Coming of Age and Young Adult Fiction Are The Same, Right? Let’s Find Out
When you look at the target age of your average young adult fiction (YA) reader, it makes sense that many of the stories they read feature the classic coming-of-age journey. Our teen years mark some of the first steps into adulthood, and reading about it in books is a fantastic way for 12-18-year-olds to learn about themselves and the changes they’re undergoing. So does that mean all YA fiction books are coming-of-age novels?
To Come of Age
When it comes to novels, coming of age is a theme. The concept itself marks a time in a character’s life when they’re undergoing a significant change or moment of growth, transitioning into the next phase of their life, whatever that is.
So obviously, that applies to the YA audience, but there are many other examples of moments when people can come of age at any age:
- Starting their dream job
- Coming out
- Discovering their purpose in life
Books for Young Adults
Novels for the YA reader can encompass a variety of themes or genres.
Typically written from a first-person perspective, they focus chiefly on the protagonist, run somewhere between 45,000 to 85,000 words in length (unless they’re sci-fi or fantasy, which creep a bit higher), deal with lighter subject matter, and use more youthful (for lack of a better term) prose throughout.
Though coming of age is a common theme in YA, it does not define the format.
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So, There IS a Difference Between Coming of Age and Young Adult Fiction
Plenty of books outside the YA category include coming-of-age stories. It’s not exclusive to the teenage journey, as I mentioned above. The distinction ultimately is in the structure of the individual novel.
If it doesn’t fall within the traditional format of a YA book, then it’s just a coming-of-age story as opposed to a young adult coming-of-age story. Adult books will tackle the theme with, well, adult problems, heavier subject matter, more words, at a slower pace, and may be in the third person point-of-view.
Understanding the distinction between the genre or theme of your book and its structure will make you a better writer and help you strategize the outline of your novel. If you intend to write a YA coming-of-age story, you need to pay attention to the hallmarks of writing young adult fiction rather than what goes into the theme.
If you find that your manuscript is escaping those confines, then it isn’t meant for the YA audience after all! My first novel, Getting By, made sense as a YA novel and deals with some coming-of-age themes. But in my follow-up, my character is getting older and dealing with more adult problems, so there will be a shift in structure this time.
In some ways, my career as an author is having its own coming-of-age transformation right now! If you’re writing your YA novel and have questions about the structure or anything else, I welcome you to reach out and find me on social media.
About Jaire Sims
Award-Winning YA Author, Course Creator, Blogger, and Self-Publishing Consultant. At twenty-one and as a junior in college, Jaire was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Fast forward one year, Jaire proved that he had overcome all of the challenges he had faced up until this point by graduating from Monmouth College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies.
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