Pop Culture, Slang, And Day-Old Sushi: Things That Can Speedily Go Bad
In 10 years, will anybody realize 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't afford to 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 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 well not, but the point is this: If you're a writer of young adult fiction, you can't afford to pepper your prose with slang and cultural references that reek like week-old sushi.
More than in any other genre of writing, writers of young adult material need to be acutely conscious of the fact that what's hip today is ho-hum tomorrow. In a youth culture where data is instantaneous and trends seemingly adjust by the hour, a great piece of writing can easily be spoiled by out-of-date references.
"Any pop culture references to style or Tv shows change so rapidly," says Dr. Montana Miller, an assistant professor with the Popular Culture department of Bowling Green State University. (Yes, they have a entire department that studies nothing but popular culture.) "In a way the effort to be relevant to the young audience by putting in these references is futile simply because the references are so swiftly outdated. Young readers have a high sensitivity to when these items 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 full report them."
Because the actual publishing of a novel usually requires a year (not counting the time it requires to write the first draft), shout-outs to famous people, hot television shows, political scandals, or trends will more than most likely ring false to young adult readers as soon as the book is really read. Realistically, pop music stars who nowadays are the focus of intense devotion on myspace will possibly be has-beens by the time your novel is published.
Are there exceptions to this? Are there people, issues, or events that become so entrenched in the prevailing psyche that they will fly as pop culture references? "Barbie is constantly going to be a touchstone for every person," Miller notes. "But I assume that very handful of things turn into that universal and as permanent as Barbie."
Barbie, even though, has regularly wormed her way into the unconscious dreams and desires of tiny girls (and probably little boys too) given that she was produced in 1959. That's much more than 50 years of birthday parties, Christmas presents, and unfettered envy plastered into each and every small girl's subconscious. Barbie has earned the correct to be utilised as a cultural reference anywhere, just by longevity. But what about other less hearty objects? Anybody bear in mind Tickle Me Elmo? Only the parents who clubbed each other one particular Christmas to hijack the local Toys R Us to make their childrens' dreams come correct. The children possibly stuffed the thing in a closet someplace, and do not even keep in mind they wanted it.
Media is a difficult call also. Music, motion pictures, television shows, these all are a huge element of the American encounter. But what makes a piece of media reference-worthy? Classic find out more films from the '40s and '50s may be a cultural touchstone for men and women of a specific age, but for young adults, the thought is mass consumption, not lasting memories. And people of the older generations had far fewer alternatives for entertainment and media. Fairly much every person saw Casablanca and knows what it is. Pretty considerably absolutely everyone watched Leave it to Beaver because there had been only 3 channels on the old black-and-white Zenith, and two of them did not operate if the weather was negative. These men and women shared many typical references.
Today, although, an web search of 'popular culture' will net you a lot more than two million entries. It really is not possible that each young adult who reads will have the exact same cultural references right now, let alone don't forget them in five years, or ten. So, usually, the rule of thumb ought to be to steer clear of hot pop culture references in your writing.
At least two exceptions to this rule exist, although. First, if you are writing for a precise genre audience that will share the same background and cultural history, some pop references will ring accurate. The sci fi geeks who frequent Comic Con all know the Star Wars mythology, and much more than most likely share at least a passing understanding of things like the Dungeons and Dragons function playing game and the old Star Trek series. Sub cultures have their own history and language, so using their own internal pop culture references could perform get the facts if you are familiar with that world, but once more, you have to be completely confident that you do know what you happen to be talking 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 precise common references.
The second exception, according to Miller, is the situation where a teenager writes the account of his or her personal expertise. In that situation, pop culture references that may well go stale are acceptable simply because the pieces are more like documentaries or memoirs, and so the point of view is that of a actual individual who is recounting the details of his or her life. One particular instance is a French bestseller, Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow written by Faiza Guene, a college-aged student who writes of her knowledge as the child of Algerian immigrants raised in Paris. Even though labeled as fiction, the novel draws heavily on Guene's own experiences, and because of this and since of her age, cultural references in it automatically retain their credibility.
Yet another 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 distinct from the term for cool in New England ("wicked"). Though internet and text messaging slang may appear universal given that most teenagers use it, the terms modify and mutate so rapidly that such as them could be risky. A single existing favorite, "pwned" (it indicates "to be owned or dominated by an opponent in a situation"), actually is a corruption of the word "owned" and comes from a popular online game named World of Warcraft. In five years will any person bear in mind that? Hard to say, but it's probably safer to leave it out.
All in all, the greatest 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 critical thing to capture the loyalty and really like of young readers is to concentrate on themes of relationship, gossip, jealousy, betrayal, the factors that maintain readers attached and gripped. They respond greater to plot and story lines and themes that are obtaining even a lot more intense in this competitive globe today. Children want to see the sort of pressure they are really under now reflected in the stories they read."
Fo' shizzle.
