The Middle-Aged Young Adult
Getting older while breaking new ground
Many authors of young adult or new adult fiction are longer in the tooth than their average audience or the characters they write. With age comes wisdom, sure, but it helps to be well-steeped in the overall lore of the genre. Is a peripheral fandom alone enough to carve a place in the YA writing world?
YA sci-fi, mainly involving superheroes, is my genre of choice, and despite me understanding that my style and tone makes me a bit of an outlier, I have other uphill struggles. It wasn’t until recently that I had learned that there was even a name for my type of novel: clean sci-fi. Of course, there’s clean romance, among several subgeneres, but I never considered a version of science fiction that would be categorized as inoffensive. By no means bland, my chosen style and the numerous other books in this literary realm are pure fun, high on adventure, and exciting tales of suspense. I’m no pearl-clutching prude, but I like my stories to be sans-swears, not ultra-violent for the sake of itself, and with no overly sexualized themes and situations. So, the focus is placed purely on characters and big concepts rather than shirtless make out sessions. Nothing against those types of series - they’re the more successful sellers, but I still feel inclined to write fewer instances of intimacy. I may not be a source for spice, but that department is in, er, good hands.
No potty-mouth, no gutter-mind, no problem. The challenges, however, materialize in the form of me being unfamiliar with, well, the material. I have a growing “trophy case” of completed novels that I’ve read in the genre or YA-adjacent. There are a few libraries’ worth of novels I’ve yet to even touch though, though. The best way to immerse oneself into a multiverse of sci-fi and fantasy is to read as much as one can. Some of it can influence grammar, and writing styles in general (sometimes reading other authors’ works can be a what not to do lesson). I am a slow reader as well as a sloth-like writer. I understand I will not get to many of the bestselling series anytime soon. Heck, I haven’t even seen a majority of the movie adaptations. One question that cuts its way through the bushels of fifth waves, hunger games, twilight vampires, wizard students, and lightning thieves is this - should I bother?
To avoid parallel thinking or unintentional rip-off territory, perhaps it’s best to shield myself from outside influences. The thought of maintaining as many raw ideas and a genuine prose personality as I can is an appealing one. Though I do believe that a part of the creative growth process is absorbing energies from fellow world-builders. Besides, reading is fun, and, let’s be real, we like to feel included in not only current trends, but also what’s more satisfying than that smug reader feeling? To be able to say that you read the book before the film version, to join in on snooty discussions about which dystopian drama had the best dead parents trope?
It’s never too late, and to keep things honest, if you’re writing fiction, you don’t expect to get famous or wealthy. Creative writing is this insatiable habit that is, more often than not, an annoying calling. These pesky characters want to be fleshed out. These weirdo settings demand your attention and seize your daydreams. Authors give into these nuisances and type away, tending to our epic space operas and universe-threatening fantasies. All the while there is a good chance that very few people will even glance at the pages.
Just how out of touch can one be before they should look for a second opinion about this whole author thing? Writing for teenagers is hard enough, especially when you yourself become further detached from modern slang and the music of the day. Pop songs become more and more like pure noise as I grow older, and the inner curmudgeon dominates most of my inner dialogue. Can an increasingly crotchety old man really make it as a young adult fiction writer?
The trick is to be young at heart, as corny as that sounds. An enduring fandom of heroes in colorful uniforms, robots, and superpowers contributes to navigating the troubled waters of authorship. But there’s a lot of “back in my day” that can obfuscate your vision.
Everyone is addicted to social media, so it won’t take much to browse at the latest trending hashtags. It also won’t be too high of a leap to simply view popular influencers and how their content is presented. No one is expecting you to lipsync or attempt any joint-damaging dance moves, but observing what’s going on in the world of teens can be a way to comprehend what the youths enjoy - even if you have to squint your eyes as your bifocals slide down your nose. I like to keep up with as much as I can just as long as I’m not the blatantly creepy “how do you do, fellow kids?” guy. The biggest tip I can give any other “middle-aged young adult is just don’t make it weird.
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Unsecret Identity: Eric Icarus - Book One is available now from the Amazon Kindle store.