Addicted to YA 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 like learning lessons from novels ... And I have learned a lot of things from them too !
For example reading YA has improved my social life. Now I know when to say no to people. I can choose my friends wisely I can make everyday decisions without hesitating or regretting them later... They taught me to stand up for myself instead of just accepting everything around me... It has taught me a lot of things ... And I love how you wrote about bullies because that way your story could actually help people :)

I always find myself wondering about the deeper meaning in some of the books. I don't really like when there are like mottos and quotes and some sentences that my mum often tells me to teach me something. I like when the lesson is kind of hidden in the story.

Well whenever I read ya novels i learn some things from it. I think some lessons learned with books are not intentionally written for someone to pick it up. It depends on the readers on how they will accept what they read or how they see it.

Because you said that you'll be writing something about bullies and it's a YA novel,you can write both ways-entertaining and inspiring :)

I taught the Hunger Games a few years ago, and as I was teaching it, the thought occured to me that the novel really doesn't have a purpose, other than to entertain. Because of its popularity, I really think the author missed a chance to use her art for a bigger purpose.

I think part of the method in doing it is like teaching...the best teachers can teach a lesson without the kids knowing it. It's better to use examples, character behavior in this case, than to come out and state the important life lesson.

Justin wrote: "I taught the Hunger Games a few years ago, and as I was teaching it, the thought occured to me that the novel really doesn't have a purpose, other than to entertain."

Doesn't the Hunger Games have a political message about oppression? In a way it's a veiled commentary on the materialism of our society in the US as opposed to other third world countries? (the districts)

yeah absolutely. it's the whole rich vs poor fight

I think that there should be life lessons in YA books, but the message should be subtle so people don't realize it. That way people can register the lesson almost unconsciously.

Emma...one of the benefits of fantasy lit is that doing what you suggested can be easy. creating a situation, or a whole universe, makes creating a lesson easy. it's a lot harder to do when you are working with reality.

Well said Emma.
Have you ever noticed in movies these cool heroes leap into their car to speed off to save to the world, and there's a click of their seat belts? How much more powerful is that image that just seeps in through your brain subconsciously than, let's say, a lecture by their granny on the risks of being smashed up?

Justin, I hear you, but I would say just write without focusing on the lessons--subconsciously the author's personal orientation and value system will seep through.

Yep. One of the most valuable things I've learned as a writer was to let myself write. Just trust that it will be ok.

Justin wrote: "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 wr..."

As a teenager I think that books without some sort of meaning are just fluff. Yes they may be fun to read but when it comes down to it do I really want to be spending my time reading something that doesn't teach me anything? Nope. On occasion I'll accidentally pick of a fluff book, but typically I'll rate it lower than books that have some sort of meaning. But the message can't be constantly slammed in the reader's face. I remember reading a book awhile back and I couldn't stand being constantly reminded of the "lesson". I made me feel like the author thought I was an idiot and that they thought I wouldn't be able to figure out the lesson by myself.

I actually like books that I can analyze and find deeper meaning.

Also I wouldn't say that THG has no purpose. I believe it shows how society has developed into this monstrous thing. In THG the media focus on the romance and what does out media do? Typically it focuses on the romance. Society in the book and our society today is entertainment focused. Almost everyone watches TV or uses electronics for entertainment. It also shows how corrupt people with power can become. Maybe THG is a warning for what our society will become? You definitely could read the book and never look into any deeper meaning but that doesn't mean that there isn't a purpose for the book.

Erika...I agree with you about the lessons from THG. No question there. But I think the predictability of the writing, and weak love story really cover up the good stuff.

Erika wrote: "Justin wrote: "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. ..."

I have to agree with Erika. Trying to impose an agenda of "good" morals and ethics (whether subtle or blatant) is an insult to young minds, and IMO, arrogant and manipulative.

If a writer is trying to teach.., shouldn't the goal be to open a young persons mind to "all" possibilities rather than indoctrinate them with "acceptable" dogma?

I, personally, would prefer future generations to be able to think for themselves rather than "follow orders". :}

Depends on the possibility. If it's something like "tune in, turn on, drop out" then I would say that should be discouraged in a YA book. But I think that with experience comes knowledge, and if a writer has some experience, then passing it on is a good idea.

I think all YA novels have a lesson or theme of some sort. Whether they are heavy handed or not, they are there. Some are just more subtle. The idea is to make the reader think. If the author is able to do that, I think they are successful :) good luck writing!

If anyone here is interested, I'll send you a free PDF of the novel in return for reviews here on Goodreads and amazon. Just send me a private message with your email address and I will send it to you.
Or you can buy a copy for the super low price of 99 cents on amazon and bn.com. Just sayin'. :)

Or.., you can buy my book which neither encourages or discourages "proper behavior". Laugh or learn, you decide. :}

I agree that the lessons should be something you come away with instead of something that is preached to you. Harry Potter was a huge lesson on loyalty & doing the right thing, as well as the importance of hope when things seem hopeless; The Hunger Games teach you to make your own choices & don't allow society to change your beliefs; The Mortal Instruments teach you that things aren't always what they seem & to accept others for their differences; Divergent shows you it's okay to be different & the importance of the truth; & so many books have so many truly important messages. But none of these books spell the lessons out for you, they're the things you take away from the novels. I do believe that YA stories should include life lessons, but it should be the things the characters learn along the way, things you see them learning without needing it explained. In the real world, lessons are organic, things you learn without necessarily having to explain it to yourself or anyone else. That's how books should be, too. (:

Although life lessons tend to be a part of YA novels, I think the true success of a novel is based upon whether or not the author can invoke an emotion from the reader.

An unsuccessful book is one where the reader leaves completely indifferent and unchanged.

I don't think it should be either or. Stories are used to demonstrate lessons because they are entertaining, and through that medium stick with people. For myself, a rather avid YA reader, I have been rather fed up with YA since I was 15. It was the sort of writing I wanted stylistically, but I often got really mad at the books themselves because there was no substance. There's this strange thinking that teenagers aren't looking for substance. Their lives are just as substantial as adults because being a teenager means learning lessons that form who they are as adults. There should be some books just for entertainment, as sometimes we all just need a break from life and give us something funny or some ridiculous drama so that our lives feel a little bit better and it's great. But substance, those lessons, are craved for, too. I know for me, the subtle lessons in LOTR are the ones that stuck with me. Even if that's not a YA novel. So to find stories with themes like that, with lessons about who we are as people and something greater to aspire to, that run like undercurrents in YA would be fantastic. And I'm not the only one who thinks that. A lot of my YA reading friends think so, too.

I think ALL books should have some sort of lesson in them. The lesson can be completely obvious or be hidden. In my opinion, when I finish a book, it is much more satisfying to feel I got something out of it, rather than I wasted my time.
Not that fluff books can't be fun, they are. But at the end of the day I just connect more with stories where the character develops and learns something, so I can feel like I learned something.

Absolutely! especially nowadays where more teenagers are hooked in reading books that tackle romance. there must also be a life lesson to be tackle in it. And I really love quoted life lesson :)

Personally, I find it difficult to write without my own beliefs slipping in there somehow. I think all writers do that, regardless of the genre of our writing.

I agree, and I think sometimes there is a dangerous precedent in YA romances being set where a character's life suddenly revolves entirely around one person. I tackled this in one of my novels when my protagonist met a boy who'd had a tough unloving childhood. but when they got together and he fixed all his love onto her, she was overwhelmed by it. After talking to her best friend and her older sister, she decided to break it off with him. Then she had to battle through her own doubts over whether she'd done the right thing. I think YA books should ask questions that feel relevant to readers (even when couched in fantasy, like HP and THG) and then really discuss the possible answers through the story, ideally eith a resolution that is right for and true to that character. There is no guidebook for life, but placing yourself into hypothetical situations and wondering what you would do is why we read, is it not?

I enjoy stories where the characters learn something valuable. It makes the story more compelling and easier to relate to for me.

i like learning life lessons and also seeing how the characters deal with them

I like to see the characters work together and solve a problem.

I think it's important for life lessons to be in novels. In fact, if I don't think the novel really serves a purpose at all and won't teach me anything, I won't want to read it.

Novels would be pointless and purposeless if we learnt nothing from them! Then again novels which entertained wouldn't be purposeless, either. If a novel can entertain you with a captivating plot who says that it can't deliver a life lesson too? Everything has to have a purpose to reach the end, and if a story ends through a journey that entertains the readers, then that would be the perfect story.

I think all books have life lessons in them (or at least should have) but the lessons should be discerned by the reader, not stated by the author in the most obviously way possible. Actions speak louder than words, so the things that a character does should a affect a reader more than what they say.

In every novel I've read, and had any real impression on me, the main character (and possibly others) have had a life changing experience by the end of the novel. If it didn't, the book was meaningless.

That being said, the reader should be able to somehow identify with the main character(s) and gain a lesson vicariously.

I think that most all books have life lessons in them but sometimes you have to look for them. Also, I think that different people will get something different out of the same book, if that makes sense. Some people might read a book and think it's meaningless but someone else could read it and learn a lot from it.

In almost every novel, there's a protagonist and an antagonist. Hopefully, if the book would be given a chance to be sold, the protag overcomes s the antag and in that effort he/she learns something or grows as a result. Yes, I think we should not try to eliminate those life lessons, but we don't need to exploit them either. They are just there, and the reader gleans what he/she can, or ignore them. But, ignoring them doesn't work, as the lessons are still in one's subconscience.

Yes, I believe life lessons are wonderful to incorporate into a novel. I've done that with my novel, The Secrets Of Yashire!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

What a wonderful way to teach young adults about the world through the use of virtues or life lessons! It makes reading an even more constructive activity!

Frankly, I think if the story doesn't have a point (a life lesson, if you will) it's a waste of my time reading it. I want to learn vicariously from someone else's experiences.

Yes, teach us the consequences of actions. We learn from there mistakes as well as ours

Absolutely. Books are supposed to be credible and make us empathize with the story to stimulate critical thinking.

Yes. Not all can and not all will. Although, I love books that teach lessons and have people being tolerant of people different from you. It's worked with TV shows and movies, why not books?

I think stories need real honest life lessons to get past me with a 5 star rating.

I think it's paramount.

I once read that 'people read in order to confirm a reality they have yet to confirm for themselves'. We live vicariously through characters. To feel love and acceptance, to understand ourselves and others, catharsis... The list is virtually endless.
Children are impressionable; they absorb virtually every stimulus like a sponge. But young adults are actively pursuing meaning in their own actions as well as those of others, looking for guidance, and eager to define themselves as they pave their paths in life. In some ways, we all are. As such, I believe it is more conducive to our goals to get more than 'entertainment value' out of readings. How lovely it is to deepen, walking hand in hand with characters we admire, learn to forgive, relinquish anger, take chances, fall in love, and find the courage to live up to the timeless adage 'life imitates art'.

A great comment. You just wrote a summation of my novel.

For myself, if a book does not have something to say, then it falls into the category of entertainment. There has never been a great piece of literature that did not have deeper meaning. The best books make you ponder. If you club your reader over the head with the meaningful point, your apt to loose them.

There should be a life lesson along with entertainment in the YA novels. Mostly all the YA novels that I've read, have had a nice lesson, maybe even just a little simple one, and that's fine. To me there should be entertainment too, if the novel is just all about a life lesson, that you'll someday come to face, than most teenagers probably won't find it interesting. Adults would though, and now a lot of adults are reading YA, but then they also read it for the same purpose that teenagers do, to be entertained. Add a life lesson in there, add some romance, fantasy, whatever you want to do really. Writing is what your mind comes up with, and reading is dreaming with open eyes.
Anyway, just my opinion on this subject, I could be wrong, but I just sort of rambled a little bit :)

It really depends. Sometimes I feel like YA teaches bad life lessons, like Twilight and Hush Hush, which I feel romanticizes criminal and stalking behavior, but sometimes it teaches valuable lessons. I don't want it to feel like the book is preaching at me, though.

Hell yes it should. Without any morals, the book is not going to be profound/impactful and is not going to have a lasting memory - basically it's not a good book without a moral. It's just meaningless sequence of events.

What a great topic with great answers. The YA novels I enjoy the most are the ones where the character is faced with situations that force him/her to grow up and be a better person. I think the message should be subtle, so that it flows seamlessly with the story and does not read like a PSA after school special.

I find it alarming that many times the love interest in novels has all the red flags of being an abusive partner. I worry about the message this is sending because it seems the characters merely overlook these as flaws so that feelings of love win out in the end. I can never get on board with these romances, now that I have seen them play out in real life.

I think we need both for different reasons. I like getting lost in a meaningless book and forgetting about the real world for awhile. I've also learned some incredibly important lessons from my favourite YA books.

I agree some of my favorite stories have these life stories that o can relate to as a reader but some of them have more hidden meanings that is much harder to notice, so take note of that.

Marie wrote: "What a great topic with great answers. The YA novels I enjoy the most are the ones where the character is faced with situations that force him/her to grow up and be a better person. I think the mes..."

Yeah, whenever a disturbing message about romance or anything else makes its way into media (books, movies, TV etc.), it sends a message that the behavior shown is OK, unless it's made clear in the book/movie that it's not. That's why I find it so disturbing that books etc. are saying it's OK for one person to stalk or abuse someone else under the guise of "love."