Haaave Ya Met... discussion

I have to admit to being slightly wary of joining a group on Goodreads. I am a pretty vocal critic of authors forming groups and cross-reviewing, or hi-jacking legitimate groups for the same end. It was only when I realised the group Dan was inviting me to join contained readers, bloggers and editors as well as authors that I decided to test the water for a while.

I hope there are some worthwhile discussions on books and the world of literature, be it from a social perspective or what's it like to be a reader in this exciting age or anything at all - except how to be a successful self-published author, or how to get noticed. When that happens, I'll bid you all adieu.

I know categories are always arbitrary but I must admit I hated having to pick one. I am not a YA author, or a New Adult author (not even sure I know what that is) or an author within any genre. My books, current, under construction and planned, span so many of the category choices from Literary Fiction to Fantastical Adventure (which I know is not a genre but it makes sense to me so give me some latitude please) so I just picked New Adult as a way of gaining ingress. You can expect me to pop up in many of the other boxes, though.

Hi Alan. New Adult is the cross-over genre from YA to adult and is aimed at late teens to those in their mid twenties. It can have rude words and sex and is usually about someone of that age moving out of home and tackling life as a 'new' adult :).

Dionne wrote: "Hi Alan. New Adult is the cross-over genre from YA to adult and is aimed at late teens to those in their mid twenties. It can have rude words and sex and is usually about someone of that age moving..."

Well, thank you, Dionne. I must confess that genre is a thorny issue for me. It certainly isn't something I think about until after a book is finished.

Do you think readers and writers - but especially readers - have become constrained by the seemingly endless delineation and fine-tuning of genre? And what impact does it have on scope, structure, character and plot, to name but a few elements, for those writers who consciously choose to write within a genre?

Alan wrote: "Dionne wrote: "Hi Alan. New Adult is the cross-over genre from YA to adult and is aimed at late teens to those in their mid twenties. It can have rude words and sex and is usually about someone of ..."

Interesting question. I've seen a few people ask questions lately about what they should/shouldn't include in their YA novel and if something is too raunchy for New Adult. It definitely makes the author consider whether their book is suitable for a certain age group, but I think it's important to have these delineations because I think 10, 11, 12 year olds need to know they are not going to come across something in a book that they don't want to be reading - I, for one, wasn't interested in reading about sex when I was that age. I think labelling your book, in a broader sense, is important because readers have an expectation when they pick up a 'fantasy', 'thriller', 'romance' etc. It's ok to push the boundaries within genre, but the age categorisations should be respected (in my opinion). I think write the book you want to write and when it's finished, decide on the label that is appropriate, and if you want to squish it into a certain category, don't be afraid to tweak it.

Alan, nice to meet you. Hello, Miss Dionne. I must admit, I'm similar to Alan in that genres don't cross my mind until a story is complete. It seems the more boundaries, dead lines or limits I place upon my work, the more terrible it becomes.

H.M.C. wrote: "Alan, nice to meet you. Hello, Miss Dionne. I must admit, I'm similar to Alan in that genres don't cross my mind until a story is complete. It seems the more boundaries, dead lines or limits I plac..."

LOL Hello Miss Haley :)