Monday, August 29, 2011

What I like about you...

I'm a sucker for a good story. It's true! Give me a good book and you'll not hear a peep from me until it's finished. And I love reading young adult fiction the most. The characters are awesome and writers (in their infinite wisdom) keep coming up with new ways to say old things.

So instead of list all the reasons or things I love about YA fiction, I'm listing what I don't like. That's a much shorter list. Believe me you'd thank me if you'd seen the other list.


Things I hate to see in my YA fiction:
 
  1. Perfect characters – nobody’s perfect, not even your hot guy lead who always knows what to say to make your MC drool all over herself. He’s not perfect and neither is she. Before you submit that story to an agent, you’d better find out more about your character. Make them believable because nobody’s perfect and everybody’ll be able to tell you didn’t flesh out your character(s) enough.
  2. Unrealistic dialogue. Um, kids don’t always talk in complete sentences. Well, sometimes. But not always. You’ve got to mix it up. Give the reader a taste of intelligent characters, but unless there is a specific reason for them sounding like Harvard Professors (something like an experiment gone wrong- sci-fi story) then stop trying to woo us and let the kids be kids. Oh and keep the slang to a minimum. I have a sixth grader (all his friends are older) and a 10th grader with dozens of friends and nieces and nephews - they don't talk slang 24/7. So your MC shouldn't answer their parents with, "Yo, what up, yo." I'm not even sure I wrote that right. A little goes a long way, but too much just starts to show your age- not your MC's. Plus it's distracting. Maybe give one character the habit of talking slang a lot- not every single one.
  3. An MC with no choice. Everyone has a choice, if they didn’t where would the tension be. If your MC learns of something he/she has to do don’t make it so that they must do it. Let them decide that they don’t want to do what everyone is expecting of them- it gives the reader something to look forward to - Are they going to change their mind? And of course, this adds tension. This is what the reader wants. It propels the story forward.

Now there are a few other things I don’t like to see in my YA. I have had my mind changed once or twice about what I like and don’t like. Are there any that I missed that you hate? I’m sure there are. Leave a few of your own YA pet peeves in the comments.


Have a great day. Read a book and laugh.

19 comments:

  1. I don't read much YA but I do like sci fi and fantasy to read and write. Definitely agree about the perfect characters. Flaws are what make people interesting.

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  2. Hi, Fi. Couldn't agree with you more. Flaws do make the character more interesting. Nobody likes a perfect person in the real world who would want to read about one! Thanks for commenting.

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  3. I also love YA! There is so much great stuff out there. :)

    I also have my pet peeves, though. The biggest is when the MC does something that doesn't make sense. Usually, this happens because the story needs it to happen, and so the author makes the characters do things because, otherwise, there's no story. They're forgetting that characters need believable motivations for their actions. That makes me crazy. :)

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  4. I'm with Fi, my YA consumption is limited but that's not to say I won't read it. If it's well written, a good story, with engaging characters then I read it regardless of genre. Dialogue is so important... if it's false it ruins it..

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  5. I couldn't agree more about dialogue. Fragments can be your friend when it comes to dialogue. Oh, and no one talks in full paragraphs either.

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  6. Hey, Tabitha. Yes, characters doing things only because the author needs them to is another thing that irks me. The character should do things organically and if you can't have them do that then you probably need to go back to the plot and fix it. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Hey, Brenda. Thanks for sharing. You're right dialogue in any genre is extremely important. Thanks!

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  8. Hey, Kelly. LOL You're right we shouldn't allow our characters to ramble on for a full paragraph. Dialogue should advance the plot not put the reader to sleep.

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  9. I'm jaded and love reading about flawed characters with issues. But I do enjoy a soft read with straight laced characters that just are always at the right place at the right time.

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  10. I'm tired of the cookie cutter best friend who seems to appear in book after book after book. It's always the wild and crazy, outgoing, crazy dresser, who is best friend to the straight-laced, more inhibited MC. Enough already!

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  11. Hey, LM. The flawed characters are the best but I understand your want for the other characters too. I guess. LOL

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  12. Hey, Inluvwithwords. I don't think you've commented before. Happy to have you here. And voicing something I totally agree about: Cliched characters. Yes, they irk me to no end. Let's get creative people. Thanks for commenting.

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  13. I'm completely over the love-triangle.

    Robin

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  14. Yes, unrealistic or canned dialog is a real pet peeve of mine too. BTW, I finally paid that award forward and linked back to your blog to thank you!

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  15. Hey, Robin. Happy to have you here. And yes, you're right, the love triangle has been done countless times. But if it is done well I still like it. The problem: writer's aren't always original in this area and just do the same old-same old. Thanks for commenting.

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  16. Hey, Catherine. I'm going to have to check out the post. Thanks!

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  17. I'm going to be a real hypocrite here, because what I get tired of in my YA is something everyone puts in YA, and what I will end up writing into my novel when it gets to that point. It's almost a requirement, and that's why it drives me so crazy. Romance in novels with female MC.
    If a novel has a female protagonist, you can bet anything you hold dear that she will find a man/boy to drool over within the first chapter, maybe even the first few pages. Maybe she already has one. Maybe he's on his way, but he WILL be there. You can count on it.
    Here's where I become the hypocrite. I DO like romance in my YA, but I like it with a twist. And I like it balanced with plot. Maybe the love interest isn't who or what you'd expect him to be. Maybe she has to save HIM. Maybe she spends most of the book actually discovering something besides what a great kisser he is - like what a great adventure she's gotten caught up in.
    So, there's my biggest pet-peeve about YA with female MCs. YA with male MCs doesn't seem to require the same thing to sell.

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  18. Donelle, thanks for commenting. Loved your comment too. Yes, I would have to agree with you. I'm not a romance girl by nature so writing the romantic elements of my stories have been difficult for me. I, too, want romance done differently. I tried to incorporate that difference in my pieces but I'm not sure if I was successful. One of my stories has the love element just as you described it - surprizing. At least when I wrote it, it was. LOL Thanks again for commenting.

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  19. Good points! I hate to see love triangles. Seriously there is more to life than being able to choose between two boys. Come off it already!

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