Writing a Novel for Adults: One YA Author’s Experience

August 8, 2023 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

A well-meaning friend called me recently to tell me how much he’d enjoyed DEADLY SETUP, my latest young adult novel. “You know,” he said, “you’re such a good writer that I bet you could write a book for adults someday.”

My friend meant this as a compliment, but a glimmer of irritation flashed through me. As any writer for young people will attest, this is a common misperception—that somehow, writing for children and teens must somehow be easier and require less well-developed writing skill. In the minds of many readers, “Real writers” write for adults. Moreover, I can’t help but notice that very few adult authors who test the young adult/middle grade waters (think Jodi Picoult and John Grisham) don’t get asked as many questions about what the transition was like, and what challenges they incurred!

Misperceptions aside, as a young adult author publishing my first mystery for adults, I have been asked this question numerous times. To be really honest, I didn’t find it a huge jump! Maybe it’s because what interests me above all is the voices and personalities of my individual characters and how they grow, change, and address the challenges of their lives during the course of a novel. Not all teenagers’ voices are snarky, and not all adults sound… well, like adults.

In many ways, I think it’s more challenging to write for young adults. It’s been a while since most of us who write for young adults have been young! What has helped me is spending most of my professional life working with teenagers and listening to their stories, as well as mining my own memories of my awful, and occasionally wonderful, adolescence.

Obviously, the developmental challenges of adults differ from those of teens. But as we all know, adulthood also has its share of challenges, and just because our birth date indicates we’re all grown up doesn’t mean that we are!

Take my homicide detective in MISSED CUE, Caitlin O’Connor, for example. She’s a crackerjack detective, but even she would describe her personal life as a hot mess. Her bad habit of getting involved with married men leaves her feeling horribly guilty and anxious, but she can’t seem to stop. She finally goes into therapy to figure out why she gravitates toward romantic partners who are ultimately unavailable.

Then there’s her work partner Stan, whose addiction to alcohol is rapidly getting out of control, especially after his wife abandons him for another man.

Stan’s issues affect Caitlin deeply. She cares about him, and she wants to be able to depend on him at work. But he’s resisting all of her pleas to get help. She doesn’t want to be a “snitch” and report him to their boss. But what if something terrible happens if she doesn’t speak up?

In the final analysis, I think good writing is good writing. When I looked up the subject of “novelists who write books for both young adults and adults,” I found several authors, including Holly Black and Bethany C. Morrow, who are writing for both audiences.

I recommend it!

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Lynn Slaughter is addicted to chocolate, the arts, and her husband’s cooking. Her family tree is peppered with musicians, and like Caitlin, she’s a huge jazz fan. Music has always made her want to move, and she ended up becoming a professional dancer and dance educator. When injury meant it was time to find a new dream, she earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her previous young adult novels include: Deadly Setup, published by Fire and Ice/Melange Books, which was a Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards silver medalist, a Chanticleer International Awards finalist, and an Imadjinn Award finalist; Leisha’s Song, also published by Fire and Ice/Melange Books and an Agatha nominee, Moonbeam bronze medalist, Imadjinn Award winner, and Silver Falchion Award winner; It Should Have Been You, a Silver Falchion finalist; and While I Danced, an EPIC finalist. The ridiculously proud mother of two sons and grandmother of five, she lives in Louisville, Kentucky where she is at work on her next novel and is an active member and former president of Derby Rotten Scoundrels, her local Sisters in Crime chapter. She loves hearing from readers and hopes you’ll visit her website, https://lynnslaughter.com

MISSED CUE, Lynn Slaughter

When ballerina Lydia Miseau dies onstage in the final dress rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet, homicide detective Caitlin O’Connor is faced with the most complicated case of her career. She strongly suspects that someone murdered the ballerina, and her investigation uncovers several people close to the star who had reasons to kill her. But the autopsy reveals no apparent cause of death. If Lydia Miseau was murdered, who did it, and how?

Meantime, there’s Caitlin’s hot mess of a personal life. She has a bad habit of getting involved with married men. She knows it’s wrong, so why does she keep entangling herself in unhealthy relationships? She’s finally decided to go into therapy to find out.

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