Pop Culture, Slang, And Day-Old Sushi: Items That Can Speedily Go Bad
In ten years, will anybody understand you if you say "fo shizzle?" Will they stare blankly if you mention Britney Spears' buzz cut or Paris Hilton's jail time? They may well, they might not, but the point is this: If you're a writer of young adult fiction, you can not afford to pepper your prose with slang and cultural references that reek like week-old sushi.
A lot more than in any other genre of writing, writers of young adul...
(And How To Hold Them From Fouling Up Your YA Fiction)
In 10 years, will anybody understand you if you say "fo shizzle?" Will they stare blankly if you mention Britney Spears' buzz cut or Paris Hilton's jail time? They might, they may not, but the point is this: If you are a writer of young adult fiction, you can not afford to more help pepper your prose with slang and cultural references that reek like week-old sushi.
Much more than in any other genre of writing, writers of young adult material have to be acutely aware of the truth that what is hip these days is ho-hum tomorrow. In a youth culture where info is instantaneous and trends seemingly change by the hour, a wonderful piece of writing can simply be spoiled by out-of-date references.
"Any pop culture references to fashion or Television shows adjust so quickly," says Dr. Montana Miller, an assistant professor with the Well-liked Culture department of Bowling Green State University. (Yes, they have a complete department that research nothing but common culture.) "In a way the effort to be relevant to the young audience by placing in these references is futile due to the fact the references are so swiftly outdated. Young readers have a high sensitivity to when these factors are contrived. They like to have a lot of detail but pick up on when the detail is becoming place in their purposely to capture them."
Given that the actual publishing of a novel usually requires a year (not counting the time it takes to write the 1st draft), shout-outs to renowned people, hot tv shows, political scandals, or trends will far more than probably ring false to young adult readers once the book is in fact read. Realistically, pop music stars who these days are the concentrate of intense devotion on myspace will probably be has-beens by the time your novel is published.
Are there exceptions to this? Are there people, items, or events that grow to be so entrenched in the prevailing psyche that they will fly as pop culture references? "Barbie is usually going to be a touchstone for every person," Miller continue reading notes. "But I believe that really handful of issues turn out to be that universal and as permanent as Barbie."
Barbie, though, has consistently wormed her way into the unconscious dreams and desires of tiny girls (and probably tiny boys too) considering that she was designed in 1959. That is much more than 50 years of birthday parties, Christmas presents, and unfettered envy plastered into every tiny girl's subconscious. Barbie has earned the appropriate to be used as a cultural reference anywhere, just by longevity. But what about other much less hearty objects? Anybody bear in mind Tickle Me Elmo? Only the parents who clubbed every single other 1 Christmas to hijack the neighborhood Toys R Us to make their childrens' dreams come accurate. The youngsters possibly stuffed the point in a closet somewhere, and do not even remember they wanted it.
Media is a tough call also. Music, films, tv shows, these all are a massive element of the American experience. But what tends to make a piece of media reference-worthy? Classic films from the '40s and '50s could be a cultural touchstone for individuals of a certain age, but for young adults, the thought is mass consumption, not lasting memories. And people of the older generations had far fewer options for entertainment and media. Fairly considerably everyone saw Casablanca and knows what it is. Pretty a lot everyone watched Leave it to Beaver because there had been only 3 channels on the old black-and-white Zenith, and two of them didn't operate if the weather was negative. These individuals shared several typical references.
Nowadays, although, an web search of 'popular culture' will net you much more than two million entries. It is not possible that every young adult who reads will have the exact very same cultural references nowadays, let alone keep in mind them in 5 years, or ten. So, typically, the rule of thumb should be to avoid hot pop culture references in your writing.
At least two exceptions to this rule exist, although. Initial, if you happen to be writing for a specific genre audience that will share the same background and cultural history, some pop references will ring correct. The sci fi geeks who frequent Comic Con all know the Star Wars mythology, and a lot more than probably share at least a passing information of issues like the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game and the old Star Trek series. Sub cultures have their personal history and language, so using their personal internal pop culture references could work if you happen to be familiar with that world, but again, you need to be totally positive that you do know what you happen to be speaking about. Sports, surfing, the goth culture, punk music, the gay teen scene, all these are sub groups underneath the young adult umbrella, and all have their specific frequent references.
The second exception, according to Miller, is the situation exactly where a teenager writes the account of his or her own expertise. In that case, pop culture references that could go stale are acceptable since the pieces are a lot more like documentaries or memoirs, and so the point of view is that of a real individual who is recounting the facts of his or her life. One instance is a French bonuses bestseller, Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow written by Faiza Guene, a college-aged student who writes of her expertise as the child of Algerian immigrants raised in Paris. Although labeled as fiction, the novel draws heavily on Guene's own experiences, and because of this and due to the fact of her age, cultural references in it automatically retain their credibility.
One more issue in writing for the young adult audience is the use of slang, which Miller notes is still "awfully regional." The term for something that's cool in San Francisco, ("hella") is various from the term for cool in New England ("wicked"). Even though web and text messaging slang might appear universal since most teenagers use it, the terms adjust and mutate so speedily that like them could be risky. A single current preferred, "pwned" (it means "to be owned or dominated by an opponent in a situation"), actually is a corruption of the word "owned" and comes from a well-liked online game called World of Warcraft. In 5 years will anyone keep in mind that? Hard to say, but it's possibly safer to leave it out.
All in all, the best bet for YA writers is to capture a reader's attention with universal themes and characters rather than hot pop culture or slang. "If you're an older writer writing for this audience," Miller suggests, "the most important issue to capture the loyalty and really like of young readers is to concentrate on themes of relationship, gossip, jealousy, betrayal, the issues that preserve readers attached and gripped. They respond better to plot and story lines and themes that are finding even much more intense in this competitive planet today. Kids want to see the sort of pressure they are really underneath now reflected in the stories they read."
Fo' shizzle.
