I think it’s because everyone’s expectations are so high. My character Rose, Laurel’s cousin, touches on this topic in Forget-Her-Nots. Everyone wants prom to be so perfect, that it can’t possibly live up to our hopes and dreams. Prom is the focus of so much energy, longing, day-dreaming, and shopping that it makes an ideal topic for any writer to play around with. Also, as you say, it’s a rite of passage. Most YA novels focus on the main character discovering something about herself or himself. Paranormals tend to focus on some power or ability the main character has, such asLaurel’s flower magic. If you take an iconic event like prom and match it with a teen who’s just figuring out how to use her powers, you have an explosive scene!
What are some other iconic events where such things will happen, and why are they such magnets for destruction?!
For YA readers, they include graduation day, the first day you drive, first kiss or even further, the first day at a new school. Any first is fair game for the YA writer, because these events are so memorable and so important in forming who we are. Everyone remembers her first kiss, right? I think they can be so destructive, because we focus so much energy – worry, anticipation, day dreaming – on them. That seems to draw in powerful forces, both positive and negative.
White bellflowers and orange crocuses for hosting me, Liyana!!
Amy Brecount White's website
1 comment(s):
So true and so much fodder for me to use in the next month when I try to write a novel in a month for NaNoWriMo. I could use a lot of those firsts! Thanks.
Heather