Ypulse Books: Asking The Right Questions
Posted by alli on 10-01-2008
This isn't another Ypulse Books One Simple Question post, but I wish it was. I wish I could have been at one of the writers conferences Ally Carter talked about attending recently over the past few months in this post. I would have asked her our OSQ. Judging from her responses to some of these misguided quandaries, I really think she gets it.
Here's as example of a response to a question she wouldlike to have been asked:
"WRONG QUESTION: How much should I "lower" my writing when writing for teens? (Basically, how much do I dumb down my books?)
RIGHT QUESTION: Do teens have different attention spans, vocabulary capabilities, etc than adult readers?
Yes. It has been my experience that you should have different expectations of teen readers than adult readers: you should expect your teen readers to be smarter.
Now, I'm not saying that adults are dumb. But it's been my experience that teens have far more highly-calibrated BS-o-meters, and therefore make for far more discerning readers.
Adult readers might patiently wait four chapters for a story to start. Teens have things to do and places to be. If you want them to engage with your story you need to give them something good on every page.
And it even goes beyond pacing. If a character has a moment where she acts in a completely uncharacteristic way, your teen readers will notice it. If the entire plot of your novel could go away if the main character would make a perfectly logical phone call, then teen readers will point that out.
I don't know if it's a generational difference or simply something that happens between the ages of 13 and 30 as we start spending less time in classrooms and more time doing the same functions day after day, but that has certainly been my experience.
Teens are used to being challenged and tested and forced to think about things analytically, so do NOT write down to teens. Not if you want a career in YA literature."
I do think questions like this can be genuine and simply might not be phrased carefully, but I also think there are folks out there that just don't get it.
Are people really that naive and uninformed? When they "decided" to write for young adults did they do NO research or digging around to find that we are a community of passionate and serious readers and writers? There's so much out there to tell one so. Part of me is sad that they have misconceptions, but I'm also really angry at the sheer laziness her audiences seem to display. Jeez. It doesn't take much poking around "on the innerweb", as my three year old calls it, to find hundreds of sources on young adult literature and the people who hold it in high esteem. There are so many of us that talk about what the right questions are every day.
Also some of the daft questions Carter shared in her post (and she was far nicer and more diplomatic than I'm being) reminded me just how hot YA is, and made me think that some writers just want to be published. There I said it. There's a desperation I hear in these kinds of discussions. It's sort of like the ol', "I know. I'll write a YA novel. It will be easy. Less words." This is a common mistake people make when they attempt to write for younger children too, but I really thought people were coming around.
Ugh. I'm exasperated. I can't believe we're still talking about this. Nevertheless, her post seemed to right the wrong for the time being, and I really liked that she took the time to "rant."
And here are some points from Ally Carter on public relations. I liked these too. Although, I would add… #10. Contact Ypulse Books. :)
