Let's Get Sexual: Sex in YA Lit

As a YA writer, it's always interesting to hear how others deal with sex in their work. Carrie Mesrobian, author of the forthcoming Sex & Violence (Carolrhoda LAB, Oct. 2013), and editor Andrew Karre talked about sex in YA lit at the Children's and Young Adult Literature Conference at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. 

I wasn't in attendance; however, I stumbled across their main points of discussion on Mesrobian's blog (via YA Highway) and they're quite enlightening--especially if you're always thinking about how young adults/new adults view or contemplate sex, both inside and outside the realms of fiction.

Two points (as outlined by Mesrobian) I find particularly enlightening:

1. You can write YA that doesn't have sexual content in it. What you cannot do is write imaginable young adult characters without thinking about them with respect to sex.

6. Adolescence, the notion of childhood innocence, and the concept of privacy are all relatively modern inventions. Reluctance to speak about sex or even expose children or young adults to sex has not always been the norm throughout human history. Also, teenagers have very little privacy in general, less now in the social media age. YA stories that feature long expanses in which characters have uninterrupted romantical sex are in conflict with this reality.

Magical Realities, Perspectives, and the Human Condition: What Does Fantasy Do?

As a person and writer, I've never been able to look at a rock and see just a rock. The rock might grow a pair of legs and walk about the world, wondering why he's been given such a hard exterior in a land full of soft things, or that same rock might sprout a pair of wings and desire a home in the nest of an eagle. Perhaps I'm prone to disregarding the rules and laws of our world because I never quite meshed with my Organic Chemistry and Physics textbooks; or, perhaps, I gravitate toward this magical way of thinking because it is how I come to interact with and wrap my head around the confusing experiences of life.

For me, it's important to embrace this idea of other within literature because it encourages us to stand on our heads and view the world from a different perspective: a fantastical way for us to understand the human condition and experience.

I tell fantastical stories because I don't believe in saying to a character, You have to stop now--you can't go any farther because reality tells you no. I tell fantastical stories because I live for that moment when a character stumbles over that word no and does something special with it. There are many heavy things in this world, and it is my greatest pleasure as a writer to see how a character will interact with that weight: How might he lift it? How might she movie it? How will their directions change once that weight rests in their hands? [These questions might easily be applied to all genres of literature, including realistic--how might they take on different meanings?]

I tell fantastical stories because what if always has and always will intrigue me.

For me, a successful piece of fantastical literature conveys the notion that we don't always have to participate in the traditionally accepted versions of reality in order to understand ourselves and the inherent qualities that make us human. In my eyes, the goal of fantastical literature is to break apart the world we've come to know and, using all those pieces, a combination of recognizable things and never-before-seen things, slowly and carefully snap the universe back together again.

The Difference Between Fantasy Lit and Science Fiction Lit

One of my all-time fave writers is Ursala K Le Guin; I guess you could say she's somewhat of a hero of mine. In a great interview with Bill Moyer on PBS (video below), she talks about what she feels is the main difference between the genres of fantasy and the genres of science fiction. 

According to Le Guin,

"Science Fiction doesn't contradict science, but it goes on and invents just as freely as fantasy does."

"Fantasy makes up its own rules; it's a much older genre; its roots are deeper." The happenings in a story of fantasy don't necessarily have to align with our current understandings of physics--laws of the world.

Isn't this such a wonderful way to look at these two genres? So often time they are lumped together as Science Fiction & Fantasy--with that misleading ampersand that, in my mind, seems to suggest some extremely close correlation. 

Sure, they are similar genres, but each has its unique perspective and ways in which it critiques a universe.

Rain, Rain, Is Here to Stay!

The Pacific Northwest rains are finally here to stay, and some days I feel like scuba gear is required to successfully traverse the wet streets. Lots of people hate the rain, but I have to admit there's nothing I enjoy more than a nice, large, juicy rain cloud.

The soggy clothes. The chilly weather. The big warm jackets. The mandatory cups of hot chocolate (or, as I've recently discovered, mochas from Starbucks). The heaters. The blankets. The lack of sunshine/lack of sunburns. I love it all.

Rain: Is there really a better excuse to stay in the house and write, write, write or read, read, read?

Sparkly, Shiny, Fresh-Smelling New Ideas!

The fantastic thing about writing stories--about stumbling into new worlds--is that you never know when they might pop up. You could be sitting in a classroom listening to your professor ramble on and on, you could be at work pounding away on that computer, or you could even be pleading to the Celeb Gods that they fix crazypants Lindsay Lohan.

But whenever that sparkly, shiny new idea creeps up on you, it's basically mandatory that you show the world how happy you are.

That happiness will ensue for many days, many weeks, perhaps even many months, until suddenly . . . your shiny new world begins to present problems and conflicts and struggles. And then you get sad, because conflict sort of stresses you out:

And you know what you want your characters to say, you know what you want them to achieve and where you want them to go on their journey, but sometimes you just can't reach the carrot:

But then, as you explore this world more and love this world more and meet new faces within this world and hear all the stories this world has to share, then that joy comes back again:

And then you have to edit the sucker . . . . and we all know how that feels:

Music for Writers: Action Scenes!

Sometimes it just takes some good music to get pumped up for a scene--especially an action scene! Action scenes are difficult to write, so I am constantly looking for inspiration. When I'm writing, I tend to classify action scenes in one of two ways.

1. Fights/Tussles/Epic Battles. Punches thrown, heroes/heroines knocked down, enemies overcome, maybe some blood. The ones that contain the physical, physical, physical!

2. The Intense. There might not be any fighting in the scene necessarily, but there might be an incredible sense/feeling of needing--needing to get somewhere, needing to succeed, needing to overcome an obstacle. Maybe a character is running down the street, in a thunderstorm, where the only enemies on the course are his own inner demons. Sometimes the greatest antagonists in a novel are those found within the character--those enemies they battle throughout the entire story and, sometimes, feel as if they'll never be able to thwart.

Regardless of what type of action scene you're writing, your characters need something to lift them up after they've fallen and, most of all, inspire them to be victorious. Every once in a while, we all need something that makes us want to run out and take on the world, right?

The following is my playlist that helps me find inspiration for some good ol' action and intensity! What songs get you pumped up for action?

Character Therapy

I just realized that my characters do the following things a lot:

1. "Grab a shoulder" (I think this is in an effort to console the other individual; however, now that I think about it . . . it might just be a bit creepy. How often does someone grab your shoulder *and squeeze it* when trying to comfort you? Stop it, characters, stop getting so cheeky. I'm not a romance writer--I wouldn't know what to do with you once you got past the shoulder groping stage!)

2. "Sigh" (Quite possibly the lamest character action ever. #BasketCase #GetOverIt)

3. "Roll their eyes" (Stop giving me and your peers attitude, you mean-angsty-McNasty!)

4. "Tense up" (Chillax, dudes!)

5. "Crack a grin" and, on the opposite side of the spectrum, "Crack a frown" (There's a whole bunch of "cracking" going on--y'all's faces are goin' to be in some pieces soon . . . then what are we going to do?)

Basically, I'm going to start requiring all of my potential protagonists/antagonists/super-random-agonists to enroll in Character Therapy before they even consider hopping into my head. I work for a celebrity gossip/entertainment news site and deal with Hollywood's crazy drama all day. So, my lovely and sweet and manic characters, give me a break, would ya? I understand that some of you simply must roll your eyes every so often, but please don't do it every third paragraph. It STRESSES me out.

What are some of the things your characters do too often?

On Insanity (The Writerly Kind)

Currently, as I type this, my fingernails are about 4 microns too short and I seriously think my hair is starting to fall out (it's littering the keyboard as I speak). What's even more unsettling is that very rarely do I see a grown up male-ginger with a full head of hair, so I'm starting to think that maybe -- just maybe -- I'll be bald by the time I (if it ever does happen) land an agent. 

Life as a writer is stressful, and while we strive ever so hard to practice patience, sometimes -- most times! -- it just ain't easy. Not even a little. Whether you're trying to finish that damn novel, whether you're struggling to get through a series of tough edits, whether your bitchy characters are punching you in the face, whether you're waiting on a batch of query responses, whether you're at a loss for words . . . the right dosage of patience and the proper attitude to handle the situation can be tough to locate. Chances are you might go a little insane in the process. But that's okay, right? A little insanity never hurts anyone, especially a writer. 

(Just think about how many voices we have circulating around in our heads. If that's not constant insanity, then IDK what is!)

What I'm trying to say is that we're all going to experience road bumps, potholes, or hella awful magical spells that cripple us as we attempt to navigate our way through this crazy I-Freakin'-Need-An-Agent-Now-Or-I'll-Spontaneously-Combust Literary World. There are ups, and there are most certainly downs. So when you find yourself in that low spot, the very bottom of your world, don't panic. Take a minute and just think there. Walk around a little. Explore. You never know what new ideas you might be able to find, or the new characters you might stumble upon, or the new voices you might discover there.

Ursala K. Le Guin, one of my favorite fantasy authors, once said: "To light a candle is to cast a shadow."

Whenever we embark upon a new story, it's like we're lighting a candle. That glowing new idea bursts to life, casting an unbelievable light over our world that keeps us going and keeps us excited. But soon, the shadows become apparent. Eventually, the flame might start to die. You start to notice the plot holes in your story, the deficiencies in your characters, the lack of world building, and a whole crapload of other things that make you want to scream. When that happens, don't give up. Don't snuff out the candle completely. 

Sit down at your computer. Take a few deep breaths. Get out those matches (or prepare to utter your flame-producing incantation of choice). . .

And reignite that flame!

When the going gets tough, don't stop. In the words of Kanye West, get going "harder, better, faster, stronger." 

Cheers!

The Intense Urge to Query. . .

"No, no, no, no, it's not ready yet . . . but, oh boy *jumps up and down in seat, experiences minor convulsions of excitement* do I want to throw a query out there."

After dedicating many a night to getting those first 65K down on the page, the final sentence (the point when the glorious angels sing a Hallelujah chorus in your ears) seems like a sigh of relief. Immediately, we feel a rapid succession of thoughts (hopes and dreams) fly through our heads. . .

I'm going to query this novel. Agents will love it. I'll get a call. Oh, boy, what should I say? Gonna' play it cool. Gonna get an offer of rep. Agent-spectacular-the-most-awesome-person-in-the-world will pitch my novel. Yay, editors will like me. Go me! Yay, editors like me--but do they really? All my hard work wasn't for nothing. The manuscript will go into production. Maybe someday I'll see it on the shelves. OMG, time for author readings already? Want me to sign your book? "OH, please, please, please! Gosh, I'll die if you don't," you dream of a fan saying. The book will be a hit. Smashing success. Wow. NYT bestseller? Wow. Book two?

Ha ha. WRONG. Now I'm going to go barf from all the above sarcasm.

No matter how realistic of a person you are, it's nearly impossible to fight off that whirlwind of thoughts. I think, especially after you've spent countless hours listening to those unruly/snarky/humble/curious/badass/fearful/beautiful/grotesque/amoral/virtuous characters of yours, that you have a right to celebrate. But only a little. Don't go throwing around an unfinished query letter for an unedited novel. Eat a chocolate croissant, or down a box of donut holes, instead. 

I think it's healthy to let our minds go places as writers; it's healthy to let them wander toward the dreams we one day wish to fulfill. I honestly think that's what keeps us going. Sometimes, though, we just need to pull back the reins a bit (as I'm struggling to do) and take our time. In the end, I think our novels will thank us and our chances of landing Mr./Ms. Agent-spectacular-the-most-awesome-person-in-the-world will significantly improve.