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Why Do I Write YA?

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yafictionRecently, a friend asked me why I wrote young adult fiction. It seemed like a pretty logical question. I am, after all not a sixteen year old girl–why would I want to write about one?

*Awkward Pause.*

*Crickets.*

I made up some answer, and vowed to myself to give it more thought later.

Here are some of the things I came up with:

  • I write YA because I am stuck in high school

Hmm, I kind of hate that answer. It implies that I haven’t grown up. I have, in fact totally grown up. I have a kid that I am a great mother to, I make big important decisions all the time that I would have failed at miserably when I was sixteen. This answer is out.

  • I write YA because I want to mold and change teenagers lives for the better.

Well, that sounds like a better answer. In fact, it makes me sound downright scholarly. Hell… if I’m ever asked this question again, this is totally the answer that I plan on giving. It will be perfect for when I’m on Oprah. There’s just one problem–it’s not the truth.

  • I write YA because that’s where the money is.

If you were to ask my husband, he would hope that was the answer. But, I have to be honest… I don’t really write for the money. If I wanted to do that, then I would write technical e-books and sell them on the internet. BORING.

  • I write YA because it makes me happy.

It’s such a simple answer. How can that be it? I just do it because it makes me smile? It makes me laugh to imagine my main character bored in school? It makes me smile to imagine her first kiss with the cutie from down the hall? Yeah… that’s it. I do it because it makes me happy. It’s that simple. I know my niche is the YA market because reading YA makes me grin, and writing it makes me realize that THIS is what I’m supposed to do with my life.

Why do you write what you write?

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7 Comments

  1. GREAT question. I love YA novels–I love reading it, writing it, and sometimes even smelling it. Okay, that was a little gross. But I think YA offers such a fantastic variety. And to me, it’s so fun to relive those important moments again and again.

    I love this post!

  2. Great answer!
    YA makes me happy too. It’s fresh and funny and you can move your characters in a myriard of so much funny situations.
    Really, I’m happy writing lots of things (YA, kids, even romance sometimes).
    But wouldn’t write boring technical books either 🙂
    .-= Anna Serra i Vidal´s last blog ..Tímido despunte del 2.0. =-.

  3. I only ever write because I enjoy it. Doing something because it makes you happy is the most fulfilling thing in the world!
    .-= Jaime | Fast Times´s last blog ..…in which I discuss love and marriage. =-.

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