There’s definitely something going ’round the Young Adult writing world these days–the notion that the “ideal” YA male character (particularly the “love interest” or hero) is a “bad boy.” You know, the super-hot boy with a smokin’ body and a bad attitude. If you read a lot of YA, you’ve seen these YA heroes everywhere. … [Read more…]
There are a number of reasons your young adult manuscript might be getting rejected by literary agents and editors. Lately, though I’ve noticed a series of common writing problems popping up in a lot of young adult manuscripts that might get them rejected. Does yours suffer from any of the following? Read on to see. 5 … [Read more…]
It’s been more than a year (wow!) since I did my last post on trends in young adult fiction, so I think it’s time for update. As with other types of fiction, there is definitely a bubble-and-burst pattern happening in YA these days. As in, one trend finds massive success with a few key titles, … [Read more…]
Ever since readers everywhere started the now-famous “Team Edward/Team Jacob” argument, it seems as if love triangles are everywhere in young adult fiction. I’ve seen a lot of informal recent polls about this trend, and while some readers remain firmly against love triangles, one answer I see a lot is “I like love triangles—if they’re … [Read more…]
Like all fiction, there are very distinct trends in YA, and even if you aren’t interested in “writing to” any particular trend, it’s important to know what’s trending at any given time. So here’s a breakdown of what’s currently hot in YA fiction: 1) Dystopian — Right now, dystopian is probably the hottest trend in … [Read more…]