Writing for a new/young adult audience

When I think back to my teenage years, I clearly recall struggling to find young adult novels I could really embrace. After wanting to move on from junior fiction, but not yet ready for full adult fiction, I sought snappy, fast paced and entertaining novels. Unfortunately, there was rarely a novel in this category I grew attached to. I was never interested in high fantasy or science fiction for teenagers, and I felt the void when there was little available to interest me. 

Altered Sense was born when I wanted to create the novel I wished I had during the later years of high school. While I hope this story appeals to all readers, I had always sought to entertain a young adult audience, and inspire teenagers to pick up a book over watching the television. 

Now with streaming services and other online distractions, I knew in order to target the young adult audience with a mysterious crime thriller; I had to be prepared to compete with alternative media. The result – a book full of twists and action in every chapter to keep readers engaged throughout. This was a challenge, but one I felt worth tackling. 

During the writing process of Altered Sense, I was drawn to writing young adult characters. I feel this age group is fascinating as they are still growing emotionally and have vulnerabilities, while often pretending they don’t. Writing characters in a younger age group really allowed me to explore how younger people handle serious, adult situations, and create huge character growth.

Writing for young adults was challenging, but a worthwhile endeavour. I felt I could not afford to waste words, and risk losing the momentum of the story. My writing needed to be compelling, and the characters both believable and relatable. However, this audience is intelligent and growing in maturity, so I also wanted to present tough challenges and explore the gritty relationships between the crimes and characters in Altered Sense. 

If I could give one piece of advice to someone looking to write a young adult novel, it would be to keep the story moving quickly, but never neglect the tough or darker moments, as this audience is ready for it.