Patrick Ness, author of the heart-wrenching “The Knife of Never Letting Go” (reviewed here) has an interview in The Telegraph.
It’s a short read, and fairly ordinary as far as interviews go, but this line shines in it:
“If you read what teenagers write, it’s much, much darker than anything a YA [young adult] author would publish. They write hopelessness, despair, suicide, murder. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. That’s the age you’re reckoning with stuff. And I think that if you’re a YA writer who isn’t engaging with that on some level then you’re leaving them to fend for themselves.”
I write in the Young Adult genre, and there’s something deeply reassuring in this quote. I’m a pretty relaxed, cheery person day-to-day, but the one common element in my writing is it always goes dark.
There’s a lot of information out there about the Dos and Don’ts of writing YA, and while seasoned pros will kindly advise you that there are no rules it’s hard to ignore all the well-meaning shouts of:
No sex!
No swearing!
No drugs!
No drinking!
I was a morbid teenager, to say the least. I read dark books, watched dark movies, listened to dark music. I didn’t quite reach the gloomy depths of Goth or its little sister Emo, but I definitely dipped my toes in those waters. As a writer, I want to read the sort of books teen-me would love, and I won’t paint over the dark parts.
Good YA means not talking down to your readers, and as Patrick Ness says, writing out the dark parts is just another way of underestimating your reader.
I’m going to be keeping this is mind whenever I start doubting my writing.
Miss Cole says
I read this too and Patrick Ness is one of my favourite writers ever. I too wrote some dark, dark, dark stuff as a teenager (let’s call it a reaction to all that hormone-induced angst lol!!!!) and you’re absolutely right – good YA doesn’t talk to teenagers like their idiots or too young to handle hard issues. YA *needs* horror and tough subject matter. It’s what we all wanted!
EMaree says
Miss Cole Heh, I wrote some stuff as a teen that I was worried to share in case I got locked up in a mental ward. It all helped me get rid of the bad junk in my head, though.
I’m going to have to go read the sequel to ‘The Knife Of…’ after this interview. But I’m still slightly annoyed with him for that cliffhanger!
Miss Cole says
EMaree Miss Cole YOU HAVEN’T READ IT!? :O Go! Go noooooooow!
Kris Atkins says
I just picked up The Knife of Never Letting Go from the library this week! I’m so excited to start it. I keep hearing awesome things.
I think, too, lots of people think writing dark means you have to revel in it, or promote it, or anything like that. Not true! I personally love redemption in my stories, and what good is redemption if there’s no darkness to counter it? So yeah, I’m all about dark.
NicoleAuthor says
This, times a million! It’s the goal I always set for myself when I start a WIP: would my (very angsty, black-lipstick-wearing, Anne Rice-reading, uber-Goth) teenage self read this? If not, I just don’t bother. :P That’s why in all my WIPs there’s sex, swearing, drinking, and drugs. In the current one there’s also gruesome murder, anger issues and sanity slippage in general. And I won’t let anyone tell me to tone down my characters! So often I’ll pick up a YA with an awesome-sounding dark premise and it turns out so… vanilla, for lack of a better word. I hate that. My inner teenager feels so let down.