What are you writing? (YA)

BelleCeline

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I did a search of the site and didn't see an active thread for this except in women's romance, and that doesn't pique my interest. So, I figure with the blessing of the moderators, I would pose this question to all of my fellow YA writers. I know there's a constant frenzy among some writers to determine the next big thing, the trend that will come along and sweep up their work at just the right moment. Personally, I can't write to the market, because by the time I finish a book, it would be just too late. Also, I can't force a storyline. So, the novel I just finished is about vampires/werewolves. It has a religious sort of twist, which is what I hope will be it's saving grace. My other WIP is somewhere between a science fiction piece and a dystopian. Both of those have been big trends as of the past five/ten years, but are considered to be dead in the water. So, who's with me? What are you writing?
 

Mallory

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YA fantasy about a girl who runs away from her dysfunctional mom and gets sucked into an alternate universe to which inter-dimensional beings have been spiriting people away. I'm aiming for a similar scobe/vibe as the Dark Materials (by Philip Pullman) stories, but with a slightly older MC and more mature real-world issues too.
 

Becca C.

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Good idea for a thread!

I'm working on revisions from my agent on MAYBE IN PARIS, a contemporary YA about a girl who takes her mentally ill brother on a trip to Paris, naively thinking it'll solve all their issues. Long story short: it doesn't :p

I'm 28,000 words into the first draft of another contemporary YA I'm thinking of calling FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, about a girl who knows nothing about her family history finding out that her mother came from an abusive polygamous cult, and that she herself was born into it, too.
 

Undercover

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I have a finished WIP, a YA mystery with a young male character, it involves mental illness in teens, a gun and a missing girl. But I veered off of that for a while to let it sit and started something else, a YA paranormal about a girl that takes an interest in one particular grave at a cemetery her parents own and take care of. It will be a ghost story. I figure ghost stories have been around forever and will never die (ironically enough.)
 

CoffeeBeans

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I figure ghost stories have been around forever and will never die (ironically enough.)

This made me laugh in the vampires discussion too. Some topics will just never die :D

Space-Opera/Space-western sort of thing. Settlement planets, mysterious strangers, outlaws, and an MC who just wants to save her cyborg brother's life.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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My other WIP is somewhere between a science fiction piece and a dystopian.

High five, sci-fi/dystopia buddy. I'm not exactly sure where on the line mine would fall yet, but it's somewhere between the two. I know it's supposed to be a dead market, but then I also know a bunch of YA readers are still enjoying them, so I'm going ahead with it anyway. It involves bought fame, lies and betrayal, an unstoppable flesh-eating virus, and a benevolent prosthesis company at the top of the corporate food chain.
 

eparadysz

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Trend? What's that?

I'm drafting a secondary-world fantasy in a setting that looks a lot like post-war Europe (only the war combines features of WWI and WWII). Male MC gets involved in a Project Paperclip type scenario, except instead of rocket science it involves alchemical magic used as a bio-weapon.

And another editing round on my alternate reality story before going back to beta with that.
 

Hapax Legomenon

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The current pour-my-soul-into WIP is not YA but the one that's "sketching" is YA. I guess it's urban fantasy, it's about a kid who figures out that the high mortality rate for young wizards is not natural and then starts murdering the teachers responsible. Like ghosts, I think serial killers never die, either.
 

jtrylch13

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My current MS that I'm beginning to sub is a YA Post-apocalyptic with some pre-dystopian elements. It's more about this girl who is so emotionally damaged after the plague kills everyone she knows that she rejects getting close to anyone, and how she eventually overcomes this, but then has to try to save the people she's let herself care about.
 

ArachnePhobia

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I just completed a techno-horror novel about a guy trying to save two worlds- and his vulnerable nephew- from the machinations of a cyborg army.

I'm in the planning stages of a vampire novel, but am still too excited about the techno-horror to give it my full attention. Funny how when I was in the mid-Act III slump of the techno-horror, all I could think about was the vampire novel.:ROFL:
 

J.S.Fairey

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YA Fantasy about a world where everybody dies on schedule. It's kind of portal fantasy except both worlds are fantastical, and has a bit of romance, some pondering on death, and shape changing monsters who rip open your chest and suck the life from inside of you.

It's actually a lot lighter than that makes it sound. I hope.
 

Justin K

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My current WIP is a contemporary story following a young adult named Jared (assumed 18 years old) through a mysterious love triangle; He struggles to get close to his new romance Eloise (21 years old) because he is still in love with his ex girlfriend Shmyer (17 years old), a girl whose existence gets called into question.

One of the most difficult/best things with writing this story is that the reader gets to experience the same frustration as the character Eloise as she tries to figure out why Jared does not just reveal the reason for the break up, which leads to his portrayal as a cheater. At the turning point, we find out that Jared is in fact not moving on from a breakup, but rather struggling to cope with Shy's death (despite her having been an active character [cleverly] throughout the story). Jared lives his life as if she were still alive, and relies on that mentality to prevent seeking his own death. Eloise, upon finding out the truth, will challenge this.

The setting is disguised to the reader as well, who may assume that the events are taking place in the months following highschool graduation, but by the end we see that Jared is not 18, but in fact 21, and so would have been Shy if she hadn't passed away, but she remains 17 throughout.
 

Smiley0501

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Great idea for a thread. I love reading about everyone's projects. :)

I'm working on a YA contemporary about a girl whose older sister joined the military & went to Iraq, leaving behind secrets the mc figures out. Pretty much: girl soldier, sister story, secrets. ;)
 

casualrungal

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I'm editing a speculative-contemporary hybrid about a girl drafted into WWIII who has to decide whether she's going to fight or defect.

At the same time, I'm working on the first draft of a sci-fi novel about an island society that resorts to covertly infecting its own citizens with a deadly virus to control the population in a world destroyed by rising sea levels. OK, so maybe that's dystopian and I'm just in denial....
 
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Niiicola

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I love reading about everybody's projects :D

I'm working on a magical realism story about a girl whose mother whistled at the Northern Lights and got swept away. Then she comes back. It's kind of a star-crossed love story between the two of them.
 
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Channy

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Sci-fi about genetically modified teens who go on a killing spree through a facility they spent the best part of a decade in. After being so complacent for so long, they start to experience the human side of themselves (including all those unpleasant feelings such as jealousy) as they travel upward through the rebellion. Minor romance subplot but mostly focuses on one characters insecure experiences in the group.
 

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At the moment, I'm not working on anything, but i was planning on revising my ghost story bromance novel in October, while plotting my potentially magical realism novel with teddy-bear advisors, prosopagnosia, and girls falling out of the sky for NaNo.
 

Abberey

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Querying: A story about a daughter of the president. Obviously, a girl seems to have it all, but in reality she deals with parents' failing marriage, fear of people only liking her for her spotlight, so she distances herself from everyone, believing being alone is the best way to avoid getting hurt. Things change, of course, when she meets a guy who sees right through her. She finds herself fallign in love with him and it finally seems her life is looking up., That is, until school ends and he leaves for college and she fidns herself being alone again.
Overall, a story about emotional detachment, finding hope and a bright side of life, opening up and mistakes made when relying on a person too much.

Up next: YA Romance with a bit of paranormal thrown in. There's a new girl in town, determined to focus on school and get a scholarship for a good university, but even best crafted plans can fall apart when you meet a special someone. High school love is hard enough without him being a 'decider' - a person who can shape people's futures.
Twilight without vampires or glorifying supernatural abilities and with a strong female protagonist who chooses life over love.
In a nutshell :)
 

KateSmash

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I don't know; I keep waffling between two very different ideas.

First, that space opera that's been orbiting my brain space for years about a girl who inadvertently starts a system-wide conflict when she runs afoul of some space pirates who may or may not have the solution to the time compression problem involved in interstellar travel. Adventure, a big character arc, fun. OR, the cross-genre post apocalyptic fantasy about a girl who gets suckered into a treasure hunt by the dude that stole her family's money. More adventure, but darker and super world building heavy.

I know I should just pick one. -_- Halp?
 

lucyfilmmaker

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My current WIP is a contemporary story following a young adult named Jared (assumed 18 years old) through a mysterious love triangle; He struggles to get close to his new romance Eloise (21 years old) because he is still in love with his ex girlfriend Shmyer (17 years old), a girl whose existence gets called into question.

One of the most difficult/best things with writing this story is that the reader gets to experience the same frustration as the character Eloise as she tries to figure out why Jared does not just reveal the reason for the break up, which leads to his portrayal as a cheater. At the turning point, we find out that Jared is in fact not moving on from a breakup, but rather struggling to cope with Shy's death (despite her having been an active character [cleverly] throughout the story). Jared lives his life as if she were still alive, and relies on that mentality to prevent seeking his own death. Eloise, upon finding out the truth, will challenge this.

The setting is disguised to the reader as well, who may assume that the events are taking place in the months following highschool graduation, but by the end we see that Jared is not 18, but in fact 21, and so would have been Shy if she hadn't passed away, but she remains 17 throughout.


WANT. WAAAAAANT.
 

SpinningWheel

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YA historical set at the Tudor court. My MC (a real person) is Anne Boleyn's cousin and is married at 13 to Henry VIII's illegitimate son. She ends up giving the evidence against her brother that leads to him being condemned to death for treason. They were a very dysfunctional family. :)