Young Adults Writing YA

[Megan Duff]

Hello Fellow Nerdfighters!

I am on a bit of a search to find some other young adults (teens and twenties) who also write YA. Its easy to find bloggers and readers but not so much writers. So I think it would supermegafoxyawesomehot to find some fellow YAers who also write YA :)
 We could become friends, form writing groups, find critique partners, the skies the limit!

A little about me: I am a college student from Wisconsin. I turn 20 (eep!) in exactly a month. I am a huge Laini Taylor, Stephanie Perkins, Maureen Johnson, John Green, Patrick Ness fan. I am currently writing a YA contemporary novel with a mystery twist. I am always open to reading/giving my thoughts on other peoples writing.

Drop by and say hello YAers ;D

[Amy Zukas]

Omgosh The Mortal Instruments is terrible with that! I mean I get that Jace is half angel or whatever, but still that's just a little bit excessive. Though I did like Simon, he was good. I've read a LOT of good books that do it well, but there are also lots that don't do it well at all. Some are just so terrible with it!

[DeShaun]

Even Simon has become this hypersexualized creature.

[Amy Zukas]

Ew really? No! I kind of stopped after he got vamped... but i supposed that makes sense cuz he's a vamp. hypersexualized is generally coupled with vamps....

[DeShaun]

Yeah, that series while very well written has become something else entirely. Every other line is about how someone looks.

[Amy Zukas]

That's annoying... but it saves me alot of money because now i don't think I'll go buy the latest books

[Amy H.]

I also write YA, I can't write younger and sometimes I may venture older, but it usually never works. YA is where I feel comfortable and the most creative. I'm 25. 

[Megan Duff]

Welcome Amy!

There is a sweet spot in YA. There is so much freedom and so many possibilities!

[Amy H.]

It is a sweet spot. I think that this is because it is easier to write what you know. We happen to be Young Adults, so it makes sense that we can write for young adults. However going forward in my continued practice stories (until I am ready to be published and even then) I believe I will still be YA. I do find it is hard for me to write pure fiction however, I am swayed to fantasy as a means to exaggerate what I'm talking about. I wish I could master the simplicity of speaking in terms of how things actually work. 

[Megan Duff]

You're last sentence brought an author right to mind: Jhumpa Lahiri. Her short stories, especially in Interpreter or Maladies, truly master simplicity. When I read her writing I feel like I'm watching a movie, its so clean and smooth, but also really emotional.

Her short story "A Temporary Matter" has my favorite final line ever: "Together they wept, for the things they now knew".

Total tangent :) But you're right that often it feels more natural to express yourself with fantasy. Our minds don't really live in reality do they? Our minds are boundless

[Neha Rahman]

Hello there fellow YA writers. There are a lot of YA stereotypes, that's for sure. I don't know... I think this is only because there is so much YA writing. With any thing I suppose, when there is a lot of it, tropes to the point of cliches are just a given. I'm on figment: http://figment.com/users/149224-Neha-Rahman

And I am an amateur at photo editing so I do make covers. Really, the Picnic/Paint situation with the covers on that website gives me actual nightmares so... here, PLEASE. LET ME HELP YOU. http://figment.com/topics/226189-Covers-Made-Here

[Amy Zukas]

one: I approve of the molly

Two: I'm also on figment same name as on here

Three: I approve of your tumblr... that is all

[Neha Rahman]

Why thank you. It's always nice to meet fellow sherlockians. Ooh, okay, I need to go follow you now on both tumblr and figment. :)