1. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    The YA Pinata

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by halisme, Jun 20, 2016.

    Inspired by the thread @taariya made on dumb supernatural tropes, I invite any member with gripes towards the young adult genre, and the conventions related to it, to bring out their bats started insulting it. Please note, safety gear is not provided nor are bats, or sweets.

    Anyway, tropes I hate:
    Love Triangles
    Government's that are nonsensically evil
    Only you can prevent forest fires their evil plan, despite being a teenager while they are adults with bigger weapons

    Feel free to take your own shots as well.
     
  2. I.A. By the Barn

    I.A. By the Barn A very lost time traveller Contributor

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    The world has basically ended.
    They want to save the world.
    Strong females who to be strong have weapons. They can't be emotionally strong. If they are 'emotionally strong' have practically no emotions will provide this quality.
    Dark, broody, actually not that nice heartthrob
    I want to see a YA novel set in a post apocalyptic society that has an almost mundane/ridiculously normal plot, like someone needs to find a tailor to make them a wedding dress as they had carried on with life and fallen in love. I'd read the hell out of that.
     
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  3. Kinzvlle

    Kinzvlle At the bottom of a pit Contributor

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    There was something floating around tumbler and facebook about what if you had braces in the apocalypse and needed to find a dentist to get them removed. Sounds similar.

    Pairings that feel forced just to have a love interest

    Everyone needing a love interest

    Little to no adults in the story that are positive characters.

    Flimsy motivations.

    Vague prophecies
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2016
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  4. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    - Teenagers that sound like twenty year olds that have all their crap together.
    - That only this batch of teenagers are clued in to the bigger picture. They can save the day, they can change everything the grown ups screwed up, they have all the answers.
    - Traditions are trouble
    - Grown ups are absent
    - broody mouthy cynics
    - instant friends, boyfriends, girlfriends.
    - No one argues with the hero and if they do they're wrong. Has a hero every been wrong?
    - brothers and sisters are treated like best friends or angels. The female mc with a younger brother is the worst offender. The kid is usually treated like her mini child. He's never seen as too pesty a pest. And everything he does is tolerable or adorable.
    - Love triangles especially of the two guys one girl variety.
    - The over pushing of new ideas - divorce made the rounds in the 80s to the point where a reader ( especially one whose parents had never divorced ) could scream I get it! enough already.
    - lip service given to social issues.
    - Girls who can basically beat the shit out of anyone because that makes them appear a strong female. Since I don't want to see guys kick the shit out of everyone I'm not impressed either way. I'd rather see more - endurance, dedication, courage in the face of fear.
    - Too big stakes, why does the entire world need to be in jeopardy?
     
  5. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    The hell kind of word is that? o_O:bigtongue:
     
  6. Auger

    Auger Member

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    -Law enforcement with stormtrooper aim.
    -Teenagers who can take on multiple armored opponents trained in combatives and armed with weapons.
    -Government allowing teenagers to defy laws and traditions for love.
     
  7. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    What's the allure for people to start threads that essentially exist to bash a genre or writing style other people on the forums like? Do I need to go buy a hipster outfit or something?
     
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  8. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    I don't know if this counts as a trope exactly, but that thing where teenagers can see and/or do something that all the adult-adults around them are oblivious to.

    Totally evil, oppressive government? Adults think it's wonderful and for their own good. Only a bunch of 14-year-olds realise the government aren't the good guys.

    Of course, when I was a MG/YA reader myself, I loved it. Animorphs, where 12-year-olds save the world from an alien invasion, was one of my favourite series. So although I hate this trope now, I'd probably include it if I was writing YA.

    P.S. Agree with @Steerpike that the thread title/OP probably isn't very community-ish. But I assume it was tongue-in-cheek.
     
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  9. Kinzvlle

    Kinzvlle At the bottom of a pit Contributor

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    I have no idea what you mean. I most definitely did not fall prey to a typo. I did not I say!

    Poking fun at/bashing. I don`t dislike YA, but that doesn`t mean there aren`t overused or misused tropes I wouldn't mind poking fun at. It`s not about bashing the genre all together or those that read or write it. Even if they are using these tropes in some form, tropes can be used in a good way. This is just a bit of fun at tropes. There`s nothing wrong with YA itself.
     
  10. Kerilum

    Kerilum Active Member

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    -An MC with "evil" parents because they're very religious and eat meat >:d«gasp» so evil
    -MC that has parents who are writers
    -MC that is overly dorky
    -MC biting her nails, lips
    -MC with curly hair
    -Dead mother
    -A dramatic argument that leads to a kiss out of nowhere and he arguments are gone forever
    -Hannah is the name of the MC
    -Live in the "country" part of town
    -Best friend is a ginger
    -Shitty car breaks down on important day

    There's more.
     
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  11. halisme

    halisme Contributor Contributor

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    It is intended to be tongue and cheek. I'm British and have a dark sense of humour on top of that.

    @Steerpike No harm intended. If other people want to make threads for genres I like, go ahead, I'd love go see what people say and take part myself. As for the outfit, maybe just the glasses.
     
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  12. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Seriously? Can't I at least have the hat as well?

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    Just not the skinny jeans that end above the ankles. Please.
     
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  14. NiallRoach

    NiallRoach Contributor Contributor

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    I know this makes me a bad person, but I personally enjoy threads for saying what one doesn't like about something.
     
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  15. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I don't really like to bash YA as a genre, because I haven't been the target audience for quite some time, and don't keep much of an eye on it. As I mentioned in the other thread though, there are certain tropes that seem to turn into fads for a while, and if I were to try my hand at YA (and I am the wrong, wrong, utterly wrong person to do so), I'd try and break free of those.
     
  16. Son Gon

    Son Gon New Member

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    trippy dream sequences that are awkward metaphors for how the character feels
     
  17. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    Sometimes I find these lists informative. I was on another site and they made up the cliché tropes for literary fiction which I found funny, spot on and humorous. I like Ya myself. So I don't mind pointing out it's faults. As an 80's Ya book collector I found a good many books got spoiled because writers were too quick to grab at the then circulating tropes. They turned wonderful ideas into mediocre reads.
     
  18. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    The young protags are real jerks to their parents, their teachers, and their communities, and the target audience is supposed to find this appealing.
     
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  19. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    I Googled 'romance tropes' and used blogs about the best and worst ones when I was looking for ideas for my second novel. I picked two favourites (marriage of convenience, best friend's sister), twisted them, and combined them. I'm prety happy with the result.

    I'm using another favourite (enemies to lovers) in my current novel.

    So I'm a big fan of rants about bad tropes. :D
     
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  20. doggiedude

    doggiedude Contributor Contributor

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    Orphans.... Always the damned orphans who run around doing whatever they want.
     
  21. Mikmaxs

    Mikmaxs Senior Member

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    This isn't YA specific, but it crops up a lot...
    Main characters whom EVERYONE is obsessed with it, whether they love them or hate them. It sort of made sense in Harry Potter, because he was The Boy Who Lived and all, but most of the time everyone just seems to recognize that the main character IS the main character, and therefore gives them special deference.

    I'll also mention that I really like how this was handled in Ender's Game: Not only was Ender not really given any special attention by his peers at the start, he intentionally *avoided* having anyone notice him. The teachers had to single him out to make him a pariah because they wanted him to have special treatment, and even then he's mostly able to avoid anyone picking on him by staying pretty much anonymous. (Later on in the book he starts having everyone pay attention to him, but that's after he starts doing things which draw attention: Breaking rules, upsetting the status quo, being generally exceptional. It makes sense by that point, because he's earned it.)
     
  22. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Makes it nice and easy to avoid the question of where the hell their parents are :)
     
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  23. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Lord of the Flies meets a Zombie apocalypse, nobody is safe. :p
     

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