YA vs. Adult

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Moni12
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YA vs. Adult

Post by Moni12 » January 2nd, 2012, 4:04 pm

This is something I've talked about on my blog, but haven't been able to generate many responses. Which do you prefer? YA seems to be exceedingly popular lately and I want to know why. Which do you write and read? Why?

I read and write adult. The reason is that the more recent YA books I've read follow similar story lines. I feel like I get more variety in adult novels. This isn't to say I don't like any YA, I still enjoy some. However, since I've had two classes with a professor who (in my opinion) is the reincarnation of Shakespeare I'm a lot more picky about what I read.

Guardian
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by Guardian » January 2nd, 2012, 4:35 pm

It depends on the storyline. I usually write adult stories in various genre, but my recent fantasy series, Crystal Shade is presenting the life of a character from the beginning to an X point, so in that case the story starts as a true YA story and Volume 1 is basically a YA fantasy until the last chapters. Volume 2 is however turning to much darker as the character is also evolving and the events also becoming much more menacing. And Volume 3 is the darkest volume of all, where the character is already a true adult. I applied this method to give something new and as one of the first reviews said, this method is working very well as finally this "pre-determined" genre (YA or Adult) is not static, but it's evolving along with the book.

The essence is; while many writers are trying to define the genre from the beginning of the development, I let the book and the story to define itself. I haven't read anywhere that a book should be only YA or only Adult. Life also cannot be defined this way.

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MattLarkin
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by MattLarkin » January 3rd, 2012, 11:16 am

I prefer Adult, but I'm developing more appreication for YA. One nice thing about YA, it tends to read fast.
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Falls Apart
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by Falls Apart » January 3rd, 2012, 9:18 pm

I've been reading adult books since I was really young, and I just tend to like them better, mostly because you can tell a story without someone screaming at you to think about the children. Also, I tend to be more interested in political intrigue and action/battle sequences, which, in YA, tends to play a secondary role to the protagonist "coming of age." That's not to say I don't like any YA. The Gone Series by Michael Grant are some of my favorite books ever. Still, for the most part, I prefer adult books.
Last edited by Falls Apart on January 5th, 2012, 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Nicole R
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by Nicole R » January 5th, 2012, 2:23 pm

I write adult and MG stuff, but I tend to skip over the YA audience. I'm not overly interested in writing about all the emotional angsty-ness that often appears in YA. I'll pick up a YA book to read if it looks good, though I prefer adult novels or a fun MG book in general. I think you get much more depth of character and plot at the adult level compared to YA. I'm guessing the faster pace of recent YAs is probably what draws a lot of people.

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CharleeVale
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by CharleeVale » January 5th, 2012, 4:03 pm

Guess I'll be the opposing opinion. I honestly prefer YA.

I'm not sure why, maybe because YA is designed to be more dynamic, to reach out and grab the audience.

I write YA, so maybe that's why I enjoy reading it.

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ladymarella
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by ladymarella » January 6th, 2012, 4:01 am

I never went through a YA stage.
I went from an Enid Blyton phase aged 11 to a Jane Austen phase aged 12, and then promptly discovered the Brontes. Actually, I remember rereading Pride and Prejudice at aged 11, and rereading Wuthering Heights aged 12. I've always been a bit strange.
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The world may be divided into people that read, people that write, people that think, and fox-hunters.'- William Shenstone,

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Hillsy
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by Hillsy » January 6th, 2012, 7:19 am

I've got nothing against YA, persay. In fact I aplaud anything that strives to get anyone reading fiction, whatever the age. But....

Every YA book I've read I've really disliked. I shouldn't: I love Mistborn, Wheel of Time, Codex Alera, The Name of the Wind - all of which are largely YA plots with young, YA protagonists and yet arn't considered YA. I love overhyped, ridiculous, comicbook plots of huge scope. I mean I've watched Transformers: the Movie (The original, animated one. The live-action film does not exist in my world) and Final Fantasy: Advent Children more than any other film, and I'm in my 30s. So the issue isn't content, it's execution, and YA for me is too.....errr....gaudy? Like the way the Star Wars Prequels jumped around shouting "look at me, look at me" compared to the more reserved, yet just as funny and action-packed, originals.

But hey, different strokes, eh?

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Cookie
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by Cookie » January 11th, 2012, 6:53 pm

I read both adult and YA, but I write adult.

There have been many YA books that have fallen short for me. They'll have amazing premises, but it often falls to the background. There have also been very many that I absolutely love though. However, I think I prefer adult for the reasons Nicole listed. There is more depth of character and much better world building overall. That's not to say that there aren't YA books that don't have amazing characterization or world-building, because there are and I loved them.

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amandalinehan
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Re: YA vs. Adult

Post by amandalinehan » February 5th, 2012, 10:57 am

I read and write both YA and Adult, but there is one reason why I really like reading/writing YA.

The teenage characters in YA books generally don't have to deal with the mundane details of life the way that adults do. ;) The don't have full time jobs where they are commuting and dealing with the boss, etc. They don't have to take care of families and make sure they've gone to the grocery store and put dinner on the table and taken the car for an oil change, and on and on. ;)

I guess there might be some exceptions to this, but in general, teenage characters are freer and can end up in more outrageous situations and have more adventures.

(Of course, maybe this is just me being nostalgic and wishing for a simpler time in my life. Although, in reality I don't know that I would describe my teenage years as simple, but anyways... :) )

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