13/03/2022
Heads up to all YA writers sending and/or planning to send their manuscript to our Pub:
YA greatly appeals to young readers with ages 12-18. As writers, we have to immensely consider the aspects that constitutes their minds especially when reading YA (they are exploratory, rebellious, curious, and inquisitive). At the same time, we should also understand that YA characters are relatable characters, characters who deals with day-to-day issues of junior high or senior high and who are trying to process everything going on in the world and figuring out their place in it, how they deal with insecurities and vulnerabilities and how they struggle to be part of something bigger than themselves. Huwag po natin silang bigyan ng mga problemang hindi sakop ng kakayahan nila sa totoong buhay. This could make our story superficial and unauthentic.
YA fiction predominantly features high-school aged protagonists and it is greatly patronized by teens and teens at heart. Let’s limit our plots and storyline to something that only teens can and are allowed to do. Let’s not engage our characters in explicit situations that only adults do (unless necessary for the plot but only minor explicit scenes please, not too detailed.)
Let’s take for example YA’s like To All the Boys I Loved Before, The Kissing Booth, She’s Dating the Gangster, Montello High. These stories basically revolved around love and its extremities however, the ending shows how the characters struggles and fight for their dreams and it left readers massive sets of lessons.
As the editor and writer of YA, I am highly encouraging my fellow writers to consider the things written above in crafting highly effective YA characters and maximizing YA Tropes.
— Clarisse Araneta, Hiraya Editor
