YA Fantasy

I'm in! I actually saw your post in the YA forum (which I've been lurking around) earlier today, but I hadn't quite decided what I'm writing yet. Still haven't, in fact. I'll probably write the YA story posted in my Novel Info... either that or a more middle-grade tale, about a girl who finds a strange item at her thrift store and ends up in the role of psychopomp for a motley crowd of odd spirits and ghosts and such.

I'll, er, likely be splitting my time between here and the YA forum as NaNo gets closer...

Haha, I figured there were a lot of people splitting their time between both, so I figured why not? :-b

I like the sound of your synopsis! I have a soft spot for reluctant royals...

NaNo 2006 winner
NaNo 2007 failure, due to the flu
NaNo 2008 winner, due to lack of internet

Already posted in the topic in the YA forum, but might as well post here too. xD

Classify my Nano novel as urban fantasy with sci-fi elements, and loads of character driven involvement. Call it YA because I do think it's aimed towards teenagers?

"I wasn't going to literally drive the car off the cliff--it's sarcasm, haven't you heard of that? Ja, I know what it means, I don't need a dictionary definition--no, really, I don't--do I really need to request you get installed with a sarcasm detector?

Yep, I'm writing YA Fantasy. The main characters are all teenagers, so... I hesitate to call it urban, although the beginning does take place in present day America. :3

2008: Journey in the Dark [Won]
2009: Where the Sun Don't Shine

Yep! Though I am going to try to make it have more mature themes... just without a lot of the stuff that would make it rated R in the movie world. Besides, what better genre to unleash a Vampire Romance Satire on? XD

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original.

Rose,

If you really do write a SATIRE, let me know. I might read it if nobody sparkles...

*Has lost faith in YA*

I think I'm actually going to be writing YA fantasy this year, not because I want to write YA, but because the idea that has attacked me seems to be YA. I mean, they're all 18+, but I doubt any of them is going to be much over twenty.

It scares me.

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Hey again,

I've written in the YA forum, but I thought I'd say howdy do here as well. Howdy do! :)

Writing a fairy tale, not sure if it will be older or younger teen, but since it's an accepting yourself story, it may be more appropriate for younger teens...can't tell as of now. Opinions welcomed if anyone wishes to give them.

Well there is Eddie, who is obsessed with body glitter. But other than him I can guaranty that no vampires sparkle. And even Eddie is a fairly awesome side character who can kick butt. But he is British, and a former dualist, so that pretty much requires you to be badass. (He was shot by a friend of the person who lost after Eddie won a duel, a vampire thought it was a pity and turned him. Long story short, anyway)

The struggle is to make it have some substance despite the satire. Which considering the few people who managed that, such as Jane Austen and Shakespeare, then I have my work cut out for me. >.< I just don't want my characters to be PARODIES, you know? But the line between satire and parody is thin indeed...

And sorry, I tend to ramble when my thoughts are banging around. Oops?

(Oh, and did I mention the MMC is a cheerful vampire? Who is happy being a vampire? Yes, yes he is.)

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original.

I have an idea nibbling on my brain. Dragon DNA, angsty lad in Victorian Ireland with a younger, annoyingly bright sister, and a Faery Warrior. Or something. I can't seem to get the details ironed out. It was a random idea that I came up with randomly. I just have to figure out why one of the Fae courts has a beef with the dragons. Hmm....

Nano 2008 - Sanctuary (Won!)
Nano 2009 - Majesty

Hey! *waves*
I'm still wavering back and forth between two novel ideas, but I think I'm going to write the one about a girl (probably like 13 or 14) who is transported into her story she's writing. She gets captured by the villan... who is the only character who knows that she's the author. He demands that she re-write the story with him as the hero.
If you've ever heard of the book Inkheart it's kinda like that. :)

This is my first time even attempting a novel, but I'm excited for next month!
I know I'm writing a YA story, and I only think it's about a girl (she's 17 or 18) who gets transported into another world where humans are the myths. :)
I don't really have a lot to my plot yet, but I've got the main characters down.

Hah. I love it. Good luck with that.

Sorry, I just had such a flashback to Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe. "Is Man a Myth?" XD
Love the idea though! Sounds interesting.

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original.

I thought exactly the same thing when I read it :)

That sounds AWESOME.

I've been tossing between making my genre YA or fantasy. I think I like the fantasy label better, but it's currently YA... wouldn't it be lovely if we could cross-genre!

Christina
Adelaide ML

"Take your clothes off, we've got some writing to do!"

Yeah, I guess that my story falls in this catagory. The synoposis (or whatever, non-native speaker) can be found on my profile.

I prefer these sort of stories to big epic battles between the forces of good and evil. Those stories give me the idea that the writers have been playing a bit too much D&D.

that being said, as I start planning out, I do feel that the scale of the conflicts my characters get involved in are constantly growing. Not a bad thing, but I might need to think of something to counter that and to keep it light.

God, I love these forums. They just keep handing out ideas and things to think about, even when they don't intend to do so!

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I'm writing a YA fantasy, because I like YA.

Plus most of my characters start as children and skip to teenagers, so yeah. But there is a lot of older themes, I don't know...

" Heheh...What is 'Evil'? If I'm loyal to what you say is right, is that all it takes to make me 'Good' ?" - Bakura, King Of Thieves ( Yu-Gi-Oh!)

The whole idea of "mature themes" in YA makes me giggle... There's nothing too mature for YA these days. Just look at Ellen Hopkins's books: meth, teen pregnancy, religious issues, cutting, incest... she does it all.

And yes, I'm writing YA. I probably should have grown out of YA by now, but every trip to the adult section of the library leaves me disappointed.

I didn't mean to start planning a YA novel, I swear! I don't think I've even read any. But, alas, my characters are around 19 and they will not be having any nakey time. So... YA it is... halp!

I CONCUR. YA is such a vast genre, it's fantastic.

I'm going to check out Ellen Hopkins... as soon as I press post. :D

Christina
Adelaide ML

"Take your clothes off, we've got some writing to do!"

YA here too.....these days I read more YA than I do adult fantasy...so it makes sense to me ^_^

My novel is about a young teen Abberation (basically a scientifically created monster) who gets recruited by a concert pianist who fights demons on the side using steam powered armour.

Hey Wild Knight, are you still doing that story with the pirate ships and eggs and shards-of-a-princess'-glass-heart? Or did that sort of go by the wayside?

Ooh! I'm writing YA fantasy! I don't really see the whole "normal people going through closets into fantastic worlds" except in YA, and that's what I'm writing. I blame my childhood, my dad, and C.S. Lewis, whose Narnia Chronicles were read, chapter by chapter, as bedtime stories by my dad.

I think there is a difference, though. I think it's mostly the case that YA books that deal with those issues tend be edgy and realistic, and you wouldn't get away with including those same ideas as trivial elements in a YA fantasy where the focus of the story was on something else, like a quest. For example, you could write a realistic YA novel about a school shooting, but you probably couldn't write a YA fantasy about teenagers who are attempting to thwart a covert demon invasion, and just happen to be making casual and extensive use of illegal firearms in the process.

I think I'm writing a YA novel. I mean, I AM a "young adult" so it just seems natural to me that I would write something that would appeal to my age group. But I don't really like to think of genres having lines between them: this is this and that is that. When I read novels I don't think of them as, a YA versus "adult" book because there are so many themes that are present in both kinds. My mom and I are both avid readers and when I bring home a book from the library or book store she always asks to read it when I'm done (I do the same with her for her "adult" novels) which goes to show that even people in thier middle years and beyond can still enjoy so called YA books.

~Shamelessly Failing NaNoWriMo Since 2007~
2007 - Name: Horse_Writer; Title: The Incredible Animals of Blue Hill Farm
2008 - Name: writerwannbee; Title: The Missing Half
2009 - Name: Cordéi; Title: The Wings of Shadows (working title)
Wish Me Luck!

Hi everybody!

I'm writing about a girl afraid of monsters who meets a monster afraid of monsters. It's a story about fighting real and imagined fears, and it's the beginning of a trilogy. Definitely YA, definitely Fantasy. The 2nd book gets a little older, but nothing too scandalous so the whole trilogy will probably be YA. :P

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I agree that YA and Adult don't have a huge line between them, just the general age. Well I can enjoy it if it centers around an older character, there are some parts where it's way easier to enjoy stories centering around teens.

Unfortunately, Fantasy tends to be one of the genres we're I don't typically find good stories for teens. Mostly, stories center around the same plot (*Cough*Tolkein*Cough*) and character can get unrealistic when the author begins just by aiming at the audience. But the thing that I find YA is most lacking in is humor. I've found books that even if the plots are overused, I'm able to forgive that if they have a good writing style. Unfortunately, that is almost completely lacking.

Hopefully my story will be missing these common mistakes, but I can't count on anything else yet.

My story is an urban fantasy that centers on teens who go to Edinburgh as part of a summer camp. Four of them have magic, and were chosen for the camp for that reason. They need to figure out what magic is, and sort out what they're being told. Basically, the adults who are giving them information are all misinformed. Which, when magic is introduced, can tend to be pretty bad.

That's all I've sorted out so far. I'm hoping the magical thing they call "plot" will sneak up behind me and hit me on the head at some point before I finish the book. If not, oh well. These things happen.

I'm writing YA, well probably could be for a little younger, too. Mine doesn't have too many teenage and so forth themes, but I think only this group would have the experience to get the full force of what I'm trying to do with my fantasy cliches.

I dunno, maybe I should mark it for lower, but this is what it is at the moment.

Title: Meix
Genre: YA Fantasy
Story: In a world where everything has its place in fantasy, Meix the who-knows-what-he-is is a little lost. With the help of a talking horse and a fairy perhaps Meix can find where he belongs.

I have a debate going with my girlfriend about the ages of YA protagonists.

Do you reckon they have to be teens? Or can they be older, say in their early twenties? Would a high schooler automatically turn off if the MC was 23?

I know this has been vaguely addressed but I thought I would ask it directly.

I'd say that it is the mood that counts, not the age. I have a sister that's 23 years old, and already has a fulltime job and her own house, and a 28 year old cousing who can't even move out of his mother's appartment. It's not physical age that matters, but the psychological one.

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