H is for Historical Fiction and Teens

I love Young Adult Historical Fiction! Done right, I get lost in it. I feel it, can taste it, and know I have been transported back. Over done, and I close the book. You know what I mean. The pages and pages of description, the words you skim.

This happens because the writer seems to thinks the reader needs to be told, over-and-over again, what the important things are. Just because they are teens, doesn’t mean they don’t get it the first time. Actually, I think teens get it faster than many adults. The writer has to learned to trust their reader.

That’s right. There comes a point when you have to trust the reader to get it, the first time. (This is an example. I’ll do it again throughout this post).

Show it well just once, the reader will devour your words. Tell them, and tell them again, they’ll put the book down.

Repetition isn’t a good thing in any novel, but in YA historical fiction, the reader begins to feel patronized by the repeated historical references and facts. Use what you have, but disseminate the information and move along.

Teens are smart. We just need to be smarter. I know how to make them want to read historical fiction, pass a law saying they can’t read it until their twenty-one.

I’ve said it enough.

Gratitude

Sometimes I have to be hit in the head with it.

Today I share it.

I am grateful to my husband for allowing me the flexibility to pursue my dreams. I’m grateful for my children who love to travel, aren’t followers, dream big, and are voracious readers.

I am especially grateful for my writer friends. They challenge my writing, expect nothing but the very best, and always tell me the truth. Even when I don’t want to hear it.

I am truly and sincerely grateful for the unexpected encounters with some of the most amazing people from around the world. Whether here in the United States, or when abroad, or via the web. These are the people who end up never knowing they have had a profound affect on me and changed me. Given me some small thing, whether a word of encouragement or a smile, that has made me a better person.

Thank you!

F**k'd

Got you to look!

Isn’t that what the F-word is all about? Getting attention.

 Problem is — the word is so overused, no one cares anymore. Overuse has diminished this word’s power.



Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been known to drop the f-bomb on occasion. What made me realize the word had lost it's power, was the day I cut my finger slicing carrots and couldn't find my keys to go get it stitched up.

I must have sounded like a cannon battalion shooting off F-bombs. My eleven year-old daughter, called to me from her bedroom. “Nice mouth, Mom! You have a large vocabulary, use it,” and slammed the door. I was stunned. She didn't even bother to come see if I was all right. I stood there dripping blood on the kitchen floor, finger wrapped in a wad of paper towels. Waiting.

No one came.

Except the dog.

And he didn’t bring my keys.



Guess what I was thinking?

Later, when I had finally made it to the emergency room and sat waiting for my turn, I thought about this word. I knew I have always preferred not to use the F-word when I’m writing. Particularly, when writing for Young Adults. Most teens use the word more frequently than I do. I knew it wouldn't be a problem for them. Rather, I knew it was my problem. I like to make up curses.


I'm good at it. Like Shakespeare.

I should be honest here. I've used the F-word once, in my first YA, and only because I’d chosen to do so for a specific reason. I wanted to show my character evolving and changing, becoming hard and edgy, due to the circumstances of her journey.

I thought about how when you say the F-word out loud, you can say it low or shout it. You can snarl or soften it. Make it mean different things by the way you say it.

On paper though, it’s hard. Angry. And carries intense meaning.

On paper, it looks just like what it is.

FUCK

Now, I try to use it wisely.