The Shaming of Adults who are YA Readers/Fans

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't usually notice the vocabulary in the books I read. What I do notice is how well the writer uses the words they choose. Perhaps the constraints they are under inspire the best YA writers to use language with greater precision. In a book like A Wizard of Earthsea the language is very nearly poetry.

And not that the vocabulary in most books written for adults is particularly advanced. It's often at the 7th or 8th grade level so that readers don't feel like they're reading a textbook.

 

[Judderman]

And not that the vocabulary in most books written for adults is particularly advanced. It's often at the 7th or 8th grade level so that readers don't feel like they're reading a textbook.

Or like reading a classic. Teenagers read some Shakespeare or other classics at school, so connect it with work/homework, and then may get put off books with complex prose for life.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

In a book like A Wizard of Earthsea the language is very nearly poetry.

Great way of putting it!

 

[DrMclony]

Don't think I'll read that article. It sounds like the writer should be embarrassed. As for adults reading whatever the hell they damn well please, they're ADULTS for crying out loud. They can make their own decisions, and nobody trying to be bossy like a twelve year old by telling adults what not to read has any legitimacy as a literary authority.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

As for adults reading whatever the hell they damn well please, they're ADULTS for crying out loud. They can make their own decisions,

That pretty well sums it up, doesn't it.

 

[Sarah AJ]

Ugh...I'm almost 30 and mostly read YA books, period. Love them. Don't pay attention to haters- you have a degree in English Literature!! Now, that's awesome. Nuff said

 

[Brian G Turner]

Don't pay attention to haters

Quite agree - and welcome to the chrons forums.

 

[2DaveWixon]

Ugh...I'm almost 30 and mostly read YA books, period. Love them. Don't pay attention to haters- you have a degree in English Literature!! Now, that's awesome. Nuff said

Once I saw that Brian welcomed you to Chrons, I looked up and saw that under your name it said "Messages: 1" your first posting! Welcome, indeed! What a way to start, eh? Now do more...

 

[2DaveWixon]

I don't usually notice the vocabulary in the books I read. What I do notice is how well the writer uses the words they choose. Perhaps the constraints they are under inspire the best YA writers to use language with greater precision. In a book like A Wizard of Earthsea the language is very nearly poetry.

And not that the vocabulary in most books written for adults is particularly advanced. It's often at the 7th or 8th grade level so that readers don't feel like they're reading a textbook.

If you have to stop, when reading, and look up a word -- or at least wonder about it -- that has the disastrous effect (YA or not) of drawing you up, out of the story you have (hopefully) fallen into. For the defining characteristic of good fiction, IMHO, is that it pulls you into its world, out of yours -- and that's what I read for.
But I cannot say, as you do, Ms. Edgerton, that "what I do notice is how well the writer uses the words they choose" -- because in the best fiction, I don't notice the choices of words, the technique, the craft -- any of the technicalities; if I notice those, I'm not in the story.

Understand, in saying that, I'm speaking as a reader -- as the reader I started out as... I see it quite differently when I'm functioning in writerly persona -- which may mean that I am not yet at the level of proficiency that Ms. Edgerton has reached. So: something to aspire to!

 

[Sarah AJ]

Quite agree - and welcome to the chrons forums.

Thanks Brian!!!

 

[Sarah AJ]

Once I saw that Brian welcomed you to Chrons, I looked up and saw that under your name it said "Messages: 1" your first posting! Welcome, indeed! What a way to start, eh? Now do more...

Thanks 2DaveWixon!! I'm excited to be here

 

[Jo Zebedee]

If you have to stop, when reading, and look up a word -- or at least wonder about it -- that has the disastrous effect (YA or not) of drawing you up, out of the story you have (hopefully) fallen into. For the defining characteristic of good fiction, IMHO, is that it pulls you into its world, out of yours -- and that's what I read for.

This makes my toes curl under in horror. We stand to write identikit books if we fear this, using no words that challenge. Context is everything. A word should be clear from how it is used. I wrote an entire (cusp of YA - it's a long story) novel in the Northern Irish venacular, including words such as eejit, lough (for a sea lough, so that made it even more confusing), culchie and many more and no one has blinked so far. If context is clear, no one should get pulled up.

 

[Sarah AJ]

I wrote an entire (cusp of YA - it's a long story) novel in the Northern Irish venacular, including words such as eejit, lough (for a sea lough, so that made it even more confusing), culchie and many more and no one has blinked so far.

Awesome!!!!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Awesome!!!!

Ha! It was tremendous fun -I tend to break up my series work with standalones, often set in NI. That it also got a Hugo nom indicates there was little in it to present a barrier to readers.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

because in the best fiction, I don't notice the choices of words, the technique, the craft -- any of the technicalities; if I notice those, I'm not in the story.

But that's part of evaluating how well the writer uses words, technique, craft: whether they are pulling you into the story, making you feel things, creating a new world around you so that you feel you are right in the heart of it. Because that is what those things accomplish if they are done well.

In YA as with books written for adults, it's all in the words, because the words are all there is. For much younger readers there are the pictures to help tell the story. But in YA and adult fiction the words have to do everything. Books written for adults tend to be long enough, the writer can use three or four or five words to say what could be said just as well or better with one word, if it is the right word. The YA writer doesn't have that same luxury.

 

[HareBrain]

If you have to stop, when reading, and look up a word -- or at least wonder about it -- that has the disastrous effect (YA or not) of drawing you up, out of the story you have (hopefully) fallen into.

I remember coming across the word "hitherto" in Lord of the Rings at the age of about 11. I couldn't be bothered to look it up, so tried to guess its meaning from the context, and failed miserably. But it didn't matter -- the word sounded cool, it felt like a secret, something from Gandalf's world (he being the speaker). He'd have been a lot less impressive a character if he'd used only words and phrasing familiar to me at the time.

So even though that word did pull me out of the story, the end result was that I became more immersed, not less. (Though I agree that a new word on every line would have been too frustrating.)

 

[MWagner]

Simplistic, hackneyed language of the kind found in many popular novels can take a reader out of the imaginary world as surely as the complex language favoured by some literary types. For example, I can't stand J.K. Rowling's writing. It's clumsy, doesn't flow, and I'm aware every moment I'm reading that it was banged out on a word processor. Writing prose that doesn't draw attention to itself is craftsmanship of the highest order.

 

[DZara]

I love YA novels - I live with many YAs (my four kids) and it's a great way to bond with them over actual books instead of just movies or TV shows. Plus the ones with more adult themes work as actual literature for me, even if the writing may be a little lighter than some.

 

[manephelien]

Simplistic, hackneyed language of the kind found in many popular novels can take a reader out of the imaginary world as surely as the complex language favoured by some literary types. For example, I can't stand J.K. Rowling's writing. It's clumsy, doesn't flow, and I'm aware every moment I'm reading that it was banged out on a word processor. Writing prose that doesn't draw attention to itself is craftsmanship of the highest order.

Horses for courses... Whenever I read the Harry Potter books I'm always immersed in the wizarding world from the first word to the last. I also enjoy the nouns and verbs she's invented to describe her world. It has to be said, though, that I found her novel A Casual Vacancy unreadable, much as I like the crime novels she's written as Robert Galbraith.

Barring Robert A. Heinlein and Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall books, I haven't read much genre YA at all. Or at any rate not books marketed as such.

That said, I think that anyone attempting to dictate to other adults what they should or shouldn't read is barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Kev Heritage]

I think it's pointless to knock successful books or authors. I too find J.K. Rowling a little clunky to read, but she has great flow so that after a few paragraphs I don't notice it any more. And it's a cracking series - especially the first four books. Flow is always the key. Nail that and it will cover up any number of writing sins.

A long time ago, I used to mentally berate other writers' bad writing habits like repeats and over-use of adverbs or weak adjectives, etc., but general readers don't notice these things. They just get on with it. And with that in mind, my attitude has significantly altered. I don't care what other writers do anymore, I just focus on my own prose, because that's the only writing I can influence. I also try my best to give every new book its best chance without writing it off just because the author added an unnecessary apostrophe. Mostly...

I've also gone back to reread a selection of my favourite sci-fi and fantasy novels and been surprised to find that some of the writing isn't that great. It was a necessary journey for me - I suffer with OCD and find it very hard to put a line in the sand regarding the final draft. It helped me to relax about my own prose. Although having said that, when I spot, say, a repeat or a weak adjective in one of my published books, it's still a real effort of will to leave it alone - especially when it is so easy to correct!

As for anyone telling us what to read? It smacks of control. The world is full of people yelling at us because what we do doesn't agree with whatever demons are inside their heads.

Knowing Harry Potter was a kid's book didn't stop it being read by millions of adults, although I remember they were redesigned with more adult-looking covers so that those reading them on the London Tube didn't feel so embarrassed!

And why shouldn't we revisit those magical child and adolescent times?