My Voice is Stuck At 18, How Do I Make it Grow Up?

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Animad345

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I can't help but feel as though it will happen naturally. I know that might sound silly, thinking that one day you're just going to write and it will sound totally different, but that's how my voice has grown up. I started out, at the age of twelve, writing for young adults. Now, aged seventeen, I write for adults and I have to work harder when I write YA manuscripts because my voice is different to how it used to be.

Hope this helps at all. As usual, the solution tends to be... keep writing! :)
 

Wilde_at_heart

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I took a look at the two M/T/S passages you'd put up in SYW, keeping in mind they're two years old and have undoubtedly undergone some revisions. The first bit was borderline for me - I was undecided either way, but the second one definitely read as YA for me.

You also have 'daddy' and 'mama' which makes the character seem younger. Even if such a thing might fit the story and character to a T, it's not 'aging it up' at all.

The post below (along with Phael) nails it.

I think Phael hit on an important point. It isn't any one thing, it's a combination of many things that probably make your voice come across as "young". It's diction, it's the phrases you choose, it's the cadence, it's the syntax. It is difficult to impossible to pin down what exactly makes the voice come off as young because, well, it's a mixture of things. But you can find specific places to focus on. You should probably pick apart a chapter sentence by sentence and analyze your choices: syntax, diction, the level of detail, the character's focus, character reactions, etc.

I think you may want to focus on syntax--in my experience, YA tends to use fragments in different ways than adult fiction. Also, if you use fewer complex sentences, it might read as "younger".

Once you pinpoint some things that make this voice seem younger, you might be able to consciously write "older" until it becomes second nature.

Some of it could be situational, of course, but it sounds to me like it's the words themselves and not the situation that are at issue. After all, lots of adult novels have teen POV characters.

This is a tough one, because voice is so non-specific. But if you want to write older and it isn't quite working, you have to figure out exactly what choices you're making that you could change.

Of course . . . maybe that age range is a sweet spot for you. There's no law that says you can't keep writing in that sweet spot.

I'm the same age as you (27), but I don't think I could go much younger than 16, and honestly I'm not sure I could go even as young as 18 for a contemporary teen (I write historical--different ball of wax). My sweet spot seems to be early twenties to mid-thirties.

I think sentence fragments play into it to a degree and what might help is reading more 'mature' writers who employ those, such as Noir fiction writers, or William Gibson.

Also, it may just be your voice is suited for that age range. Even when I was a lot younger, most of my MCs were thirty-ish - I never did suit YA and never did read much of it either.
 
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lemonhead

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I took a look at the two M/T/S passages you'd put up in SYW, keeping in mind they're two years old and have undoubtedly undergone some revisions. The first bit was borderline for me - I was undecided either way, but the second one definitely read as YA for me.

You also have 'daddy' and 'mama' which makes the character seem younger. Even if such a thing might fit the story and character to a T, it's not 'aging it up' at all.

The post below (along with Phael) nails it.



I think sentence fragments play into it to a degree and what might help is reading more 'mature' writers who employ those, such as Noir fiction writers, or William Gibson.

Also, it may just be your voice is suited for that age range. Even when I was a lot younger, most of my MCs were thirty-ish - I never did suit YA and never did read much of it either.

Yeah that was an awkward age-range/culture situation that did play well with my attempts. But hey, it got my agents attention, even if she didn't want to sell it.

I'm thinking the parts about short sentences and fragments having a lot to do with this are spot on. Part of my style is definitely a reliance on short sentences. Today I've been playing around with not breaking up my sentences, while keeping the same rhythm...it's strange but it does seem to make a difference. I wouldn't have ever really thought that though. Oh the things we learn.

And seriously, it's like learning how to control your superpower *cue Let it Go*
 

chompers

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Could it be what's going on through your character's head? (Don't know how you write, so I can't comment specifically to you.) What I mean is that adults and young adults have a different thought process, even if talking about the same event. They'll notice things differently, react differently, and move differently. That could affect one's voice. That, plus word choice and sentence structure. Could this be something showing up in your work?
 
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lemonhead

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Could it be what's going on through your character's head? (Don't know how you write, so I can't comment specifically to you.) What I mean is that adults and young adults have a different thought process, even if talking about the same event. They'll notice things differently, react differently, and move differently. That could affect one's voice. That, plus word choice and sentence structure. Could this be something showing up in your work?

I think my character's internalization is definitely playing into this. I can see how that reads more juvenile, after studying it some...but I haven't done any work to develop that. I clearly need to up my game. ;)

This has been really helpful feedback overall.
 

RedRose

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To the OP: I could hear the YA tone with your first post. It's in your pace. You have shorter sentences.

To exert more control over your voice, read more of the type of voice you want. Then using deep POV, try to make that voice cross over into your story.

I have changed from a children's, cookbook, an adult urban fantasy to YA. I guess the best explanation of how I do it is, that I'm focused in character. The voice is just a tool for my story. If my character has a different voice, then that's what I need to learn to carry the story. I have an overall idea of how I want the book to read. My YA was going to be edgy, so switching from an adult novel to a teenager's had its challenges, but I knew the tone I wanted. I sank into my character's mind, saw things through her eyes and sought out edgier novels to read.

I also regularly asked a teenager (the same age as my protag) lots of questions about what they'd do.
 

Debbie V

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I just have to add that there is such a thing as YA literary fiction. YA isn't a genre, it's an age group distinction made for marketing purposes. All genres can be YA.

Perhaps you should write the stories you write and worry about marketing aspects later. If everyone says it sounds YA, age down the protagonist and try to sell it as YA. I am assuming selling it is the ultimate goal.
 

Smeasking

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Wow. This is a good topic. Now I'm curious. I have a lot of characters in my book, with varying ages... 18, 22, late twenties to mid to late thirties. I'm female, and only two of my characters are female. The rest are all guys. Wait. Actually about five female characters. So I'm even curious as to whether or not my characters are convincing enough. Apparently they are to non-writer beta readers, but it will be enlightening (I'm sure) to get actual feedback from writers in this forum. Hmm... Scary. Still, can't wait to post my stuff for critique in the SYW spot. Will do, soon. :)
 

Latina Bunny

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I'm having this problem, too. :) I usually read MG fantasy (and some upper MG/lower YA), so my voice ends up sounding like MG or YA sometimes. I don't read much YA, though, so I may have the same dilemma as you. :p


All I can tell you is, to look at your sentence structure and to look how your POV character(s) act and sound like. What do they notice? What do they think about? An adult thinks and acts differently than a teen or child. Most teen writing tend to have more shorter sentences, and are more straight to the point, while adults have more indepth thoughts and maybe have more eloquent language or complex sentence structure, etc. Also, what is considered a big deal for most teens (ex: being cool, or getting ready for prom?) may be not considered a big deal for some adults (who may be concerned about supporting the teen's safety and happiness, etc).
 
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