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I am an aspiring writer living and working in Hull. I working on a novel, as well as writing short stories to keep my writing skills fresh. I decided to start a writing blog to connect with other writers. So please, take a look around and leave some comments - I'd love to read some of your writing blogs too. Nari X

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Teen Fiction

I've been reading through my posts, and I realise that I said ages ago that I had something to say about teen fiction, and the market research I've been doing. Evidently, I didn't mention it again, so I suppose I should probably get on it.

When I have been talking about 'Teen Fiction', what I've had in my mind, I feel, is something entirely different to what is actually the case. I think what I am thinking of is more along the lines of 'Young Adult' Fiction. There is a difference of about four years there.
But honestly, I'm starting to lose the plot a bit. The lines between children, teenagers and young adults are starting to blur. I don't know if that means I'm getting old, or if I am simply ignorant.

I think back to when I was in primary school - I used to read the Lucy Daniels books and 'The Naughtiest Girl' stories, though even then I struggled. I have always been a thorough reader, but unfortunately back then I was also impatient. It's strange to think that it wasn't until I was about 11 or 12 that I started getting through whole books. I think I was perhaps 14 when I discovered Jostein Gaarder. There was no going back from there. I used to go to the library every lunch time and read, first I worked through Jostein Gaarder, then I discovered Louise Cooper, who introduced me to the world of fantasy. I lapped it up. Of course, there was Harry Potter, and then I backtracked and read through David Almond. I like David Almond. I would say he is the 'children's author' I related to most. His stories were dark, but relatable and written on the back of child-like fantasies of escaping, secret creatures hiding in the garage, unique sixth senses.
But as far as 'teen fiction' went, I don't know that I really found much in that categorisation that I liked the look of. I remember scanning the 'teen fiction' column in Horsham Library and finding a book called 'The Cool Boffin', which somehow took my fancy. I was trying to be normal. I was trying to fit in. It was a good read, but I preferred Jostein Gaarder. I was beginning to get rather heavily into philosophy.
So I never really found my place in the 'Teen Fiction' shelf.
My point is that I think I am dissilusioned from this market because I never really entered into it. As a teenager, aged 14 - 17, I was looking for books that addressed issues of identity, ethical values, religious philisophy and the forces of Good and Evil.

That is my market, I think, at least for CQ. Teenage years are where most of us do our soul-searching, our evaluation of ourselves and the world and the people around us. We work out just where we fit into the grand scheme of things, and what it all means while we go about our lives being educated and fighting amongst ourselves.


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