On Genre and Originality

Today I’ll reintroduce what I’ve taken to calling “Deep Thoughts Thursday” (DTT) where I talk in-depth about something related to my writing that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.

So here goes:

Let’s talk about YA. If ever someone asks me what genre I write, and I reply that I write YA, the asker will often scoff and put their nose in the air. “Oh, you write that stuff.” To which i reply: Yes. Yes I do.

YA has its problems, most having to do with originality and cliches, but there are many novels that are encompassed by YA that are excellent. Laz is YA sci-fi, and I admit that in its current  state, it is somewhat unoriginal. I think that as I got deeper into writing it, I proceeded with a very narrow focus, and I wasn’t able to recognize that there are several of its aspects that scream “OVERUSED IN THIS GENRE!!!”

But that’s OK for now. Obviously my intent is not to just throw another book on the heap of thousands of YA books filled with cliches  and stereotypical characters. I trust myself enough to let it be for now, and fix it during the revision process. I’m looking forward to filtering out many of the exhausted themes I drew upon, and restoring the originality that I first saw in the story. It’s there; you’ll have to take my word for it.

So why do I write YA? Well, First and foremost, I’ve enjoyed reading YA ever since I was old enough to. I was 10 when I first found myself immersed in J.K. Rowling’s magical world of Harry Potter, and not long after, I read The Giver and The Outsiders in school. That was enough to begin what has become some sort of– I don’t know, addiction? Obsession? Something like that.

Given that I am now only 21, it really wasn’t all that long ago that I was the same age as the subjects of most YA books. I sort of grew up with the characters of the new generation of YA.

The thing is, the books kept coming, and I never stopped reading them. I remember waiting anxiously for the last installment of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series to be released, Only by that time I found myself as a cadet at Mass Maritime, where two things that are certainly not considered cool to enjoy doing are reading and writing YA. The morning Allegiant was released went something like this:

Subconcious: get the book.

Me: Idk am I too old for this now?

Subconscious: Definitely not, just get it.

Me: But people will laugh.

Kindle: Just put it on me. They won’t know.

Me: True *Buys book*

 

Roomates: “Yo Gulino, What’s that you’re reading?”

Subconscious: Say it’s Moby Dick or something

Me: “It’s Moby Dick or something.”

Roomates: Uh, Ok then…

Subconscious: *Facepalm*

Though I do love YA, I don’t love it to the exclusion of all else. In fact, the majority of my favorite stories don’t fit into the category of YA at all. Many of the ideas that I come up with are not YA either.

So again, why do I write YA? Because I’m not ready to write anything else. That is to say, I feel like writing YA is the right thing for me at this point in my life. I see no shame in this, in fact I take a little pride in knowing myself as a writer a little better than I used to. I hope I continue to know myself like this.

Maybe YA is just practice for right now, and eventually I’ll write the next great modern classic. Then again, Maybe I’ll always write YA and nothing else. As long as I’m writing, I’m happy either way. One thing I’m sure of is that I’ll always write what I’m comfortable writing.

Until next time,

-Sal.