It seems that YA dystopian novels are what's "in" right now

CaroGirl

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The funny thing is people act like dystopia is this new thing or something. Studios are certainly trying to bank on its current resurgence, due to THG, but for instance The Giver is twenty years old, and just now getting an adaptation, but its been popular among young readers for years and years. Dystopia may fade a bit, but it is not a fad. It has a had a broad readership for a long time. Publishers may shy away from them, and then in ten years pick more up.
I'm not sure who's acting like dystopian fiction is a new genre, but clearly it's neither new nor specific to a time period or trend. The best in dystopian literature will always stand out. Create great characters and an engaging premise and your readers will come.

A Brave New World (1931)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
A Clockwork Orange (1962)
A Handmaid's Tale (1985)
The Giver (1993)
The Hunger Games (2008)
 

jtrylch13

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Oh, but I had one more thought:

In terms of book popularity, Hunger Games was VERY big. It's success in literary circles had nothing to do with making a movie. The same can be said of all books made into movies. They make a splash with people who read, then they make them into movies. More people read them after movies come out, but none of it would happen unless the book has an appropriate amount of success as a book. Just didn't like how you said HG popularity was mostly due to the movies xYinxx. If that's true, then the same is true of Divergent and any other book made into a movie.
 

onesecondglance

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As someone who loved dystopian fiction long before YA was a thing, some of the misconceptions about what a dystopia is - or is not - that get bandied around just make me weep. It's almost meaningless as a term any more :(
 

jtrylch13

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Hap,

First, we're talking about published books, so if you change the whole outlook on dystopia then more power to you. That's what makes writing continue to move into the future: people who take the same old threads and weave them into something new and fresh.

Second, you didn't say in your post if the "sucky" world you are creating is in some way oppressing the people living in said "sucky" world. I think if the oppression is coming from people/society, then we are still talking about dystopia. If the world itself is what is making people unhappy then as someone else said we are into post-apocalyptic. You can have elements of both, but I think dystopia leans toward PEOPLE and SOCIETY being the problem and post-apocalyptic leans toward LANDSCAPE and RESOURCES being the problem. There isn't always a definition that will describe it all, which is great. If your book uses some of both of those themes and you are bringing something fresh to the table for readers then awesome. If you're worried about the idea that "dystopia is out" and you aren't sure how your book will fit in, I'd say don't worry. By the time you finish writing and revising the market could have changed all over again, plus yours doesn't sound absolutely defined by any one genre.
 

jtrylch13

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As someone who loved dystopian fiction long before YA was a thing, some of the misconceptions about what a dystopia is - or is not - that get bandied around just make me weep. It's almost meaningless as a term any more :(

Then what is your definition?
 

onesecondglance

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It's very simple: a utopia shows a perfect society, whereas a dystopia is the mirror image of that.

Having a crapsack world does not make it a dystopia. Nor does having an oppressive government. There is no requirement for rebellions, or for the populace to recognise that they are living in a dystopia, or for factions, post-apocalyptic future settings, or any of the other things touted as "characteristics".

The Hunger Games definitely shows a dystopian society; but so do the classics like 1984 and Brave New World. It is a broad field, with plenty of room for ideas beyond a repurposed "chosen one against evil empire" narrative. Which, if you think about it, is what Star Wars is. And that's not dystopian fiction.

For me, this is a genre of author intent and reader reaction. Did the author intend to tell us something about ourselves through showing a society like this? Did reading about it make you stop and think about the way we live currently?
 
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onesecondglance

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As a side note: I am not attacking YA books that are called dystopian fiction. The label that is put on them has no bearing on their quality - a good book is a good book.

I'm just pissed off at the way a descriptive term has become a marketing term. I think we've lost something in that transition.
 

stephen andrew

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Yes, it is a very classic story arc. It annoys me that it is being touted as dystopia now. The word is overused and rather becoming taboo in the publishing market, and I hope that doesn't affect other storytellers, who get compared to THG without good reason. Even Divergent was a stretch to compare the two, and people do that left and right. It takes away credibility from other storytellers who are just trying to tell a good story, I think.
 

CaroGirl

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Yes, it is a very classic story arc. It annoys me that it is being touted as dystopia now. The word is overused and rather becoming taboo in the publishing market, and I hope that doesn't affect other storytellers, who get compared to THG without good reason. Even Divergent was a stretch to compare the two, and people do that left and right. It takes away credibility from other storytellers who are just trying to tell a good story, I think.

The popularity of The Hunger Games series and film franchise will fade. I don't think they will have the lasting impact on the genre, and the publishing industry in general, that you seem to think they'll have. I believe it's simply another facet of a growing body of quality dystopian fiction. And, yes, I do think The Hunger Games, while not perfect (what is?), was a solid addition to the canon.

The fact that it introduced dystopian literature to a new generation of readers can't be a bad thing. I got my teens to read The Lottery (1948) after they devoured The Hunger Games trilogy, and they said: "Huh!"
 

jtrylch13

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For me, this is a genre of author intent and reader reaction. Did the author intend to tell us something about ourselves through showing a society like this? Did reading about it make you stop and think about the way we live currently?

I like this right here. Words evolve and mean something different through use, so whether the word means the same to you from prior experience and what it means to people currently who may have no experience with the books you are referring to doesn't really matter. If they achieve or attempt to achieve what was written above I think is the important thing. I think a lot of what is classified dystopia today does this, even if they don't do it well or the writing/plot are sub-par. Maybe a better understanding of what has been and what is dystopia and what the underlying meanings are would benefit readers, but that's unlikely in today's market. Publishers are going to latch onto a term that sells books and if it makes it easier for readers to find something they like I don't see it as a bad thing, just not ideal.
 

stephen andrew

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The popularity of The Hunger Games series and film franchise will fade. I don't think they will have the lasting impact on the genre, and the publishing industry in general, that you seem to think they'll have.

I'm speaking more for those of us who are looking to break into the industry now, not bashing THG by any means. But I do wish that it wasn't such a comparison game whenever anything new gets released -- is it the new HP or Twilight or THG, or is it a knock-off of those? etc.

There is no new story, not really I don't think, only different storytellers who tell their version of classic story arcs, of which those blockbuster sensations are among. But if we're playing that game those are all knock-offs too of earlier classics.

I wish people would just stop playing that game and take the stories for their quality of storytelling. I know it's unrealistic, but I wish it were more that way, I guess.
 

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Write a story, not a trend. There's always room for a great story no matter what might be popular at a given moment.

This! Write about something that sparks something within you as a writer, and not about something that you hope will fit in with being the next big thing.
 

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I think it's strange that there aren't really any dystopians coming out anymore because I know lots and lots of people, myself included, who still enjoy a good dystopian, but now we're finding ourselves scavenging for books because no new ones are coming out.
 

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It was also requested a lot by people participating in the Beta Project, but nobody submitted any.
 

jtrylch13

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I think it's strange that there aren't really any dystopians coming out anymore because I know lots and lots of people, myself included, who still enjoy a good dystopian, but now we're finding ourselves scavenging for books because no new ones are coming out.

Yeah, I agree. I don't really like contemporary, so if that's the new "trend" that agents are/were looking for, I'm going to have to catch up on a lot of "old" books. The great thing is, there are so many books in existence it would be difficult to run out of reading material. My To Read List is so long I'll never finish it.
 

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I think that would be scary to me if theybwere hyper promoting dystopia. I can't help but notice how the trend was going on right during the Syrian situation.

And now with the whole North Korea Japan fiasco. (I tend to prefer pre-dystopian oppressive presents myself.)
 

stephen andrew

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Contemporary is always around, but I hardly see it becoming a "trend" in that sense. I think it is also significant to note that the vampire trend and the dystopia trend were all centered around the initial children's and YA boom of the past decade or so (thanks, HP). It would be interesting if things settled a bit out of the "trends" into a broader spectrum, more like what I generally see in the adult market.
 

Hapax Legomenon

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I mean yes I'm writing something that I like and would like to read but it's kind of scary imagining nobody wanting it because it's a part of a trend that's "over."

My WIP is probably most influenced by cyberpunk and PKD and not really anything that's been published in the last 10 years, and nothing YA, either. However most of the times when people hear cyberpunk, the word "dystopia" gets bandied about.
 
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rwm4768

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I mean yes I'm writing something that I like and would like to read but it's kind of scary imagining nobody wanting it because it's a part of a trend that's "over."

My WIP is probably most influenced by cyberpunk and PKD and not really anything that's been published in the last 10 years, and nothing YA, either. However most of the times when people hear cyberpunk, the word "dystopia" gets bandied about.

I think yours would be enough different that it wouldn't get the dreaded dystopia label. Cyberpunk and Philip K. Dick meets YA...I'd kind of like to see how that works out.

I think, when they say they don't want dystopia, what they mean is they don't want another dystopia which is really just a romance with dystopian trappings.

They've got plenty of those already.
 

mccardey

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I think generally good books are in. Also - the one thing that has never really taken off is unfinished books. So, writers should write and not worry so much about the Imponderables.

*cough*

Says Little I.
 

rwm4768

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I think generally good books are in. Also - the one thing that has never really taken off is unfinished books. So, writers should write and not worry so much about the Imponderables.

*cough*

Says Little I.

I'm contacting you to ask about representation for my new book. It's a fast-paced YA unfinished, complete at (well, it's not complete, but it will be great ;)).
 

JustSarah

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I'd like dystopia to be more generally popular, rather than a trend. Sort of like how any given house might keep a staple of flower or corn meal in the cabinet. Weird way of putting it, but like that.
 

spikeman4444

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I could def see YA horror becoming the next trend. Have no numbers or sources to back that up. It's just my hunch. Something like Saw but with teens.
 

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I'd like dystopia to be more generally popular, rather than a trend. Sort of like how any given house might keep a staple of flower or corn meal in the cabinet. Weird way of putting it, but like that.

That's how I feel about YA fantasy. It's a broad enough genre that I hope it never becomes a victim of the trend wave.