R-E-S-P-E-C-T

by author Kiersten White

Let’s talk about developing respect as a writer. Not figuring out how to make others respect you (though I go about this by bringing up vomit as often as possible; people respond really well to it and know that I’m a Serious Writer because I’m willing to tackle such taboo topics), but rather, how to develop the respect you need in order to be the best writer possible. This respect is twofold: Respect for the audience, and respect for the craft.

Too often I’ve come across quotes from authors saying they despise YA. And…they write it. After I finish screaming AVADA KEDAVRA! at their names on my computer screen, I’m just sad. Here are authors openly saying they despise YA, and still they continue to write it. Now, sometimes it’s one of the author-factory type writers, trying to cash in on YA popularity (who have deep respect!…for the credit cards of the parents of their audience). Sometimes this hatred stems from feeling their stories are above their readers.

To both of which I say, AVADA KEDAVRA! Ahem. I mean, to which I say, bull crap. If you think your writing is too good for a teen audience, I say take it elsewhere and good riddance. There are more than enough writers out there who not only care deeply about teenagers, but also respect them and their intelligence. I firmly believe that some of the best writing out there is being done for teens.

Whether you are writing for teens, or romance readers, or sci-fi or fantasy or Western or hard-boiled detective or fantastic-sci-fi-Western-detective fans, respect your audience. They are, after all, who your story will belong to once it goes out into the world. If you hate the group you are writing for, write something else. (Better yet, take up a job as a costumer service hotline representative. Your hatred of humanity will serve you well there, and the rest of us who actually care about audience will be free to continue to do so until our computers break or our internet goes out, and then you can have your misanthropic revenge and loathe us to your heart’s content.)

But these authors’ disdain for YA extends past their readership. Because in making such statements, they show they also hate their peers, those fellow authors creating content for teens. (Say it with me: AVADA KEDAVRA! There now, didn’t that feel good?) Which shows me that they have no idea what they’re talking about, and that these authors are idiotic readers, too.

And this brings us to our second area of respect: Respect for the craft. The authors that I read and love, no matter what they are writing, respect their craft. They take it seriously. They study. They work hard to improve. They do their best to truly craft their art.

(I know. This is coming from an author who used the phrase “strategic posture shifts for maximum cleavagization” in her most recent book. CRAFT, my friends.)

I don’t write serious books. I don’t write literary fiction, or Printz award winners. I write fun, sugar-coated books with dark chocolate cores. (I don’t mean that literally. Please don’t email me enraged after chewing off a corner of Supernaturally to discover it is, in fact, just paper and ink.) (We should totally petition for a special edition made of dark chocolate with a pink sugar crystal coating.) But I write the best bleeping fun books I can. I made my writing choices very deliberately. I studied the lighthearted, playful style of my favorite middle grades, I studied the OH MY GOSH DELICIOUS ANGST of my favorite YA novels, and then I tried to bring the two together with a big dash of regional mythology and pop culture. I opted to use a strong narrative voice so that it was never Evie-in-a-story, but rather always Evie’s Story. I wrote deliberately. I wrote respectfully. I try to do the same with every book I devote time to.

I respect the craft. And, as an extension of that, I respect my fellow authors. One of my most recent manuscripts was partially inspired by elements from Imaginary Girls (Nova Ren Suma, magical realism), Chime (Franny Billingsley, historical fantasy), Please Ignore Vera Dietz (A.S. King, contemporary), and Legend (Marie Lu, dystopian). Read outside your genre. Pick the best of what you find, and figure out how you can get better by reading it. Don’t look down on something because it isn’t what you write, or what you typically read. There is incredible writing happening in every genre out there, in YA and out of it, in mainstream publishing and in small press.

When you dismiss an entire genre or section of books, you are denying yourself the opportunity to discover and learn.

In short, respect. Wherever you are in your journey as a writer. Respect your audience enough to trust their judgment and taste, enough to care deeply about the people you are giving stories to. Respect your craft enough to learn something no matter what you’re reading or writing. Respect your peers enough to evaluate their work without bias and figure out what they are doing right. And finally, respect yourself enough to become the best writer you possibly can.

And if you happen to find one of those disrespectful authors slumped in the corner of a lair, an expression of mild shock replacing the sneering glare at both peers and audience, well, now you know what happens when you fail to learn proper respect.

AVADA KEDAVRA!*

*Just kidding, guys. You know I would never use an unforgivable curse. But only because I don’t have my wand yet.

Kiersten White is the NYT Bestselling author of Paranormalcy and Supernaturally. She has one tall husband and two small children and lives near the ocean, where her life is perfectly normal. This abundance of normal led her to a fascination with all things paranormal, including but not limited to vampires, faeries, and pop culture.

SUPERNATURALLY by Kiersten White: Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.