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What Genre or Subgenre would you like in NYCM?

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MattrickBT View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MattrickBT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2017 at 2:36am
The secret to writing good YA stories is you have to make sure you're telling the reader they're special and unique and important. They crave the validation.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hollyvict Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2017 at 2:06pm
Originally posted by jibwriter jibwriter wrote:

Is young adult a genre? Or more like a category? Anyway, I think it'd be fun if they added westerns into the mix.

It's probably considered a category in publishing, but I think there are certain elements that are required in order to satisfy reader expectations in a way that's similar to genre. Publishers that specialize in romance, for example, have lists of requirements that the novels have to meet. 

If suspense/thriller can coexist, surely historical fiction/western can coexist!

@Suave: RE being penalized for adding elements of another genre -- I dunno, I've been penalized for adding other elements, but it depends upon the judges, and probably the assigned genre. Some judges think that certain genres are sacrosanct (I find horror judges are among the least willing to accept any divergence from the expected format), and others are more flexible.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hollyvict Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2017 at 2:09pm
Originally posted by MattrickBT MattrickBT wrote:

The secret to writing good YA stories is you have to make sure you're telling the reader they're special and unique and important. They crave the validation.

Yes, create a world where the "misfit" is simultaneously the most attractive/powerful/admired, and BOOM -- you've got a Twilight!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MattrickBT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2017 at 10:37pm
Originally posted by Hollyvict Hollyvict wrote:

Originally posted by MattrickBT MattrickBT wrote:

The secret to writing good YA stories is you have to make sure you're telling the reader they're special and unique and important. They crave the validation.

Yes, create a world where the "misfit" is simultaneously the most attractive/powerful/admired, and BOOM -- you've got a Twilight!


Don't forget the love triangle...it's really important to empower young women that having two hot dudes fighting over you (and have two hot dudes to choose from) is something to be admired.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2017 at 10:39pm
You guys are right about the shallow features of YA. I've been trying to find an agent for a YA novel I've written (not self-published--I'm sitting on the manuscript), and I think it's all working against me, because I can't in good conscience create characters like that who are "special" and "instaloving" with love triangles and other ridiculousness. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Dec 2017 at 10:41pm
Another thing that drives me crazy is that your male lead MUST be named Lucas. Please, enough with the Lucases!! And Derek!! Good grief. You know, I should probably switch genres. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote roccapia Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Dec 2017 at 7:01pm
YA (and also MG - middle grade) aren't genres, but then, like others have mentioned, they have certain themes associated with them. For example, in YA, there usually has to be some romance and a defiance of authority, simply because that's what teenagers want to read about. Likewise, MG is geared toward younger kids, so the themes are about beginning to question things, maybe a hint of romance, but much tamer than YA.  So they aren't genres like horror, drama, sci fi, etc., they're more like age brackets for the different genres.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Dec 2017 at 7:04pm
I've noticed in MG books that there's almost no character development. The characters are always sickeningly normal kids who go on adventures. Of course, there are some exceptions. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GallifreyGirl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Dec 2017 at 7:26pm
Originally posted by Zelda Zelda wrote:

I've noticed in MG books that there's almost no character development. 
 
YA isn't that much better.
 
I read the Maze Runner books with my nephews (I try to read one of their books every few months just so I can a) see what they're reading and b) talk about it with them)
 
Let me tell you: the first book (which is the only one I made it through) is LITERALLY a bunch of amnesiacs running around trying to understand how they became amnesiacs. Do you know how boring amnesiacs are as characters? They LITERALLY have no backstory, no motivation, nothing. Imagine 100 Twilight Bellas in an enclosed field. That is that book. /endrant 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Zblugg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Dec 2017 at 8:52pm
Originally posted by GallifreyGirl GallifreyGirl wrote:

Originally posted by Zelda Zelda wrote:

I've noticed in MG books that there's almost no character development. 
 
YA isn't that much better.
 
I read the Maze Runner books with my nephews (I try to read one of their books every few months just so I can a) see what they're reading and b) talk about it with them)
 
Let me tell you: the first book (which is the only one I made it through) is LITERALLY a bunch of amnesiacs running around trying to understand how they became amnesiacs. Do you know how boring amnesiacs are as characters? They LITERALLY have no backstory, no motivation, nothing. Imagine 100 Twilight Bellas in an enclosed field. That is that book. /endrant 

Memento (movie with Guy Pearce) would like to have a word with you about amnesiacs. If it remembers.

Never mind. It forgot.

(I agree, mind you, mostly. But Memento kicked ass.)
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