YA fiction vs. adult fiction: what’s the difference?

It’s hard to imagine a time when YA literature wasn’t dominating the bookshelves, and yet it’s a relatively new phenomenon. First coined in the 1960s, Young Adult fiction has grown exponentially — between 1997 and 2009, the number of YA titles being published grew from just 3,000 per year to 30,000 per year!

But is there a hard line between what makes a book suitable for a teenage audience or an adult audience? If you have a novel with a younger protagonist, you may be wondering which category it falls into. We’ll guide you through everything you need to know about what goes into each genre.

What defines “YA fiction”?

Age
This is an easy one: YA fiction will always have protagonists somewhere between about 15 and 19 years old. This doesn’t mean that any novel with a teenage main character is automatically YA fiction (more on that below); but a novel with a main character of 20 and up will probably be a work of adult fiction.

Moral clarity
Although YA fiction can feature tough choices, there isn’t a huge amount of moral ambiguity. The bad guys are bad and the good guys are good — or at least trying their best. This is in part because teenagers have a slightly more black-and-white worldview than adults who have been around the messy humanity block.

Moral hygiene
Traditionally, YA fiction was “cleaner” than adult fiction in that it didn’t feature things like swearing, explicit sex, drug use, suicide, or graphic violence. Today that’s changing somewhat as film and social media make these elements more commonplace in the teenage consciousness; in general, though, YA fiction implies more than it shows.

It’s worth noting that when sex does enter into YA fiction, it’s always in service of the plot. While sex in adult fiction can sometimes be for its own sake, because some adults enjoy reading about it, sex in YA fiction happens because the people in question are figuring things out, making connections, and making mistakes. It exists as part of the story. 

Intensity of emotion
When you’re a teenager, everything is turned up to 11. Victories are transcendent; humiliations are life-shattering. This translates onto the way a story evolves. YA novels usually have fast pacing to reflect the way a teenager’s mind moves at lightspeed under stress. Events that might seem irrelevant later in life are given profound importance.

Core themes
YA stories are usually “coming of age” journeys in some way, because it’s set at a time in the main characters’ lives when they’re evolving into who they’ll become. The themes in these novels will often revolve around finding one’s identity, whether that’s in one’s family, at school, or in wider society. There will almost always be some sort of internal conflict at play as the protagonist determines what kind of person they want to be.

What defines “adult fiction”?

Age
If a novel’s protagonist is a mature adult, it’s going to be an adult story. This is largely because teenagers don’t want to read about someone who’s at a completely different stage of life and who won’t understand what they’re going through. But adult novels can also have younger protagonists — To Kill a Mockingbird, Life of Pi, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and Stephen King’s “The Body” (which was made into the film Stand By Me) are all stories for adults that feature young main characters.

Moral ambiguity
Unlike fiction for younger readers, adult fiction has space for more complex moral dilemmas and characters who exist in shades of grey. This is especially true of gritty noir fiction in which the person you’re rooting for is just the best of the worst. Protagonists of adult fiction don’t necessarily have to be good to be sympathetic.

Moral depravity
Unlike YA fiction, there are fewer limits on what you can include in an adult novel. It’s not uncommon for adult fiction to have more explicit intimacy and/or violence, as well as drug use and illegal activities which might not be appropriate in a YA setting.

World weariness
Unlike Young Adult stories, where everything is in a state of change, the main characters of adult fiction will often feel stuck in a state of comfort and/or stagnation. Then, something happens to pull them out of this state and kick them into action. It can be more challenging for adults to adapt to new circumstances than it is for teenagers, and adult fiction makes use of that reluctance to give the characters room to grow.

Core themes
Because most adults have already “come of age” in some way or another, these stories will generally focus on different themes. Adult novels might explore themes of rebirth, breaking free from toxic traditions, or adapting to change.

How to know if your book is a YA or adult novel

Through reading this criteria, you’ve probably found that one genre resonates with you and your work more than the other. To decide if your novel is YA or adult fiction, consider:

• Do my characters have clear, morally defined ethics and intentions?
• What sort of journey do I want my main character to undergo across my story?
• How explicit do I need my material to be to support my story and satisfy my readers?
• Who is my target audience? Do I want my work to resonate most with young people just starting to make their way in the world, or adults wishing for a second chance?
• Would I have enjoyed this story as a teenager, or are there certain elements which might have gone over my head? Does my reader need a bit more life experience to fully appreciate it?

You can always age up or age down your characters a little bit once you’ve determined the kind of story you want to write. Then you can look for ways to position your book to your target audience during the marketing and promotion stage.

Happy writing!