Lately
I've realized that there are many, many questions about
writing I'm not very good at answering. Most often I
have no clue where my characters or plotlines spring
from. When a character pops up (from who knows where!)
I pretty much just try to follow along with the story
they seem to be attached to as best I can.
I'm sure there are writers out there who
are much more tuned in to their process, but to me the
whole thing feels a little like being Allison
Dubois, only the situations and people I happen
to pick up on are fictional.
However, there is one writing question
that I have a definitive answer for and that's something
my editor asked the first time we spoke on the phone:
What made you want to write YA?
When I discovered I wanted to write books
about teenagers I hadn't, in fact, read any young adult
novels in over a decade. It was watching The Salingers,
five orphaned young people ranging in age from infancy
to early twenties, try to deal with all the crap life
had to throw at them in the TV show Party of Five
that convinced me that I wanted to write about young
people.
Together The Salingers and their friends
face Bailey's alcoholism, Charlie's cancer, the domestic
violence committed against Julia, unplanned pregnancy,
sexual assault, mental health issues and more. These
are serious problems—ones their parents would've
clearly found difficult to deal with but Charlie, Bailey,
Julia and Claudia (Owen's too young during the course
of the series to take any responsibility) must struggle
with them without the benefit of experience. They're
intelligent and sensitive people but without the life
skills that years of living add.
Watching Party of Five I realized
that's exactly what I wanted to write about—young
people going through things that would be a challenge
for anyone (whether that's family problems, addiction,
career decisions, death, romantic relationship stuff
etc.) but even more so for them because of their
youth. I don't mean just the obviously heavy issues
either. Something like being forced to move across the
country away from your old network of friends and then
having to take a science class with a bully of a science
teacher (when you're not scientifically inclined in
the first place!) while the guy/girl you can't stop
thinking about steadily ignores you, can be a challenge.
As a young person you usually have little control over
where you live, your surroundings, the rules imposed
upon you (sometimes lack of rules and guidance can be
a problem too) and your circumstances in general. While
you may be able to avoid science class later in life
if you've discovered physics isn't your cup of tea,
that's often not an option when you're sixteen. And
dealing with your tyrannical teacher or unrequited crush
may be a little easier if you've worked through a similar
experience in the past.
I wanted to embed Bailey's intervention
scene from season three here for people who may not
have seen Party of Five. Lacey Chabert gives
such a powerful performance as twelve year old Claudia
in that scene (one of my favourite Party of Five
moments), as she pleads with her brother to get
help for his drinking. But it's no longer available
on YouTube so I had to settle for a snippet of dialogue
instead. The dialogue itself does a great job of showing
what a wonderful, emotionally complex show Party
of Five is:
Claudia: [sobbing] No, no, no, no!
I can't take this, Bailey. I mean, you can't do this
anymore. Bailey: Claudia-- Bailey: No, Bailey, I mean it, that's it. That's
it. I mean, if you don't...if you don't go and get
help, then I don't want to see you. You can't come
over here, and you can't see me, and you can't see
Owen, and I'm not gonna come see you, and I'm not
gonna call you, and...I'm not even gonna think about
you. Charlie: Claudia-- Claudia: No! [to Bailey, crying] I love you.
More than anyone else. I love you the best.
You know that. This is the only thing I have that
I can take away from you. To make you stop. Either
you get help right now, or get out of here.
[long pause, then Bailey exits the room without a
word]
—Intervention, Party of Five
And here's an earlier scene which shows
Bailey's siblings and his girlfriend, Sarah, setting
up the intervention:
It's interesting to note that Party
of Five's ratings were very low its first season
but Fox executives had faith in the show and kept it
on the air anyway. The ratings picked up in subsequent
seasons and PO5 ran for six seasons in total.
After being inspired by Party of Five
I went on to read tons of young adult books and write
several of my own. I hope I would've found my way to
YA fiction eventually anyway, because it's impossible
to imagine loving any other type of fiction in quite
the same way, but if there's one thing that turned my
attention to writing for and about young people, it's
undeniably watching Charlie, Bailey, Julia, Claudia
and their friends try to meet life's challenges with
only each other to lean on.
Party
of Five
Lately
I've realized that there are many, many questions about
writing I'm not very good at answering. Most often I
have no clue where my characters or plotlines spring
from. When a character pops up (from who knows where!)
I pretty much just try to follow along with the story
they seem to be attached to as best I can.
