Connecting Readers and Writers discussion

I am a high school teacher who writes novels on the side. I've always wanted to try my hand at novel writing, so I took about a year and really worked on creating something special.

My goal in writing my novel, LARP: The Battle for Verona, was to create an entertaining YA novel that also taught a lesson. As a teacher, I see lots of kids being bullied, or, they are treated poorly by their peers because of their interests. LARP addresses both of those issues without being preachy.

So, my question to everyone is...because YA novels are geared toward teens, is it important for there to be a lesson in the novel, or should the novels just be entertaining?

I think if you try too hard to make your novel have a lesson it will come across as forced. If you're going to write a YA novel where you have characters that are dealing with being bullied odds are your novel will have a lesson to it just by nature of what it is. I would focus on writing a novel that's entertaining and something teens want to read and if it doesn't say what you want it to you can always tweak it in the end.

You're right...the idea itself is a lesson

Does "LARP" stand for Live Action Role Playing? Because if not, you might want to use a different acronym!

Yes sir, it sure does! When Verona, WA, is invaded by terrorists, the local LARP faction fights them off. For real! :)

Nice! That's a brilliant niche-market premise.