All my life I've wanted to be a young adult fantasy
literature writer. I don't remember which Young Adult literature book changed
my life but I do remember many that at some point in my life have offered
guidance, advice or inspiration to me. The genre is especially dear to me, since
it's one catered to audiences often ignored, underestimated and with just as
many problems as adults.
Whenever I write fiction I tend to go out. Parks, malls,
coffee shops and the occasional restaurants often provide me inspiration but
when I really need to connect with my fiction I turn to libraries. No matter
where I sit, I think of the Young Adult section and things just seem to flow
together in harmony, almost as if the words suddenly decided to dance unto the
paper or screen.
I think of the flawed heroes in these books. Heroes like Artemis
Fowl, a criminal mastermind who
eventually turns into a hero or Valerie, the title character from Holly Black's
Valiant, who runs away from home, lives
on the streets, gets hooked on faerie drugs and somehow defeats her demons and
emerges triumphant. Even The Chronicles
of Narnia's Edmund Pevensie, betrays his sibling and later redeems himself
in every way. I also think of the characters whose journeys thrust them
into incredible adversity. The ones who
rose up and defied their destinies and forged their own. The Katniss Everdeens,
Bilbo Baggins and Harry Potters of the genre. The ones who took things into
their own hands and among all their issues still managed to overcome everything
thrown at them.
But even young adult books set in reality provides us
insight. We can see into complicated pasts of normal people in real cities or
we can return to a world of magical realism where the characters know magic
isn't real but they decide to create their own. It makes us wonder if among all
the ugliness in the world, we can create our own magic.
Young Adult Literature can cater also to our darker whims or
to lighter ones. People can fall in love with werewolves, vampires, angels and demigods. We can identify with assassins
or scholars; royals or paupers and immortals or humans. It's all there for us,
waiting to be found. While all this exists in regular literature as well, the
fact that it is in a more accessible language and most of the time easier to
relate, makes it all the more appealing.
But it's not just fantasy. Real issues become sharper in the
young adult genre as well. Homosexuality, illnesses, racism, suicides, love and
ultimately acceptance become much more apparent and makes us reflect upon it. It
makes us think, to reason even. We begin to decide that the negative things in
these stories become more apparent to us because we forgot at some point we
forgot who the author was. Instead, we begin thinking that this poor teenaged
character is suffering all this and it hits us harder. We think that somewhere
in the world a teenager is reading this book, going through something similar
and a part of us hopes that the character makes it through. We begin to get
surprisingly involved, because somewhere in
the world, someone absolutely needs this character to pull through.
I look at these voices immortalized in the shelved books. I
think of the teenaged voices that need these books and I write on.
Where will my characters go?, I wonder.
I close my eyes and try to focus on those who need these
books to exist. I may never get my own things published but many others who
deserve it will. The cycle will continue. Fictional journeys will be made, fates
rewritten and worlds will be saved in wondrous accessible writings. Somewhere a teenager will read it, relate, be inspired
and become a writer themselves.
And one fine day, without my knowledge, I'll walk into a
library with my writing implements, past the young adult literature shelves,
straight into literature and fiction. I'll pick up a book and not look at the
author. I will never know that maybe they too were inspired by a young adult
book to become writers.
But somehow, I'll hear their voice inspiring me. I will sit
down and continue my work, dreaming of possibilities as words dance onto my pages.
Currently Listening To: Evanescence-Everybody's Fool
Book on My Nightstand: Isaac Asimov- The complete stories
On my TV: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Hee hee, Doctor Who is in it...)
Currently Retro gaming: Grandia (Because, yeah. It's that awesome.)
Random Pop Culture Thought of the Day: "Werewolves were NOT meant to fly!! If we were we'd either defy gravity or have wings and last I checked we don't have either. If we did, we'd possibly be something out of a Stephanie Meyer book." - Quote of unknown origins :)
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