Writing Books for Young Adults Well

To write good books for young adults takes more than just good writing skills, there’s another level of the work that requires a more esoteric approach than outlining, writing and editing. Writing is a way of life, and to be successful, you need to take proactive steps to make your project come to life and attract attention in the marketplace.

For starters, you must read—all the time, especially young adult novels. You want to be more than just in touch with the market; you’ll need to be an expert. You should stay abreast of all the award winning books and bestsellers, and learn what’s hot at the library as well as the independent bookstores. If you want to write young adult fiction books, you’ll need to truly love them, because you’ll need to be so well-versed on the authors and the community as a whole. It’s important to actually study these books so that you can see what works and what doesn’t, and determine why so that you can follow suit or learn from others’ mistakes.

Getting involved with and supporting the YA literature community is also crucial to writing books for young adults successfully. It’s important to become an advocate of library fundraising so that you can help young adults have access and exposure to quality literature. By doing this, you will immerse yourself in the book world and become privy to its culture—and possibly make good contacts in the industry as well.

Whether you’re writing young adult fiction books from the romance genre or are taking a stab at dystopian literature, it’s essential to write about what you know or what you are passionate about. You want to tell a story in a unique way that expresses your particular passion for the subject. Some authors says that write until they cry or feel sick, or that getting the story out is a cleansing, cathartic experience. The story you tell has to be something that ignites you and gets you excited—something that you just have to tell.

Writing young adult novels requires that you are authentic and that you care deeply for the stories you tell. Your audience must relate, because YA readers can tell when you’re not coming from a genuine place. Even though you may be writing about a fantasy world, your characters need to be someone they can understand, facing issues that they may be facing or have faced in the past.