When I wrote my first story, all the characters were teenagers because I think 16, 17 is a great age.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I didn't 'decide' to write YA, per se. But every time I thought of a story, it featured characters 15, 16, 17.
Writing a teen character is something I wanted to try again for a long time!
I have always been drawn to coming-of-age stories and books and movies featuring compelling young characters.
I liked 35 and in both my novels that is the age of the lead characters. I tried making them my age but they just seemed to keep moaning about stuff.
I suppose I started writing seriously at 16 years old. I thought I wrote a novel at 16 and sent it to New York! They sent it back because it wasn't novel.
You can't mess around with young readers - you have to cut straight to the heart of the story. The character can be complex, the plot can have some surprises, but the emotions have to be clear.
I started writing when I was twenty, and my first book came out seventeen years later.
I kind of just write what I like to write. I'm thankful that readers of different ages seem to connect to my stories. I don't consciously think about age demographics when I'm working on my comics.
I'd never really considered doing young-adult novels, but one of the things that a friend pointed out to me is that I've actually had a teenage character in almost every adult novel that I've written.
I used to be an editor and I was editing young adult series. I didn't really like the books that I was reading, so I decided that I would write a book about something I'd want to read if I was 16. It turned into a Cinderella story... I developed a proposal and the characters of 'Gossip Girl' for my job.