Hi, i was wondering if many people know much about the best way to structure a young adult novel. My plan was originally to mix three character's diary entries but now I'm thinking maybe it would be better if i separated the three character's stories and told them one after the other...i cant come to a decision, i like the idea of mixing diary entries.

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I have to take into consideration the attention span of younger adults and making character's distinctly different from one another.

I think mixed sounds quite fun. You can have conflicting ideas, similar scenes through different eyes.

I think mixed sounds more fun, and more flexible in plotting. It might also be easier for your audience to do the math from what you're offering. If you want - say - to make the point about two different views of the same scene, you're safer having them fairly close together, I'd have thought.

The risk with having several narrators is that most readers will like one more than another, but they'll keep going with the one they're not mad about, if it's short, but not if it's the last third of the whole damn book.

You may find, however, that you want to write longish chunks in one voice at a time, to keep the tone consistent, and then interweave the strands later. You'll probably find you instinctively know how much of each you want before you switch.

Emma

I think mixed sounds more interesting as well but I wonder if a reader would feel put out by having to swap so frequently (about every four or five pages, perhaps a few more depending on the entry), especially if they're attached to a particular character.

Mixed seems to be working for me, I'm at 20,000 words now and its been a really enjoyable story to write but would they be stronger on their own if I split them all up?

Its so fantastic that this is happening to me now just as I'm getting closer to the half way mark...I blame the young adult section putting ideas in my head (ha ha) thanks emma and colin

Are the characters' lives interwoven? If they are, then I don't think you need worry, because the reader will still be in touch with their favourite, albeit through another's eyes. But if you sneakingly prefer one character to another then the readers will too, and you need to address that problem, and find out what's not working about the less appealing one. (I don't mean appealing in as 'nice', but interesting/intriguing/compelling).

If the characters' lives aren't interwoven, then I think it's extraordinarily difficult (though I'd never say impossible) to make having them in the same story work - believe me, I've tried! If the interwoven structure is what turns you one, then go for it. You can always try splitting them up on screen later, and see what it looks like. And you can deal with questions of attention span and the like later, too.

Emma

Well they are totally different people, but they all have the same problem. Its based in a rehab centre and the diary entries contain past experiences and how they came to be there and ALSO they describe how that particular day went, how they're feeling etc. So they could have a conversation with a fellow patient (whose diary you also read) and they describe that conversation in their own words.

I dont have a favourite and I would hate to have to drop any of the three. I'm betting a reader would have a favourite though so I'm guessing spliting up each story and telling them one after the other would probably make a reader quit after their favourite's story has ended!

I think you're probably right.

I feel that mixed would be better. Splitting them might make it a bit documental rather than being a story. Also being mixed will make it much more interesting to read.

Kat

Hi, I've only just seen this, sorry I'm late! Have you read Jaclyn Moriarty's Finding Cassie Crazy? If not, I recommend it. I think you should stick to the mixed viewpoints in the way you have done it so far - I think it really worked.

I'm writing a novel split between two characters, too (at least, sort of - I won't go into details here) and I am constantly having the problem Emma describes of one storyline being stronger than the other. I have to keep addressing it. It certainly is fun to write this way, though!

Good luck, happy writing and I'm looking forward to reading more. I'll look out for your work.

Luisa

By the way, a lot of popular teen fiction mixes diary entries in the way you describe. And I do mean 'popular' - it's at the bestselling end of the teen market. The Gossip Girls series and the Making Out series by Katherine Applegate are two that come to mind.

Luisa

I think you can have an awful lot of fun by switching POV's in diary entry form, and get more of a 360 degree feel for the story. The novel Dracula, while not deliberately funny (though parts are terribly camp - Victorian fainting et al.), it illustrates how well you can tell one story through differing pairs of eyes.

The word for the structure you're looking at, is epistolary i.e told in a series of diary entries or letters. I know this because I am mirroring the form for my screenplay/novella Dracula On Mars.1st shameless plug of the year.

Good luck anyway. Why don't you upload some if you are uncertain, and we can all have a look?

JB

Thanks Luisa and WL, its actually uploaded in the young adult section for all members to read. I appreciate you taking a look at it Luisa.

My main fear is two out of the three characters sounding the same because they are both girls, it would be fantastic if i had three distinct, memorable and readable characters which would make it more original than any other ya novel currently published, and I'm willing to work for it. I'm a determined pain in the arse.

When you've got two characters who risk sounding too similar, it's surprising what crude-seeming distinctions you can start from. If they're suited to the characters they soon become natural-sounding: long vs short sentences, slang vs 'proper' English, long vs short words, complicated syntax vs subject-verb-object, hesitant vs fluent, North vs South vocab, chatty vs taciturn, etc. etc, and that's before you've even started on what they're actually saying.

Emma

I do have quirks for both. Such as: the first charcater hates cursing and ugly personalities so you'll never read of any profanity in her diary entries and she's extremely romantic. Her situation started because of a boy she wished to please. She's scared of everything and has problems at home. She also has a tendency to judge but she is sensitive and sorry for her actions.

the other character loves to curse at everything, complain about everyone, brag about the rock'n'roll life she has and her situation started because of another girl she wanted to be. although she doesnt like herself very much. You dont hear a lot about her home because she has outgrown her parents.

They are very much two opposite individuals and my job is to make sure they dont just sound different but they view things differently too.

Its more difficult than it sounds but I'm having fun at the same time.

Sounds like you've got them sorted out, then.

Emma