Sue H. Cunningham, author of Cloud Nine, with 12 tips to make your YA novel stand out.
A YA (young adult) novel is intended for a teen readership, bridging the gap between child and adult material. Although YA books are marketed towards the 12-18 age group, research tells us these books are just as likely to be enjoyed by adults. Here are my top tips to make your novel stand out.
1 Make age and setting work for you
A well-defined age range indicates where your book would sit in a bookshop or library and makes it easier for an agent to sell. Kids tend to ‘read up’, choosing stories with characters 1-2 years older than themselves. Therefore, lower YA or ‘Clean Teen’ protagonists should be 13-15. For upper YA, which explores more grown-up themes and has crossover appeal, aim for characters in the 16-18 age range.
Employ a young surrounding cast with a limited number of adults. A savvy setting can do a lot of heavy lifting here – teen bestseller This Book Kills (Ravena Guron) takes place in an elite boarding school and, in The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins goes even further by trapping twenty-four teenagers in a dystopian arena.
2 Every word counts
The accepted wordcount for YA novels is between 50,000 – 90,000. I’d suggest staying below 80,000, especially for a debut, and this is absolutely doable – John Green’s modern classic The Fault in Our Stars packs a less-is-more punch at just under 66K.
Cut excess padding and ensure every word earns its place. There’s also a practical consideration – rising costs of paper and printing make shorter novels more appealing to publishers and therefore easier for an agent to pitch.
3 Pick up the pace
Gen Z teens, used to the instant gratification of social media, have notoriously short attention spans – there’s a reason why the most popular TikToks are only 7-15 seconds long!
Immediacy is key. Start your novel at the inciting incident – the point where everything changes. This should apply when writing for any age group but teens are perhaps less likely to tolerate an extended set up. Drip feed your backstory and keep chapters short with cliffhangers to keep them turning those pages.
4 Nothing’s off limits
Themes needn’t be teen specific – YA novels can encompass the same wide range as adult fiction. Don’t shy away from controversial subjects – nothing is off limits as long as it is sensitively handled. Reading can be a safe space for teens to explore difficult topics but remember to write through the lens of a young person experiencing these issues for the first time, not with the hindsight of an adult.
5 Keep it real (even if it’s fantasy!)
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t always have to write what you know but do try to write what you love as teens can spot inauthenticity a mile off. Avoid chasing trends – by the time your book hits the shelves, the moment may have passed. Dystopia has enjoyed a lengthy run but post-pandemic, there’s been a surge in readers seeking comforting, uplifting reads such as fairytale retellings and romantasy. Nothing’s wasted, though – if you’ve written a Dracula reboot but the market for vampires is waning, don’t panic. Publishing is cyclical – wait long enough and that vampire trend may well resurrect itself!
6 Hook your reader
Can you sum up your story in one sentence? Do you have a clear elevator pitch with a clever hook?
If it takes ten minutes to explain your plot, rethink and simplify. TikTok is a great driver for YA sales so ask yourself: could you get your premise across in that optimal 7 second window?
7 Don’t give your guys an easy ride
Protagonist is just another word for main character – or is it? Never forget that protagonist means active participant or driving force so throw conflict in their way and ensure their actions and decisions propel the plot rather than letting stuff just happen to them. Teens generally have structured lives with less freedom to make choices (school, parents etc) so find inventive ways to give your characters agency!
8 Look who’s talking
Consider how teen speak differs from adult. This might mean shorter sentences and informal language but don’t assume all youngsters sound the same. Give your characters individual, recognisable voices and speech patterns but beware of using specific slang as this can date quickly. A useful trick when editing is to examine a passage of dialogue – if there were no speech tags, could you still tell who’s speaking?
9 Bring on the drama
Teens love a bit of drama! As my son’s headteacher once said – kids have only two friends: nobody and everybody (as in nobody else has started their revision and everybody is going to that party).
Embellish but don’t overdo it – exaggeration can work particularly well with humour as long as you don’t cross the line into slapstick.
10 Cut the cliches
Readers love a good trope but some plot devices can get a bit tired – consider a fresh twist to make your work sing.
Avoid:
Starting chapter one with a character waking up
The orphan – find more inventive ways for your protagonist to evade adult authority.
Conflict of girl torn between safe boy-next-door versus dangerous bad lad – how about a love triangle with three guys instead?
11 Respect your reader
Don’t talk down to your reader by being preachy or patronising – there’s little difference in the language of a YA compared to an adult novel as long as the focus is firmly from a young perspective. Aim to entertain not educate and avoid being flippant or dismissive of teenage concerns that may seem minor to you.
And finally…
12 They don’t all die at the end
One area where YA differs from adult fiction is the expectation of a hopeful ending. However dark the content, look for the silver lining and leave your reader with at least the possibility things will come good in the end.
There’s a certain responsibility in writing for young people. It’s fine to provoke an emotional response but remember teens have enough to deal with – allow reading to remain their safe space, OK? And don’t forget that substantial cohort of adult readers who may have long forgotten their own teenage angst but are seeking the ‘comfort blanket’ solace of a YA read with a joyful ending too.
(c) Sue H. Cunningham
About Cloud Nine by Sue H. Cunningham:
A hilarious, heartfelt supernatural YA rom-com in which a would-be guardian angel falls in love with a living boy – perfect for fans of The Good Place, Afterlove and The Dead Romantics.
“The mix of playful/heartfelt, happy/sad, Victorian/modern and unreal/historical offers an original context.” – The Sunday Times
Sixteen-year-old Evangeline has been dead for decades. Her accidentally heroic demise secured her a spot on Cloud Nine, the luxurious top tier of the Afterlife – but it turns out that even paradise can get boring.
After a century of terminal niceness, Evvy volunteers to train as a celestial guide. Now it’s her job to watch over people during their final hours on earth, ensuring they don’t screw up their chances of a decent Afterlife.
Evvy isn’t averse to bending the rules, and she always gets results – until she makes the fatal mistake of falling for a living boy.
Why can Tom see Evvy when he’s not scheduled to depart yet? And how can she make this work when he’s alive, she’s dead, and fraternising with Beforelifers is absolutely forbidden?
Suddenly, Evvy is facing the biggest challenge of her Afterlife…
- A fresh, original and funny novel from the author of Totally Deceased – like You’ve Reached Sam or Afterlove, but with the humour of The Good Place and the Barbie movie.
- Ideal for fans of Gabrielle Zevin’s Elsewhere and The Love of my Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood.
- A heartfelt romance spanning life and death, with a relatable contemporary world, an imagined afterlife and an unforgettable cast of characters from across history.
Pre-Order your copy of Cloud Nine by Sue H. Cunningham online here.
And see here for further advice on writing for YA on Writing.ie.
