The beach house was full of teenagers last night. So, I of course used the opportunity to listen while they talked. When adults are listening and not constantly judging teens tend to get very free with their speech. Granted, I was listening to their stories and thinking of my children asleep just down the hall wondering if I could lock them in their rooms once puberty hit. If only I could write the story of these kids life for them as easily as I write the lives of the teens in my books.
The good news here is, I soaked in so many ideas for some troubled teens in future novels. If they read this they are going to kill me (Just in case, sorry guys but you knew you were talking smack around a YA author). ANYWAY, it got me thinking. Most of the YA novels I read have main characters that have family issues that cause their bad decisions. They aren’t rebellious but rather much too perceptive for their age. Can these kids relate to that? I’m thinking, no. These kids have no reason to go out and cause the trouble they are causing. Yet, they do it anyway. The next novel I write is going to have a more realistic set of main characters. What do you think? Should YA authors write a world kids can just escape into or a world they can relate to as well?