Young Adult, or YA, books bridge the gap between the safe world of children’s literature and the more expansive adult world. Having said that, YA books don’t shy away from tackling darker themes, they just do it in a more sensitive way.
Writing YA books
Young adult books are found in many different genres. Typically, the book will feature characters who are of a similar age to the readers. YA books are generally aimed at the 15–18 year old market and so feature characters around this age. But while the character may be younger people, the topics dealt with and the situations the characters find themselves in are just as complex as any other novel.
While the target audience might be younger, that’s not to say older readers also enjoy YA books. One survey discovered that over a quarter of YA readers are actually over the age of 28!
Because YA books can be found in all sorts of genres, this blog post will look at the specifics of YA books.
Pace
This is the TikTok generation. You need to immediately hook and maintaining the reader’s interest. Every word counts in a YA novel. And this is especially important because YA books are generally in the 60–80,000 word range.
Grab your reader’s attention with the inciting incident early. And then keep the pace high as you move through the novel. The characters need to face conflict early on and the unravelling of this needs to keep readers engaged.
Themes
Coming-of-age is a big thing in YA books. Regardless of the genre, YA books often explore identity. This could be, for example, queer identities. While identity is a big theme, don’t be afraid to tackle some of life’s other big themes: sex, death, mental health. Young people are ready to be exposed to these darker topics and, as long as you do it well, there is nothing stopping you.
Novels aimed at adults don’t always end in a happily ever after. However, you’ll find that things are resolved to happier conclusion in YA novels. We’re not talking about give your characters an easy ride through the plot, they need as much tension as any other book, but think about how you are going to resolve the conflicts before the end.
Developing YA books
A developmental edit will help you to create a well structured manuscript which takes your readers on the journey with your characters.
A developmental edit is going to address a number of potential issues within your manuscript.
Characters
Strong characters are key to any novel. This is especially true of YA books where strong, believable and realistic characters connect readers with your plot. Getting the right backstory, flaws and a strong character arc is key.
- Is there enough internal and external conflict?
- Do they speak with appropriate language?
- Do the react to the situations in the right way?
Developmental editing won’t neglect your supporting cast, either. Again, these need voices and arcs that are engaging and help move the plot forwards in an exciting way.
Plot
Developing engaging storylines is key and making sure that you hold the reader’s attention with complex plots that twist and turn is the job of a developmental editor.
With YA books, this is also the time where we can make sure that your book is hitting the right tropes, avoiding cliché, and tackling the topics with care without skirting around any of the issues. This feels like a big task but get this wrong and your readers will not forgive you!
Voice
As we saw above, voice is key and a developmental edit is the time for making sure that your characters’ voices are right and that your own tone, as a writer, feels authentic.
Copyediting YA books
Copyediting is the stage where your writing is polished and made ready for the reader. I take the text of your book and work with it sentence-by-sentence, addressing everything from spelling, punctuation and grammar to overall sense and flow.
I like to break copyediting down into these five C’s:
- Consistency
- Clarity
- Conciseness
- Correctness
- Conscious language
Creating a bespoke style sheet for your book, I will ensure that all style decisions, spelling variations, numbering systems, etc. are consistent across the book.
Copyediting is also the stage where I ensure that your book is clear for the reader, every sentence makes sense and that your writing is concise and to the point. If the crime or the solving of it aren’t clear, it’s going to put off the reader and they are not going to enjoy your writing.
If you are including queer characters and situations, it’s important that these are handled well with language that suits. As an LGBTQ+ specialist, this is something that I can support you with at the copyediting stage. For example, this could be about ensuring the language around homophobia is handled sensitively and authentically.
Once copyediting is complete, your text should be almost ready for your readers. After typesetting and formatting your book, a proofread will check for any last typos or errors and then you are good to go!
Nick (he/him) is an experienced, professional editor and proofreader, specialising in LGBTQ+ writing. Use this form to get in touch right now!
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