The
author relinquishes control. The reader
decides.
There
tends to be no “happily ever after”.
The
novels are multi-genred and multi-themed.
If
you call the genres and themes “traits”, YA novels tend to have more traits
than novels written for adults and than those written for children.
What endings often look like in YA
There
will be some sort of stasis.
The
protagonist has usually grown.
There
will be a future with a lot of possibilities.
The
ending is often open to interpretation or simply open-ended.
It
will often be upbeat.
The
reader has control over deciding what has actually happened.
Examples
Possibilities at the end of stories
• Malcom Rose: Jordon Stryker Bionic Agent - Will the bionic parts of him be enhanced? Will this mean the even more demands will be made of him? There are many possibilities.
• Tabitha Suzuma A Voice in the Distance Flynn lets Jennah go. They may get back together again.
• Rich Wallace’s Restless Story of a ghost. He realises he will reincarnate again. We are less sure of what will happen to his little brother.
Mystery within texts
•
David Almond’s Skellig No one is sure what Skellig
actually is.
•
Sara Grant Dark Parties Throughout we’re not sure what the
Protectopshere actually is.
•
Beverley Birch’s Rift The whole text is imbued with a
sense of mystery.
•
Teri Terry Slated From the outset in this book the reader has to ponder what is the
actual meaning of being “slated”.
Examples of genres
– adventure
– chicklet-lit
– fantasy
– historical
fiction
– horror
– the
paranormal
– real-life
– science
fiction
– science
fantasy
Examples of themes
•
global issues (cloning, nuclear war, climate change for example)
•
near futures
•
dystopias
•
depression
•
drugs
•
identity
•
inclusion issues
•
peer pressure
•
relationships
•
religion
•
risk taking
•
sexulaity
Examples
Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate Wars (first published 1974)
– One genre: real life
– Six themes: putting the world right, peer pressure, relationships, sexuality, religion, risk-taking
– Seven traits
Gillian Cross Phoning a Dead Man (2001)
– Two genres: thriller,
Bildungsroman (in ordinary sense as well as specific young adult type)
– Five themes: relationships,
risk-taking, otherness, exotic, disability
– Seven
traits
Paul Dowswell’s Eleven Eleven (2013)
– Three genres: Bildungsroman, thriller, war
– Five themes: identity, otherness, peer pressure, risk-taking, romance
– Eight traits
Creative Writing Exercise
Revisit
the final scene of your novel. Have you
made it as open-ended as possible? Consider the following:
- · Can you be a little less explicit and only hint at the outcome rather than describing it exactly?
- Think about how the story is going to carry on. Which questions can you leave for your readers?
- Do you need to include some sort of epilogue so that a follow-on story can be created?
- Make sure your ending is not “happy ever after” but has hope in it.
Extra Exercises
Reworking other scenes
Look
at some of the scenes you have already created. Consider the following.
·
Can you create a cliff-hanger at the end of each
scene?
·
Can you leave some mystery for the reader to
solve? You may know the answer to the
implied questions mentioned above. After all, you have worked hard to create
the characters and the setting. However,
this works a little better sometimes if even you don’t know. So now, can you let your characters and your setting
go a little? Can you allow them to keep
something from you?
·
Can you contrast your mysterious scenes with
some more grounded, realistic scenes? Consider what Birch does in Rift. This will enhance the perception
of mystery in the reader.
Working on new scenes
Re-examine your characters, your setting and your plot points.
Where can you create mystery for the reader?
Make a list. Are there some things that you are prepared not to know? Or
at least, not to know yet? Just like
your reader, you will have to make up your mind eventually. Take a little care, however, that nothing becomes
illogical. If there is a hole in the plot, for example, there must be several
satisfactory explanations as to why.
Now identify two or three scenes
you could write where you can give a considerable amount of control to your
reader.
Enjoy writing them!
