Comments on: Mature Voice for the YA Market

By: Mary Ann Duke

Mary Ann Duke — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:39:58 +0000

I just spent seven days with a 12 yr old and 15 yr old siblings. Sarcasm was the norm.

By: Leanne Beattie

Leanne Beattie — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:35:07 +0000

My MC is very dry and sarcastic, maybe too much so because I had an agent say the character wasn’t likeable. I guess there is a fine line between being sarcastic and being irritable, even if that voice is what the story calls for–it came naturally and wasn’t something I consciously decided to do.

By: ladysugarquill

ladysugarquill — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:11:46 +0000

Great post! Personally I don’t think you *need* sarcasm to make an interesting character; most of my favourites are really nice guys XD

But there’s something that I found surprising, specially when reading the comments, and it’s the talk about *choosing* a voice for the character.

I write fanfics, so I do analyse the voices of other people’s characters; what they would and wouldn’t say, how they think. But I’d never ever thought about *giving* my character a specific voice. But because it’s not something I can give to them like I can a plot-relevant trinket. I find there are some things I can choose or put there to make the plot work, but in the way I write characters just ARE, with their hair colour and their clothes and their voice.

I can change the tone of the story, or the voice of the narrator; I can *refine* the way I express of the characters, but I can’t change it. If it doesn-t work, then the character doesn’t work.

But sometimes I feel I don’t create the story; the story happens and I jut tell it (though if I want that scene with the strawberry cake I will put him next to a cake earlier XD).

Not saying is wrong or anything! It just surprised me, because I don’t think I can’t do that.

By: In the Blogosphere: 1/10-2/11 « My Daytime Drama

In the Blogosphere: 1/10-2/11 « My Daytime Drama — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:49:18 +0000

[...] I’ve done a lot of thinking about the “mature voice” in teen fiction. Here are amazegent Mary Kole’s thoughts on the [...]

By: In the Blogosphere: 12/6-1/7 « My Daytime Drama

In the Blogosphere: 12/6-1/7 « My Daytime Drama — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:29:44 +0000

[...] Moving into more adult subjects in kids’ lit FinePrint Literary agent Suzie Townsend touches on violence while Kole talks about mature voices. [...]

By: Kidlit.com · The Problems With Sarcastic Voice

Kidlit.com · The Problems With Sarcastic Voice — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:31:36 +0000

[...] there is a lot of room on shelves for sarcastic teen voices (read a previous post on the topic here). But you can’t just give readers a sarcastic, quippy voice and a character who is biting and [...]

By: “How I Evaluate Full Manuscripts” (Porn for aspiring authors) « the written word

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 17:17:54 +0000

[...] dark YA novel with a real voice to match…no edgy for edginess’ sake and no voices that are sarcastic just because, please. Ghosts, murders, mystery. Ghosts, ghosts, ghosts. Did I mention ghosts? I like them less [...]

By: Link Bait – Monday 13th September 2010 | Inside The Margin

Link Bait – Monday 13th September 2010 | Inside The Margin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 06:47:27 +0000

[...] dry, mature, Juno-like voices in youth [...]

By: Kidlit.com · How to Know When It Works

Kidlit.com · How to Know When It Works — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:31:53 +0000

[...] I’m caught up in your voice sounding inauthentic, or slow pacing, or awkward dialogue tags, or in grown-up language or phrases that sound like [...]

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:11:21 +0000

Great post on something that I’ve been wrestling with!

Apropos, I can tell from Karsten Knight’s tweets that he’s got a great writing voice. Can’t wait!!