Heyo Bookaholics!

Why. So. Serious?

This is not officially part of my NaNoWriMo 2019 series of posts, but I had this idea when I was plotting the outline for my NaNoWriMo WIP and I needed to discuss it.

I was stuck, you see. I wanted to write a Middle-Grade novel and have it not seem older than the genre or the age of the protagonists, but how am I suppose to do that and have an engaging storyline? My answer: Make it wacky. Give it a crazy storyline that would be totally unbelievable and the literal definition of the word ‘fiction’. That’s exactly what I did, but that got me thinking;

Why don’t young adult novels also have strange and wacky storylines?

I don’t mean fairies and angels and vampires. I mean storylines that revolve around the unexplainable. A society of talking animals or totally unexplainable curses. With warlocks and vampires who’ve lived but can’t recite every aspect of history. A story with no reason for the wackiness, but completely no need for one.

Everything seems to have an origin or explanation behind it. I’m currently re-reading City of Bones right now and I’ve realised that the existence of anything non-human is explained:
Fairies? The product of angels and daemons.
Daemons? A tear in the fabric of space allowing them to enter our world.
The war that has been waged for centuries? Your MC meets just the person who knows the entire history of the world you’re in.

I know all the above helps the reader to understand the world, but maybe ignorance is bliss sometimes. I’m not saying the story has to read like a Middle-Grade novel, but there is never any of the fun of an MG novel, it’s all so serious. But;

Does everything have to be reasoned in YA?

It totally makes sense that things are reasoned because YA is for older audiences and older audiences want things to have an explanation. We’re (Young-Adult readers) in that stage in life where we’re trying to discover the secrets of the universe and want to know everything.

Saying this, would it be best to make Middle-Grade style novels for an older audience? Or just have people like me who want that MG story experience, just read a Middle-Grade novel and stop being so whiney?

I don’t know what to think. I wasn’t actually hoping to come to a conclusion at the end of this post, I just want to put it out there and have a little ramble.

You all might have a totally different perspective of this and I’d love to hear an argument against or agreement for this issue. Do leave any thoughts in the commented because I would love to start a conversation.

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See you back here on Monday’s (book reviews), Wednesday’s (storytime/ writing updates) and Saturday’s (other bookish content).