I find myself often listening to YA and NA book genres and thinking, “Yes this is what I’ve been told my novel series is, but my story isn’t anything like this. How can my novel series be considered either of these options?”
I am struggling a bit in the category of what genre my book is. Granted, all the descriptions point to a Fantasy/Adventure New Adult….I feel my novel is absolutely fantasy and adventure but no where near the new adult or young adult category that everyone keeps telling me it should be.
Not that I look down on those genres, there are a TON of very successful authors that write YA and NA, I just don’t feel that my novel fits into the structure. Here’s why:
- Every time I read a NA or YA book, I feel the plot is centered around the mindset of one single (and typically female) character. You follow their thoughts, their character arch, and their achievements and setbacks. Very few NA / YA stories I have read take into account the thoughts, feelings, mindset, and feelings from the other characters point of view. The few I have read that DO take the mindset of the other characters in mind didn’t do it all that successfully.
- Most YA / NA books are first person perspective. That makes sense in wanting to follow the inner dialogue of the character, but for my point of view it just doesn’t make sense.
- My main character isn’t the most beautiful, amazing, perfect person. She’s quite angry and confused with her life and the events that are happening. There is more of an internal struggle at hand that an emotional romantic issue.
Now, this isn’t me hating on YA or NA, not AT ALL! I love the stories I have read (save for one book series that I love, that ended up HATING by the final installment of the series. That one will remain nameless because I would never talk trash on another writer). The issue that I see my entire book series more as an epic fantasy adventure rather than a YA / NA book series. The issue….I have been told time and time again to NOT write a book that is over 130K words. Which, if I was to be completely honest, I don’t feel that I NEED more than 120K words to get the story to where I’d like it to be. But have you ever read an epic fantasy that isn’t a tomb?
Praetorian Rising follows the same story structure as Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth, and J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings. There is a semblance of The Hunger Games in my novel, but only in the structure of world building not so much in the style of writing.
I know this is something I should have solidly locked down, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to fully accept that I am a YA or NA writer. So far I haven’t had an agent grab at my series either, so maybe they read my book and they think….’no, this is totally NOT YA or NA. This author has no idea what she is saying.’
What I listed my novel as for the moment when sending out to possible agents; Fantasy/ Adventure NA. Is this correct? I have no f’ing clue.
