The next big thing

Serial as in novels in installments, or a novel called Serial?

Even if I did a serial, I'd balk about not writing the whole novella ahead of time. Then serialize the chapters already written ahead of time. (One of the things that bugs me about serialized graphic novels, is I've heard you can't write the whole series ahead of time.)

Thriller-type stuff isn't my forte, and listening to Serial made ME want to write it. All the people involved were high schoolers, too, so it was totally a "real life" YA novel. except way more diverse than the majority of YA novels....

No idea if that could be next big thing material, but I predict at least a couple future books that draw comparisons (hopefully tasteful, since it happened to real people). I actually think, genre aside, Serial is a good example of one of those random things* that got really popular because it has the X factor that makes it riveting to people. Aka what everyone hopes to produce, but no one can control.

*having the support of This American Life helped, obviously

I want more YA novels that make what is real an actual question. Not magical really. But more like some collective higher truth, slowly revealed through individual subjective truth.

Not saying I want preachy, though more philosophical stuff I love.

JustSarah said:

Serial as in novels in installments, or a novel called Serial?

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It's a podcast investigating a real-life crime (reevaluating whether the guy serving time is actually guilty), told in installments.

I agree, Maramoser, it has that unpredictable X factor. You can't program or design something to catch on that way. I mean, it requires patience to understand what's going on; it's not a sensationalist attention grab.

Fuchsia Groan said:

I'll just be over here trying to figure out how to mash up Night Vale and Serial.

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Between those two things, just makes me think the world needs a YA Twin Peaks.

CoffeeBeans said:

Between those two things, just makes me think the world needs a YA Twin Peaks.

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I'd sure read it.

And they're bringing back Twin Peaks itself, so maybe it's time to seize the moment.

Echoing Fuschia there. Anybody who's up for a YA Twin Peaks has pop culture nostalgia on their side. I regret that I wasn't old enough to really get into it during its heyday, just from a fan perspective.

CoffeeBeans said:

Between those two things, just makes me think the world needs a YA Twin Peaks.

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Interesting combo there. I think it would fly. Contemporary YA is a quality niche that garners praise, wins awards and gets noticed. If I get off my spec run, I'd like to take a stab at it.

I just think YA is going to reach full potential in the next year and really blossom, or in fact, stay where it is.

Tri

Windcutter said:

What about Sci-Fi? I heard a few agents all listed "YA Sci-Fi" in their wishlists recently... I thought we had tried that trend already and it didn't produce anything big?

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It might have to be a softer shade of Sci-Fi. My adult sci-fi is rather technical, only because of the competition and what their bringing to the table. I'd like to take the cast of Starship Troopers and bring them down into true YA territory and craft some kind of action adventure.

You know what I wish would take off? New Adult fiction. I think there are plenty of YA readers aging out of the market who want to read about people closer to their own age. There's still plenty of fun stuff that goes on with 20 somethings that we could write about. If someone could get the NA market away from college kids having sex, then NA could become something amazing.

Applicious said:

You know what I wish would take off? New Adult fiction. I think there are plenty of YA readers aging out of the market who want to read about people closer to their own age. There's still plenty of fun stuff that goes on with 20 somethings that we could write about. If someone could get the NA market away from college kids having sex, then NA could become something amazing.

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Not that there's anything wrong with college kids having sex. But... yeah. I'd love to see some NA of another stripe.

Well assuming it's YA, I've considered just writing what I want, then submit it when that particular wave is happening.

Problem is my work lately has been trans-realistic short stories that work toward a novel.

I think the problem with NA sans the sex is that it's always been subsumed into the larger categories of mainstream or literary fiction. Twentysomethings don't have their own special libraries, so there was never a need for a separate category, any more than there was a need for "senior fiction." A lot of "chick lit" back when that was a huge trend was essentially NA. And there are coming of age novels about twentysomethings across the genre spectrum.

All that said, there was a time when you saw a LOT of lit/mainstream books about people that age, and you see fewer now. I have a "sell your novel" book from around 2000. One piece of outdated info it offers: "Gen X fiction" is a marketable genre. That was the '90s equivalent of NA: a ton of forgotten novels about slackers with jobs in coffee shops (and a handful of good ones). The most prominent being, of course, Douglas Coupland's Generation X.

Then Gen X people got fulltime jobs, had kids, and started reading YA for fun! Or historicals. Or something.

Heh, you know I can't help thinking that Starship Troopers was NA in space. You know, the academy and love affairs and all that?

Just throwing in something Kristin Nelson wrote on facebook yesterday when talking about her query inbox:
"And it never ceases to amaze me when I see trends in that query inbox. It's like suddenly all writers have hit on the same concept independently. This month's zeitgeist? Young adult stories where the main narrator has to train as an assassin in order to protect a family member or the whole fam.
Just in the last 3 weeks alone I've read over a dozen query letters with this theme."

Ha! Glad I decided to put off writing my train-as-an-assassin story. Though my MC was just going to do it for lack of anything else to do.

I'm hoping Sci-Fi stays a real possibility,as that is what I'm writing next. It's soft sci-fi though. People live on space stations because they've destroyed the Earth, but then what happens when some go back to Earth and adventure ensues.

jtrylch13 said:

I'm hoping Sci-Fi stays a real possibility,as that is what I'm writing next. It's soft sci-fi though. People live on space stations because they've destroyed the Earth, but then what happens when some go back to Earth and adventure ensues.

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Sounds like the setting of the TV series "The 100."

dancing-drama said:

Just throwing in something Kristin Nelson wrote on facebook yesterday when talking about her query inbox:
"And it never ceases to amaze me when I see trends in that query inbox. It's like suddenly all writers have hit on the same concept independently. This month's zeitgeist? Young adult stories where the main narrator has to train as an assassin in order to protect a family member or the whole fam.
Just in the last 3 weeks alone I've read over a dozen query letters with this theme."

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I wonder if this was caused by the picture and story of a girl protecting her family from ISIS that was circulating the internet for awhile about 4 months back. Popped up a lot in my news feeds.

http://the-eyeontheworld.blogspot.ca/2014/08/photo-yazidi-girl-carries-assault-rifle.html

I could see a lot of people being inspired by that picture. I sometimes find it fun to try and trace back to where a sudden trend of stories might have started from, though some trends are more obvious than others. (Like Twilight creating a vampire boom)

CheesecakeMe said:

I wonder if this was caused by the picture and story of a girl protecting her family from ISIS that was circulating the internet for awhile about 4 months back. Popped up a lot in my news feeds.

http://the-eyeontheworld.blogspot.ca/2014/08/photo-yazidi-girl-carries-assault-rifle.html

I could see a lot of people being inspired by that picture. I sometimes find it fun to try and trace back to where a sudden trend of stories might have started from, though some trends are more obvious than others. (Like Twilight creating a vampire boom)

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Possibly, yes! I love trying to guess what makes a whole lot strangers think of the same thing...

I can also see how the movie release of The Purge: Anarchy and the following events in Chicago and San Diego could have something to do with that trend. (FYI The Purge is a movie in which all crimes are legal for one night, twelve hours, and murder and mayhem ensue. Around the time of the sequel's release some people online started to campaign for real Purge Nights to happen in Chicago and San Diego and other cities. If I remember correctly someone fired a missile in Chicago, and I think in San Diego someone let a Giraffe out of the Zoo.) The movie and the "real" Purge happened in July...

And in July we also got to see Scarlett Johansson kicking some serious butt in Lucy. I could see a strong action character like that inspiring someone...

Yeah, not exactly like The 100, Bing. More like the space stations people live on are the "Old World" (Europe) and Earth is now the "New World" as people begin to colonize it again. Instead of palisade forts there will be protective energy domes or something and the "Native Americans" are humans who stayed beyond and evolved differently than space humans.

Something rather interesting on this topic and definitely food for thought. I have my first YA novel (I write romantic thrillers, suspense and mysteries - adult fare) coming out with the Wee Creek Press very soon, and when they contracted it for their YA line, I wrote the publishers to ask whether there would be consequences like "bumping out of the YA" category and losing readership for my second novel since the work is a series. And my characters grow up with each segment of the series (it's science fiction/space opera) which means in the 3rd installment, they are in their early twenties and looking for meaningful pursuits other than blowing up worlds and pirating space ships (though that certainly can go on for a while too).

The publishers replied that the line between YA and NA has been blurred so long ago that many readers actually expect their YA characters to grow up (regardless of the sci-fic or fantasy aspects) and that the YA readership 'grows up' with their favorite characters so once we're into the NA category, my romantic suspense background is allowed to kick in and love/sex/violence are...beneficial from the sales point of view.

I was happy to hear that since that part wasn't all that obvious to me and I work in a school and daily library visits are a requirement.

jtrylch13 said:

Yeah, not exactly like The 100, Bing. More like the space stations people live on are the "Old World" (Europe) and Earth is now the "New World" as people begin to colonize it again. Instead of palisade forts there will be protective energy domes or something and the "Native Americans" are humans who stayed beyond and evolved differently than space humans.

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Not saying your work is like the 100, but there are "Grounders" in that show who were left behind on Earth and survived/adapted. The handful of episodes I saw weren't bad--it could be worth checking out for inspiration!

jtrylch13 said:

Yeah, not exactly like The 100, Bing. More like the space stations people live on are the "Old World" (Europe) and Earth is now the "New World" as people begin to colonize it again. Instead of palisade forts there will be protective energy domes or something and the "Native Americans" are humans who stayed beyond and evolved differently than space humans.

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Yours seems to have sufficient differences but also some similarities. There are indeed people left behind on Earth who are now hostile to the "newcomers" in The 100 show.I second casualrungal's suggestion: check out some episodes. Focus on the differences, especially how the plot and characters are tackled.

What The 100 doesn't work for me is that it's an exciting setting whereby they follow the Disney high school drama playbook--the girls are all like cheerleaders, the guys like jocks. Who gets laid by who next week seems to be bigger than who gets killed by who/what.