12 January, 2006

Items now forbidden in YA fiction

I'm coming to the end of reading for the Ethel Turner prize, the young adult section of the NSW Literary Awards. I have to inform you that the following things are no longer permitted in Australian YA fiction:

  • the word 'munch' and all its variants
  • characters named 'the General' unless they are actual generals in the armed forces
  • lists of any kind - no, not even to-do lists! None. No more lists. Everyone is over list-making, either as action or as content, all right?

I could go on - for example, the words 'splattered' and 'splodge', characters whose only identifiable trait is that they are vegan - but I've got to get through another novel tonight.

5 Comments:

Blogger chance said...

characters named 'the General' unless they are actual generals in the armed forces

Oh my this made me laugh. (And I am a wee bit scared that you needed to make a rule about that. :) )

13 January, 2006 01:59  
Blogger Among Amid While said...

It IS scary - especially as I'm sure I've read this rule somewhere else before.

13 January, 2006 08:44  
Blogger Susan said...

What about 'the Captain' I can't tell you how many times I've bumped into him!

13 January, 2006 09:33  
Blogger Among Amid While said...

Yep, he can go too. Although he didn't turn up in this year's entries except as a real captain, of a ship. Which is OK...for the moment. And as long as he doesn't turn out to have a sensitive side. I am very sick of initially-intimidating characters gradually revealing their hearts of gold/secret-understandable-reasons-for-being-so-intimidating.

13 January, 2006 09:45  
Blogger Lee said...

And please please the word 'feral', both in YA novels and in reviews of them!

15 January, 2006 20:07  

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