Years ago, we were at our friend’s annual Christmas party. There was a gift exchange, and a young woman got something that attracted the attention of other women and girls. While they were oohing and aaahing, Tom poked his head in the middle of their circle and said, “How fun.” He was rewarded with a playful swat on the arm from his wife. I think whatever it was just “popped,” or maybe it made the person’s eyes pop or something. I was out of my league.
Today my granddaughter came down with her hair shoved up in a bun. I was informed that it was a messy bun. Who knew?
There was a time when I kept up. Well, I imagined I was keeping up. I was a teacher, and it helped me not to be totally dense. Now, I don’t keep up. I am falling behind. Some Twitter friends try to keep me on the ball, but I often go through the motions, pretending to know what they are talking about.
So, how can I write books for Young Adults when I don’t know what’s happening in the young adult world? I offer two not-so-sure-fire techniques.
The first suggestion is “Read in Your Genre.” Good writers are readers. The human mind is a sponge; without effort, we notice patterns and meld them into our toolkit. I don’t pay attention to the specific social morays, as too much detail about pop culture dates a book—just as I am dated.
My go-to technique is to have my books take place in the past. Because I don’t keep up, I thought Members of the Cast was simply set in 1959. Apparently, that makes it a historical novel. Who knew? I had fallen behind and didn’t even know it.
Writing about the past does not come with a free ticket to make up the culture whole cloth. I did careful research, trying to make the clothes, the dialog, and the settings accurate. Some readers remember 1959. I remember 1959!
I will close with a slight correction; I “thought” I remembered 1959. Alas, I had, once again, fallen behind. I remembered 1959 songs that weren’t written until 1963. I was shocked the first time I looked at a 1959 annual. The girls weren’t wearing their hair the way I remembered. This can be comforting. If I don’t remember, then readers may also have a foggy view of 1959. These faults have put the fact that I am falling behind into clear relief.
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