I’ve written several posts about how to write YA, but let’s just talk about the intro. In the majority of YA books (maybe half), the protagonist has to move and start a new school.
The first day goes like this:
New friend explains the rules
Hot guy who she’s warned to stay away from
Embarrassing moment
Probably a bully who makes fun of her
Something mysterious or unexplained happens
Easy right?
After the first day
She probably feels overwhelmed or all alone, someone shows her kindness, later she infiltrates the “cool crowd” – those standoffish, secretive kids who all look like supermodels.
She learns she has secret powers, that her parents were probably ass-kicking members of a secret, supernatural group, and that she is the key to everything – if she can learn to control her powers.
There’s another guy, who’s probably blonde, who is nice and funny but she’s just not into him. She obsesses about the other guy, the hot guy with shaggy dark hair, who is always brooding or looking at her like a puzzle he needs to solve. She finally hooks up with him (even if he starts with a girlfriend) after they have a few arguments.
There’s a bad guy, who wants something she has (or something she can find; or something her parents stole… or he just wants her for her abilities) and he’s probably trying to take over the world.
He offers her the one thing she wants more than anything, but she would have to betray her new friends so she turns him down.
This giveaway has ended, and the winner was Kimberly Brady Lake. However, since it’s the holidays, I’m also giving a book lamp to 10 runner-ups, to reward some of you who got a lot of entries but didn’t win.
Looking for YA Book Bloggers
I’m building up several group blogs and would love your help. The advantage of working with lots of other book reviewers is that together you can create much more content, and bring in more traffic, which is good for everybody.
I’ll probably do another giveaway this month to clean out my bookshelf; it will be a mix of random YA books I collected this year. In January we’ll head back to Taiwan.
If you want to make sure you hear about the next giveaway, make sure to sign up on the list here:
Here is the plot most YA novels follow, from the big choosing ceremony to the escape from the villain.
The ceremony and what comes after
There’s a big choosing ceremony or event coming up.
It might be a wedding even.
Whatever it is, the main character has no freedom to choose her own destiny.
She might rebel or run away.
Or something else unexpected happens.
Whether or not the ceremony goes through, after the ceremony life is completely different.
She’s left he family and is learning new skills and facing new challenges.
She’s special: if not a princess already, she finds out that her mother or father (who she’s been lied to about) was actually important and powerful. Now she feels like she has to make them proud and live up to their memory.
She discovers that she has powers – powers she shouldn’t even have.
Nobody understands her. People are afraid of her.
The two boys
In the meantime there are two boys in her orbit.
One is a jerk, the other is kind.
One is dark haired, one is light haired.
They usually have breathtaking blue or green eyes.
One is poor, one is rich.
One turns out to be a prince, the other turns out to be an assassin (aka, a bad guy – in opposition to her own goals and wants).
OR they could be brothers.
Or best friends.
Her feelings for each change as she deals with new revelations.
Her powers, the villain and the escape
Ultimately, she learns to control her powers, and begins fighting back.
But all her plans fail, she’s captured and discovered, and held captive at the mercy of the villain.
She escapes certain death, defeats her enemies (for now – but not for good) and finds a safe place to regroup.
How close is your book to this plot?
Every bestselling YA book I’ve read in the past 5 years has been at least a 75% match. If you’re writing something completely new and different, with none of these elements, it probably won’t be a smash hit.
