TEN THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TODAY's YA

[Georgia McBride]

Part III in our EXCLUSIVE article by editor, Teresa Kennedy!
DON’T preach, teach. Nobody wants to pick up a novel and get a morality tale, and teenagers least of all. In this age group, rebellion is the name of the game and life itself is one big Declaration of Independence. When writing for a teen audience, it’s important to respect that. Your readers need to be allowed to grow and experience right along with your characters and to find their own way with an absolute minimum of adult intervention or well-meant guidance.

DO keep up the pace. Today’s teens are a point and click audience. They don’t have the time or patience for long-winded explanations, flowery descriptive passages and plots that go nowhere. We’re talking short attention spans here, so it’s important to build suspense, heighten your conflicts and sharpen your prose to a razor’s edge. If you need an editor, get one, but the maximum length of a YA novel should top out at 90,000 words.

Catch up on Part I and Part II. Check in next week for Part IV. Learn about Teresa Kennedy.