Don't write around heavy subject matter.
- Don't write into trends.
7 Unstoppable YA Plot Ideas to Make your Novel Fabulous
- Utilize a subplot about Belonging.
- Put the protagonist's worst moments under a microscope.
- Play up their flaws and make your character squirm.
- Make the stakes high and their relationships fragile.
- Use your Character's newfound skillset.
The Young Adult (YA) genre has been overrun with tropes that just aren't working for readers anymore. By all means, use tropes. But be aware of the most common ones, so you can innovate beyond them. A small twist can go a long way.
Young adult fiction (also referred to as “YA fiction” for short) describes works written for readers between the ages 12 and 18, which can emerge from any fiction genre but will always share certain characteristics specific to the young adult reading category.
New Adult: A relatively new genre that has exploded in the last decade, New Adult describes the group of romance readers between the ages of 18-29 (or people just coming into adulthood).
Since Sanderson broke into the YA scene with The Rithmatist and Steelheart, both released in 2013, I've noticed that Mistborn has been rebranded as a YA book.
For a book to fall firmly into the 'young adult' category, it must have at least one teenage protagonist, usually aged in the upper teens – between 15 and 19 years old. (Protagonists that fall towards the lower end of the teens tend to be more common in middle-grade fiction – a different category entirely.)
When it comes to writing for Young Adults, swearing is allowed, so long as the themes of your novel demand it and you're writing for the more mature YA audience (that is, one likely to be making its own book selections).
It had better villans, more battles, lots of emotions, and better pairings (for me). The stakes of losing the war they're fighting in is shown in both series. Percy Jackson had better villans (Kronos, the giants, primordial Gaea and Tartarus) while Harry Potter had Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
The Harry Potter novels have been called “instant classics.” While it has already been over 4 years since the last book in the series was released only now are many marking the end of the Harry Potter saga with the release of the last film.
Books To Read If You Love Harry Potter
- A Deadly Education. by Naomi Novik. Hardcover.
- The Alchemyst. by Michael Scott. Paperback.
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. by Ransom Riggs.
- The Magicians. by Lev Grossman.
- Half Bad. by Sally Green.
- Akata Witch. by Nnedi Okorafor.
- Vampire Academy. by Richelle Mead.
- The Golden Compass Graphic Novel. by Philip Pullman.
Young adult books often remind older readers of their own teenage years, so there's an instant familiarity: every “coming of age” story is relatable in some way, because we've all “come of age” ourselves at one time or another.
30 Books Everyone Should Read At Least Once In Their Lives
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.
- 1984, by George Orwell.
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J.K. Rowling.
- The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R.
- The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.
- The Diary Of A Young Girl, by Anne Frank.
- The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.
