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TCWT January Blog Chain

1/5/2015

5 Comments

 
Hi, procrastinators and blog chain readers! I'm kicking off this month's blog chain, a prospect that made me really nervous at first. But then I realized that there was nothing to worry about-after all, all the people I've met from this blog chain have been really nice. :) So I'm excited to present to you the first post to the first blog chain of the year! :)

This month's prompt is:
“What is something you feel is generally written well in fiction? What is something you feel is generally written poorly?”

I've got a lot of opinions on this, so this might come out as a kind of rant. I apologize in advance.

One of my favorite things about young adult/teen fiction (hereafter shortened to simply "fiction") is that many authors are breaking out of the "storybook" mindset-the good guy is perfect, the bad guy is a horrid, irredeemable person, the love interest, no matter how unattainable, falls into the protagonist's arms, and everyone is happy at the end (except for the villain). In life, things aren't always so perfectly compartmentalized, and fiction is starting to reflect that. Of course, there were some books way ahead of the curve in this matter (The Outsiders comes to mind), but these books have become less and less anomalic (is that a word?) over time.

Of course, sometimes this is too much of a good thing. Some authors throw in as many problems for their characters as they possibly can, creating this soap opera-like overload. Plus, it's hard to juggle so many plot lines without dropping a few, leaving lots of unanswered questions. But I even prefer these books to fairy tales, unless I'm in a gloopy romantic mood, because now that I've gotten hooked on contemporary fictions, it's hard to go back to fairy tales.

However, I've noticed some issues are glossed over or unaddressed. For example, racism seems to be a big no-no zone when it comes to fiction. A lot of the books about racism are set during the civil rights movement, and the majority of the books that address racism in the 21st century tend to gloss over the matter-it's either too easily solved or blocked out fairly quickly. A lot of people like to ignore racism, claiming that it doesn't exist anymore because the Jim Crow laws are gone, but it's not. And in a genre that forces you to look at the reality of things, I think that racism should be inspected more closely. 

And what about life with disabilities and chronic illnesses? I don't have one, but I have friends who do, and as a result, I went searching for books with characters whose lives were affected by such things. To my surprise, these were the hardest to find-for example, when I searched "juvenile arthritis," I could only find a couple of picture books and an out-of-print book from the eighties. I can't speak for those who suffer from chronic illnesses, but I know that if I had one, I would want to meet myself in a book more than anything. 

So there you have it-the things I love and hate about fiction. Sorry if it got a little political towards the end-I usually don't address that stuff on here, but I felt that, with this post, an exception was in order.

Do you agree with my thoughts? Or have any book recommendations? Comment below!

T

Check out this website I found while doing some researching/Googling on this topic!
5 Comments
Jasper Lindell link
01/05/2015 5:20am

Interesting thoughts! I certainly agree that YA fiction is developing as greater calibre writing is being produced within it. It coincides with young readers becoming bored with it and wanting more and older readers coming back to it, I reckon. There's a lot more to find in YA now than there ever was, simply because there's more of it around (delaying, I think, a younger reader's entry into the world of "adult" books).

But you've proven a tough act to follow. I'll have to see what I can muster for tomorrow's installment on the blog chain! Well done.

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T link
01/22/2015 7:53am

Thanks for reading, and for your kind words!

T

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Heather link
01/05/2015 11:13am

I'm definitely loving the moral ambiguity that's popping up in books these days, and even if the stories do get a little complicated it's better than the good guy/bad guy setup of kids books (I'm looking at you, Harry Potter).

I also have to agree with you on the latter half, but I also have to like, pull back. It's not that I don't think that there should be books like those you describe, because obviously health problems and diseases are HUGE parts of life, it's just that I wouldn't feel qualified to write them. I've kind of drifted away from a book before because I didn't feel qualified to mess with the culture of someone different than me and people are so easily offended it's a lot easier not to try.

It's a tricky battle. And so YEAH, there need to be more... But I also know why I would be scared to try and write something like that. *sigh*

Reply
T link
01/22/2015 7:58am

I can understand where you're coming from. Some cultures and experiences-especially those with chronic pain and illness-are so unique to the person experiencing it that it's hard to replicate it, no matter how much research you do. I've been running into these problems while writing lately, and I'm kind of shy about asking for help because I'd hate to offend someone. There is a need, but filling it is a bit of a juggling act. You know?

T

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John Hansen
01/25/2015 9:49am

Really love this, T! And I'm so happy that you linked to We Need Diverse Books. I completely agree that there's a problem with representation (I've noticed the lack of racism thing too--I'm white, and I want to understand what others struggle with that I have the privilege not to, but it's been difficult to find a YA book that tackles modern racism), and WNDB is doing a lot of great things to help change that.

I also completely agree with your first point. I'm a bit of a cynic, and I get a little sick of the happily ever afters. I wish there were more books where things just don't work out for the main characters. (If you're interested in darker YA, I recommend Christa Desir's books.)

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