YA, Why Not? (Part 1)

Day Twenty-Nine of Thirty Days of Writing

Amanda DeNatale
Aug 24, 2017 · 5 min read

‘If you want to write a novel, you should write a novel, but if you want someone to read your novel, you better write Young Adult.’ This is a phrase I’ve heard from almost all of my creative writing professors in high school, undergraduate, and graduate school in one form or another. This advice is also supported by several literary websites who have done research on this topic. ElectricLiterature.com states, “In reality, the bestseller lists are completely dominated by thrillers/mysteries, romance novels, and YA” (Michel). This token advice is also supported by QueryTracker.net, a website created to help authors find literary agents. From their research, they constructed charts for ‘Top 10 Most Popular Fiction Genres’ and ‘Top 10 Most Requested Fiction Genres’ and Young Adult was voted number one on both charts (Query Tracker).

When I learned that this term’s Prose Seminar intended to focus on Young Adult Literature specifically, I was both intrigued and excited. I was interested to get a chance to look at eight YA novels through a critical lens, to establish what works best or does not work at all, considering that research tells me that YA is my best chance of getting published. I was eager because most of my recent reading had been in the realm of Literary Fiction, and this was a chance to look more at YA Literature as an adult reader. When I received the reading list for the course I was also interested to find that two of the novels were not specifically classified as Young Adult, but had a teen, or preteen, protagonist. YA or not, all of the eight novels we were about to encounter were published and successful novels that I was ready to read and evaluate with the class.

In my time in the field of creative writing, I have heard many discussions turn into heated debates over whether Young Adult Fiction (sub-sect of Popular Fiction) or Literary Fiction is ‘better’. My personal conclusion is that ‘better’ is the wrong term to be arguing about. In a video blog on theliteracysite.com, the blogger G.H. posted a video by Discovery News, narrated by Anthony Carboni, titled “How Reading Fiction Improves Intelligence”. In this video, Carboni addresses both Literary Fiction and Popular Fiction, and how they affect the human brain (G. H.). Although Young Adult Literature is not all encompassing in the realm of Popular Fiction, for the purposes of this essay I will focus on the Young Adult genre as a sub-sect of Popular Literature, as is proven by previously stated evidence from electricliterature.com and querytracker.net.

To begin, the video establishes the importance of reading fiction in general, quoting a study from Emery Universi ty that showed, “Reading a novel for just a day increased every subject’s language skills and motor skills for five days afterwards” (G. H.). Carboni then follows up to address both Literary and Popular Fiction. He states, “New research points also to literary fiction, in particular, being important in the development of empathy. Multiple studies by The New School had participants read some Popular Fiction, some Literary Fiction, Non-fiction, or nothing at all. And then they were given tests to see how well they could infer what people were thinking or feeling. People who read nothing or Non-fiction, had almost no gain. People who read Pop Fiction were about the same [as those who read nothing or Non-fiction]. People who read Literary Fiction showed huge gains in their ability to understand the emotions of others” (G. H.). The results of this study by The New School, that is also supported by Discovery News, seems to make the point that Literary Fiction is the best type of fiction to read to have the most intellectual and personal benefits. Literary Fiction Die-hards everywhere may cheer at these research results. However, when the researchers explain why they believe that Literary Fiction works in this way, I believe the playing field is leveled, yet again.

Carboni continues, “Researchers think that it is because Pop Fiction isn’t well written enough, there isn’t enough consistency or predictability in the characters actions, but literary fiction has more depth and pays more attention to the psychology of your characters” (G. H.). This statement can be analyzed in two ways. You could conclude that Literary Fiction is the best because it has more depth, personal gains, etc, as per the direct statement from this study. On the other hand, you could think — how can Commercial Fiction, or the Young Adult novel, reach the readers in the same way that Literary Fiction does? According to The New School, it is all in the writing. This suggests that the writing of the novel, and the attention to detail of the psychology of your characters is the best way to reach readers, or to teach readers through your writing.

One of my goals as a writer is to write something that will speak to a reader the way that the books I have read, have spoken to me. Further, I would like to reach as many readers as possible in this way. To have many readers, research tells me that the best genre option is Young Adult, while to speak to many readers the results point to Literary Fiction. However, when breaking down why Literary Fiction holds this power, the answers lie in the quality of writing. So, ideally, I should be writing a well-written Young Adult novel. Now, what exactly does this entail? Luckily, I have just finished reading and critically analyzing eight successful Young Adult novels, with eighteen other classmates.

Our method for analysis was to focus each week on a specific aspect of the novel up for discussion — sentences, voice, details/images, surprises, complexity, or character — and to give the author a grade in each of these areas. By the end of the term, we had solidified sentences and voice into the same category because in discussion one seemed very connected to the other. Further, it is also evident within the online discussion forum that voice was the aspect of the novel that was most directly correlated with whether or not members of the class enjoyed the novel, along with whether or not they were able to easily read the novel from beginning to end without frustration (Stefaniak). Results from the class discussion forum seem to point to voice and sentences as the most important qualities to measure the success of a Young Adult novel. Thus, the writing within the novel is once again proven to be a measure of success.

Works Cited

G. H. “How Reading Fiction Improves Intelligence.” The Literacy Site Blog. TheLiteracySite.com, 1 Mar. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Labrise, Megan. “BELZHAR | Kirkus Reviews.” Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Reviews, 29 July 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

“Meg Wolitzer Interview.” Online interview. 24 Feb. 2016.

Michel, Lincoln. “When Popular Fiction Isn’t Popular: Genre, Literary, and the Myths of Popularity.” Electric Literature. Electric Literature, 03 Dec. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Query Tracker, Editors. “Top 10 Genres.” QueryTracker.net. Query Tracker, 1 Feb. 2016. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. LB Books ed. Boston: Little Brown, 1951. Print.

Stefaniak, Mary Helen. “Prose Seminar.” Prose Seminar. Creighton University, Omaha. 2 Mar. 2016. Blueline|Prose Seminar|Discussions. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.

Wolitzer, Meg. Belzhar. New York: Speak, 2014. Print.


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Amanda DeNatale

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Writer/Bartender/Junior Editor for F(r)iction/ MFA grad/ Hula hooper/Daydreamer/Adventurer

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