As a 15 year old, is it weird or rare to not write a YA novel? I personally don't feel interested in writing a YA novel but I feel like people, probably my parents or other adults would find it weird... I wont write a YA either way but I am curious.
I don't think it's weird. I can't speak for your parents, but I don't think many people would give it a second thought.
Just write. At age 15, your manuscripts will likely not become books. Just write and learn. Write and write and learn.
No, no. I meant why would you care if they thought it was weird? That's why I highlighted that part specifically.
Do you worry your folks are sitting up in bed talking about bringing you to a therapist because you're not writing a YA novel? My parents would have worried if they saw me doing my homework!
I suppose I am a bit worried if people would think there is something wrong with me. The "I don't care what other people think about me" only goes so far. It might be just because its usually called adult books, so its assumed(By my parents anyway, luckily not by you guys haha) its for adults and written by adults.
Unless you have hardcore rape scenes, or something similarly graphic in your writing, people are not going to think you're weird for attempting to write sophisticated stories. Attempting being the operative word. As something said earlier in the thread, have fun finding your style- and don't expect everyone to think you're brilliant.. yet.
Agreed. You'll find, as you grow, that many labels are artificial constructs that only hold meaning if one wishes to honor that meaning. Also you can label things in multiple ways on multiple levels. Seen the movie Happy Feet? Cute little movie for kids talking about how being different doesn't mean that you're bad or broken. But on another level, it's a scathingly militant indictment of humanities callously insouciant lack of concern over the environment, the message being, "What's it going to take for people to pay attention, freakin' dancing penguins?" Worry less about labels and more about writing what you feel is in you.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by an "adult" book. The defining differences between "adult" and YA books are the content, the age of the MC, and the targeted audience. The storyline does not necessarily have to differ, in and of itself, between a YA book and an adult book, nor does writing an "adult" book mean that it's going to turn out more "sophisticated" or be more respected by anyone other than those that have deluded themselves into thinking a teen book can't be a good, well thought-out read. If I found out my 14-year-old niece was writing a book about a 40-year-old man that's going around raping young women and doing crack, I would be worried. However, if I found out my 14-year-old niece was writing about about a 40-year-old man that lost his job and was struggling to find a new one while attempting to keep his family together, I'd smile, wish her luck, and go on my way. Write the story you want to write. Don't worry about defining it as "YA" or "adult." It doesn't matter. If someone asked me "What are you writing about?" I wouldn't say "Oh, I'm writing an adult novel!" I would attempt to give them details about the plot. Who the main character is and what sort of conflicts they're facing. Never would I bother mentioning who I intended to read the book. That's something that has never played a role for me in deciding what to write. And it shouldn't matter to you, either. Stop defining it; stop worrying about who's going to think what, and just write it.
By the way, I would like to say... By "content" I don't mean what happens to the MC. I meant what details about the events that are divulged to the reader. Sex, rape, violence, drugs, alcohol... These are all topics that occur both in YA as well as Adult novels. The difference is, in an adult novel, you may have, presumably, a more detailed look at these things. Whereas, in YA, these things are more eluded to, rather than actually described in detail. Enough information is given for the reader to know what happened, without the event actually being written into the story.
There's the rub. The line between adult and young adult is razor thin on an individual level and more so when you're talking about an audience. Plus, adults read YA and vice versa without real trouble, so writing won't be much different. The number of trips you've taken around the sun shouldn't stop you from creating your vision.
Or think things by really good authors like John Green or Markus Zusak - not ALL teen stuff is stupid.
