tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post1066341538567775271..comments2024-03-27T16:13:08.733-06:00Comments on What Happened to the Wallflower: Shameless: Reading YARae Oestreichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11102209066412105186noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-55434170312901184672014-06-12T22:00:31.901-06:002014-06-12T22:00:31.901-06:00I absolutely couldn't agree with you more, Rac...I absolutely couldn't agree with you more, Race! There was actually a similar post to the Slate one a couple years ago that I wrote a very heated rant about on my blog. (And that I turned into a passionate speech titled, "Why Shouldn't Adults Read Kids Books?" that eventually won 6th place in a speech competition). <br /><br />But I really like how you took this and turned it into a thing about writers writing YA. I have a friend who's convinced that anything that's not adult literary isn't worth writing because its not *respectable*. So he only writes adult literary books, even though he wants to write genre fiction, because he doesn't think that the writing world (academia apparently) will respect him if he does. And I think its sad that he feels he can't branch out and at least try it. <br /><br />But I think its stupid how people can't see 'genre fiction' (or YA in this case) as real literature, as something worth reading or even writing. Just because it doesn't ponder our existence in the world for fifty pages straight, doesn't mean it can't do the same thing and make for an EPIC READ. Because the people who write YA put their heart and soul into it. Does that mean they should all get awards? Not always, but at least the respect of their fellow writers and readers. Because, honestly, the fact they even wrote and published a book in the first place is pretty epic. Sarehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01829472672254117776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8624302039838757491.post-19480397015903506292014-06-12T11:00:07.169-06:002014-06-12T11:00:07.169-06:00OH MY GOODNESS YOU ARE AMAZING. It was very clear ...OH MY GOODNESS YOU ARE AMAZING. It was very clear to me during my Intro to Creative writing class that because I write mysteries and commerical fiction, that I was a second tier writer. Becuase I write to tell a good story, to put a smile on someone's face. I'm a second tier writer because my books don't have some deep meaning that high school english classes can annotate the sh*t out of. Some of us write becuase we want to tell a story and make people happy. rant over. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com