In honor of Banned Books Week, I thought I'd do a little post about boundaries. I was raised in a pretty open-minded household. My parents didn't really care if the book I was reading at the time was full of swearing and racy, boundary-pushing moments. They were pretty confident I could handle whatever they threw at me, and they were totally right. But there are lot of parents out there that don't want their kids reading those sorts of books.
Does that mean I should hold back on the cussing/drugs/violence/sexual content in my writing?
It never stopped me. If you took a look at my manuscripts, you'd see right away that I'm not shy when it comes to "naughty" words. But the way I look at it, I write about teenagers and that's how most teenagers talk. My characters cuss and party because it's in-character for them to act that way.
This is basically where I stand on this issue:
If it feels natural for your character to be a foul-mouthed, womanizing, junkie, that's just what he needs to be. But don't give a character a foul-mouth or drug problem or whatever just because it seems like the edgy thing to do.
Do you think you can go too far when writing YA?
Hmm...personally, I think most YA readers are prepared for just about anything you could think to throw at them. As long as you're not going all out and thinking up the most grisly, violent, offensive scene ever written, you should be okay. Sure, there are going to be some parents and teachers who get a bee in their bonnet over your character's cussing/drug problem/promiscuity. But as long as you're being true to your story, who cares? You wrote the story you were passionate about, and that's all that matters.
What about MG?
Now, middle grade is a whole different story. While I believe kids that age are a little more mentally/emotionally prepared than most of us tend to give them credit for, I still think you need to be more careful when writing for them. An intermediate amount of violence with little-to-no cussing. Oh, and you probably don't want any sexual content in there at all. Maybe a really, really glossed over joke that they wouldn't get until a few years later would be okay.
What do you think of banning books?
I don't think any book should ever be banned. That sort of censorship, in my opinion, is just wrong. If you don't agree with the message/content, just put the book down and walk away from it. And if, for some reason, your child is reading a book for school you don't agree with, tell the teacher you'd prefer your child didn't read that particular book. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to hear you out. Don't go all crazy and start circulating a petition to get it banned.
Have you ever read something that offended you?
No. I've read plenty of books, and a few of them challenged my world views. But I can't say I've ever found anything in a book to be offensive. You've just got to remember that the author wasn't taking a shot at you with what s/he wrote. Don't take it personally, just enjoy the book.
HAPPY WRITING, LOVELIES!
[Go out and pick up a banned book today!]
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