Children's Lit vs. YA Lit. vs. Adult Lit.

[KendallPenn]

Hello All!

I'm having a difficult time sorting this out in my mind and would appreciate any thoughts and feedback. I guess I would consider what I write to be children's literature or perhaps young adult based on the subject matter. For instance, I am in the process of revising/rewriting a 3383 (to be exact) word piece about the interactions of two cats in an apartment building. I wouldnt necessarily consider it a story for children, issues such as mortality and cannibalism of sorts are mentioned with humor. But I dont know if adults are interested in reading a story where the protagonist is a talking cat.

As a 20 year old, I am closer to being a child, but I'm not sure if I can (or want to) write for a child. I've always found Children's literature wonderful and inspiring, but now that I am older I want to write stuff that I want to read, but with children and animals as the main characters. I'm not saying by writing for children that you have to write down to them. I always hated the books that made me feel like I could do a much better job at telling the story. I just dont know where some of my stories fit. I cant see them being published by children's publishers or adult ones. It is somewhere in the middle.

I'm not sure if I am making myself clear hear. I just dont know where the lines are drawn between Children's lit through adult. Can I write like a quasi-adult for children? I dont know? I am so confused!

Any thoughts would be helpful.

Kendall

 

[veggiedog]

You don't have to write solely for children or solely for adults. Try both and see which you have more fun writing. Even a story doesn't have to be written for adults or children in particular. There are many books out there that could appeal to anyone and are read by children, teens, and adults. In addition, a lot of books, such as those by Dr. Seuss or The Wizard of Oz could be entertaining to a child but also contain hidden meanings directed towards adults. In your story, for example, the talking cats would interest children, whereas the issues of cannibalism and mortality could be more subtling woven into the dialogue for adults, which children could just gloss over.

You could either write a book/story in such a way that it target either children, adults, or both, or you could write it for children, but adults would be able to understand and appeciate it as well. Adults could interpret the underlying meanings while they read it to their children. I don't know if I answered your question or not, but good luck with your writing!

 

[GreenKnight]

The boundaries are more blurred than one might think.

'The Little Friend' by Donna Tartt has a child protagonist, but is most definitely an adult book.

'Tarka the Otter' is often marketed as a children's book, but really only because it is about an otter. The prose is as eloquent and elaborate as any book for adults.

'Watership Down' is bursting with serious adult themes masquerading as rabbit politics.

'The Lord of the Rings', anyone? 'His Dark Materials'? Both vastly more sophisticated than a great many books for 'grown-ups'.

Write the story and see who likes it. If you can avoid saying ****, so much the better.

 

[Sitaram]

Quickly, off the top of my head, I would suggest looking at your vocabulary words.

Try to find something in the search engines regarding the typical vocabulary for certain age groups.

Then try to draft different versions for different reading levels, using different vocabularies.

I suggest staying away from topics like mortality and cannibalism, as such topics may raise some eyebrows, or even raise a red flag.

Of course, you will need illustrations. If you make a story board, it will help you to integrate your thoughts on text and illustrations.

Try to read your polished story aloud to various children. Tape record your reading, and their responses and questions. Have some children read your story aloud.

Develop a list of questions to ask each child regarding how much they like the story, what they think should happen in the story, what is missing from it, what should be omitted, etc.

Hope some of these ideas help. Sorry that I am pressed for time and cannot read this thread in greater depth.