HELP NEEDED! Writing a YA novel!

Katyvenom · Mar 26, 2015

Hello everyone! Recently I have had an amazing stretch of writing for a trilogy of YA fiction books with an urban fantasy type setting. It has a female teen protagonist, with the wonderful trials and tribulations of teenage woes. I have the basic outline for all three books finished I just have a few questions I would love some dedicated YA readers to give me their opinion on.

I'm struggling whether I should write in 1st person or 3rd. What's your opinion?

Also is it bad to end one novel leaving the reader begging for what happens next? For example, a group of soldiers think their fight is over but the last paragraph of the book introduces a new antagonist they didn't even know existed. In order to find out what happens next you have to read the next book. Or should it end on a happy note and introduce the new antagonist in the second book?

Im adding a new question for some advice. My title needs help! I'm making it a trilogy but I want the titles to relate to one another. So I'm going with The Elite:Chosen, The Elite: Fallen, and The Elite: Rising

OR

The Chosen Elite, The Fallen Elite and The Rising Elite
So basically do you prefer a coherent series title The Elite and each book has a subtitle.
Or should they all have a different name that relates to one another like the Hunger Games series.

I appreciate all and any advice. Thank you so much!

Katy

Sage · Mar 26, 2015

katy!

As per POV, I would choose whichever fits the voice of the novel that you're writing. 1st person has been more prevalent in YA, but we're seeing more 3rd these days, so it's really up to you.

For the ending, I would make sure that your novel ended in such a way that the reader feels satisfied that it has had its own arc with its own climax and resolution and is not dependent on book 2 to enjoy a full story. When you pitch this book to an agent or editor (assuming you plan to), you will be pitching one book, possibly with "series potential." Make sure it stands alone. Having hints that there's a bigger story out there, though, is cool.

Maggie Maxwell · Mar 26, 2015

Hi Katy, welcome to AW!

As for POV, there's not really any right or wrong choice for perspective. Try writing the first scene in both and see what fits best. I will say from experience that a quiet MC works better with a 1st person POV, but if you've got a POV character who's not a wallflower, 3rd will work just as well.

Can't really say about the latter question better than Sage answered it. You want the readers satisfied, but loose ends are okay. You've got to have a complete book. If something happened and the next two books never got written or published, the first book shouldn't leave readers hanging.

jtrylch13 · Mar 26, 2015

Everything Sage and TAMaxwell said, but also:

I wrote my novel (at least 1/3 of it) three times in three different perspectives (3rd past, 1st past, 1st present) before I found the one I liked. Experiment a bit and see.

And, while I totally agree for saleability in what Sage and TA said, I also left my first novel of a trilogy with an unknown. Granted, I haven't been able to snag an agent or a book deal, but I decided the ending was the one my novel needed. I still tried to wrap up all the rest of the story arc, but the fate of her LI is in question and what she will do next with her life.

CAMueller · Mar 26, 2015

Agreeing with all the great info above, and adding...

When it comes to teasing the story for the next book, it's do-able, but you may want to avoid making it the very last thing so you don't get the "nasty cliffhanger" call outs. You might consider how you build up the beginnings of the second book's arc in the last third of this novel. Drop the breadcrumbs for where things will be going, but still leave the plot of book one at a satisfying ending. Leaving one open question is different than leaving people without any type of resolution.

Jtrylch13's example is a good one -- the LI's fate is in the air, but you know the solution to the current story arc.

Katyvenom · Mar 26, 2015

Thanks so much for all your input! I will definitely re think my approach! I am new at this so any advice is greatly appreciated!

Excited to be here!

Katy

Emermouse · Mar 26, 2015

I favor limited third person myself. You get the immediateness of first but the distance that comes with third, because having some distance can sometimes be a good thing. But it comes down to the story. If third person works better for the story, tell it in third. If first works better, tell it in first.

SeaSerpent · Mar 27, 2015

I find the story and characters decide whether I write in 1st or 3rd person. Go with whatever feels the most comfortable.

KateH · Mar 28, 2015

Katyvenom said:
Im adding a new question for some advice. My title needs help! I'm making it a trilogy but I want the titles to relate to one another. So I'm going with The Elite:Chosen, The Elite: Fallen, and The Elite: Rising

OR

The Chosen Elite, The Fallen Elite and The Rising Elite
So basically do you prefer a coherent series title The Elite and each book has a subtitle.
Or should they all have a different name that relates to one another like the Hunger Games series.

I prefer separate titles to a subtitle. You can still have a series title, too.

Those titles aren't really doing it for me, though. 'The Elite' is the title of a YA book by Kiera Cass, the second in her Selection series. Those books are popular, and the similarity in names will be confusing. I believe I've also seen a YA dystopian novel called The Elites. 'Fallen', 'Chosen', and 'Rising' also sound like books I've heard of before.

Something more different would help your book stand out.

Sage · Mar 28, 2015

As a suggestion, you should add new questions to, at least the bottom of the thread, or if they're unrelated to your first one, probably their own thread. If Kate hadn't quoted you, I'd never have known you asked more questions.

Katyvenom said:
Im adding a new question for some advice. My title needs help! I'm making it a trilogy but I want the titles to relate to one another. So I'm going with The Elite:Chosen, The Elite: Fallen, and The Elite: Rising

OR

The Chosen Elite, The Fallen Elite and The Rising Elite
So basically do you prefer a coherent series title The Elite and each book has a subtitle.
Or should they all have a different name that relates to one another like the Hunger Games series.

So, first, you never mentioned if you were planning to go the agent-editor route or self-publish, and I only ask it again, because the matter of titling is far less important if you're going to try to be trade published. There are countless stories of books that have had their initial titles changed by agents or editors or both before publication. Whatever you decide on, don't get too attached. (IOW, don't be like me. I am seriously attached to all my titles, and if I'm ever so fortunate to be pubbed by the big boys, I plan to shed many tears when my titles are changed

) A title might intrigue (or bore) an agent or an editor, but it won't make or break your query.

I think a lot of series these days have unique titles for their books, no subtitles. If you look on Goodreads, you'll see the name of the new book and then the series in parentheses next to it. The series name might be the first book's title (or part of it) or not.

I would say that Hunger Games' titles actually didn't relate to one another. Though their covers did so brilliantly, the titles were related to the story, but not to each other. But that wasn't a problem.

But as you can tell from my sig, I do like it when a series has a theme to the title.

jtrylch13 · Mar 28, 2015

Themes are great, but Marie Lu is writing a fantasy series called The Young Elites FYI. If you are looking at finding an agent and trade publisher, they may almost definitely want to change the title.

inthewritemind · Apr 8, 2015

Hey! I just went through a similar thing myself. 3/4 of the way through my MS, I decided to change from 3rd person limited to 1st person. It was something I wrestled with for quite some time. I eventually made the choice by rewriting my first chapter in first person and asking some beta readers which they felt was stronger. The whole experience of changing the pov really helped me to get to know my characters more. My MS is definitely a lot stronger not only because I found the pov that flows, but because I learnt a lot about my minor characters through writing in 3rd.

My suggestion is try writing a few scenes from both 1st and 3rd. See which one flows better for you as a writer and which one readers connect with more. And don't be afraid of rewriting in a new pov!

falconxhummingbird · Apr 25, 2015

Also is it bad to end one novel leaving the reader begging for what happens next?

Oh, that gave me such a good chuckle.

To answer your question: those endings are the best goddamn endings out there.

Good luck with your writing!

DaisyH · Apr 26, 2015

For POV, I'd go with what feels the most natural. 1st person POV is generally a better fit for YA, just because of how character driven YA is.

I think cliffhangers are alright, provided that you don't leave the arc of the first book unfinished just so you can have a cliffhanger. I'd say the best route to go is that there are loose ends to pick up on in the next book, but you do get the sense that this part of the story has come to an end.

About the titles, I prefer the different names that relate to each other, although there's a trilogy out named The Young Elites so I wouldn't get too attached to those names if you want to publish traditionally.

Katyvenom · Apr 26, 2015

DaisyH said:
For POV, I'd go with what feels the most natural. 1st person POV is generally a better fit for YA, just because of how character driven YA is.

I think cliffhangers are alright, provided that you don't leave the arc of the first book unfinished just so you can have a cliffhanger. I'd say the best route to go is that there are loose ends to pick up on in the next book, but you do get the sense that this part of the story has come to an end.

About the titles, I prefer the different names that relate to each other, although there's a trilogy out named The Young Elites so I wouldn't get too attached to those names if you want to publish traditionally.

Great advice! Thanks! I think i'm going to stick with 1st person POV for this book, and different names for titles

Thanks everyone for their input!

aliceYA · May 8, 2015

I'm not sure I'm so keen on using the same word in all three titles, it sounds a bit forced.
I prefer writing in 3rd person, it allows you explore other characters more easily. With 1st person I think you get stuck having to see everything through their eyes.

heanev · May 11, 2015

I agree with everyone so far, but here's my 2 cents.

I think you should choose the POV that you can write the characters best in. As long as you do the character justice, most people don't care, as long as it's well written.

I don't mind the cliffhanger, in fact I love them, as long as there are hints leading up to the new antagonist. I'm not happy with the idea of a new antagonist appearing out of no where.

I have to agree with everyone about the titles. All the titles have been used or heard of at some point or another and I'm not a fan of the repetitiveness. I see what you're trying to do but it doesn't stand out enough. Is there something unique in the books that you can use as a title instead? Make the titles unique, like your book.

Katyvenom · May 12, 2015

heanev said:
I agree with everyone so far, but here's my 2 cents.

I think you should choose the POV that you can write the characters best in. As long as you do the character justice, most people don't care, as long as it's well written.

I don't mind the cliffhanger, in fact I love them, as long as there are hints leading up to the new antagonist. I'm not happy with the idea of a new antagonist appearing out of no where.

I have to agree with everyone about the titles. All the titles have been used or heard of at some point or another and I'm not a fan of the repetitiveness. I see what you're trying to do but it doesn't stand out enough. Is there something unique in the books that you can use as a title instead? Make the titles unique, like your book.

I decided to take everyones opinions into consideration, I think I might go with unique titles relating to the books. The Rise of The Elite (Book 1) Whispers of the Fallen Forest (Book 2) and The Chase of the Silver Arrow (Book 3)

Thanks so much to everyone!

And I'm going to stick with first person present tense POV, and my next series I might do third person, to allow different characters story lines

HELP NEEDED! Writing a YA novel!

Katyvenom

New Author, Enjoying Every Minute

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994

jtrylch13

Has semi-colon; will use it!

CAMueller

Part-time ninja

Katyvenom

New Author, Enjoying Every Minute

Emermouse

SeaSerpent

KateH

[insert witty title here]

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

jtrylch13

Has semi-colon; will use it!

inthewritemind

falconxhummingbird

DaisyH

Katyvenom

New Author, Enjoying Every Minute

aliceYA

heanev

Katyvenom

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