Last week, as
part of my day job, I bought a couple of early 19th century blanket
boxes.
One had initials
created out of brass tacks on the front of it and a note inside which indicated
what town it had originally come from—which matched what we’d been verbally
told. Research revealed the name of a person who matched the location and time
period. The thing is--old furniture
styles didn’t change as rapidly in rural areas like Vermont as they did in more
populated and style conscious locations. This box might have been made from the
late 18th century to anytime in the first half of the 19th
century, though the hardware indicates it’s more likely from the earlier time.
So here’s the
story I found when I researched. Children Left Behind Honestly, I doubt this family owned the box.
Even if they did, it would be impossible to prove. But the story did remind me
of writing and specifically the issue of absent parents in young adult stories.
Right now, I’m
working on two YA manuscripts. In the first story, the parents are the main plot
thread. Without them, the story wouldn’t exist. My other project is different.
The parents are absent physically. However this absence and the reason for it
(not death) form a big slice of my main character’s motivation and personality.
Again, the parents are vital to the story.
Personally--present
or absent--I have a hard time seeing how parents can’t be taken into account in
YA stories. And, perhaps, I get a bit annoyed when I hear people say that
absent parents are an overused devise. Perhaps it’s more matter of if the
writer uses that absence as a character forming devise or simply as an excuse
to give the teen characters more freedom. What do you think?
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How apropos! I'm just mapping out my plan for revisions on my ms and your comments on my MC's mom were really helpful. A small detail of the mom's lack of involvement that in one scene that simply hadn't occurred to me. So thank you!
ReplyDeleteAnd present or absent, our parents definitely influence us as young adults, so I'm with you on how important their role has to be.
I'm glad my comment helped. I've had to do quite a bit of thinking about the parents in my non-present parent WIP. My mc's character was too inconsistent because her feelings about her parents and the situation wasn't put right up front in the first pages. Now that I've done that the pages have gained an amazing amount of strength.
DeleteMy stories so far involve extremely dysfunctional families. The actual parents are not always present, but there are parent figures. To play devil's advocate, my teen's peer group is often much more "important" to her than her parents a lot of the time - reality is that parents are often background figures in our kids' lives whether we want to be or not. I mean we're "there" of course, but not playing the vital roles we did when they needed us for every little thing. BTW I love your antiques stories, they're like watching Antiques Roadshow, which I love.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the teen's peers being more important. Actually, a lot of my stories hinge on the period when kids pull away from parents and toward forming their own lives. But the stories which drive me nuts are the ones where the parents aren't part of the teen's emotional core--even if they are dead. Parents as baggage. LOL that sounds awful.
DeleteThank you. My life is like the Roadshow. This box came from a locker buyer, pretty much like Storage Wars.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that absent parents are a plot device for character freedom. The same thing happens in adult books when the MC doesn't have a 9-5 job. I think it's OK--after all it's an escape from "real life" right? But that said, it's true that parents have a lot of influence and if we can write about it effectively (including the struggles and questioning) then that would be interesting to teens. Sometimes things are used so often (the abusive alcoholic parent) that they seem cliche.
ReplyDeleteOne of the few stories I refused to CP was had an abusive alcoholic parent. My refusal was because it didn't go beyond a very narrow stereotype. On the other hand, I loved Melissa Marr's Ink Exchange which had a pretty freaking awful alcoholic parent.
DeleteNow I'm going to be on the look out for the 9-5 job thing :)
Well said. And, by the way, you have an awesome day job!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Sometimes I feel like my personality is a bit fractured--wedding and funeral consultant one minute, then antique seller and cellar scrounger the next--and YA writer in between.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have it any other way.
Great pictures. They bring back memories for me. When I was growing up, we had one of these chests. Apparently, my great great grandparents had used it to hold everything they owned when they came to America.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.miaceleste.com/?p=274
Very cool. It's amazing to think people would come to a new country with just one box full of stuff. I'd need a train car for all my junk.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question! Well, I think about something similar when I watch those "Real Housewives" reality shows. Most of the women on the show have children, but for the bulk of the show, the audience rarely see's their children. To me, this is a HUGE reminder that I'm watching a fake reality show that I can't take seriously bec in the back of my mind, I notice the children's absence and realize that this isn't normal. So, maybe that was a silly comparison but I feel similarly when parents are rarely mentioned in a YA book. If the parents are absent for a specific reason, I get it- but when they're rarely mentioned- that reminds me that I'm reading fiction because in real life, teens think about their parents and typically (not always, but typically) interact with at least one parent on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great comparison. I think you really hit the core problem too. When parents aren't part of the story or the mc's emotional make up, then a certain amount of believability is lost. Think about Harry Potter--the parents are absent but at the same time are two of the most important characters in the story.
ReplyDeleteOf course, HP isn't YA really :)
DeleteI think the reason for the absence definitely matters, but I also think that the presence of parents in YA literature matters more to adult writers/readers than it does to teen readers. A teenager's world revolves around their friends and with teens today having increasing autonomy and freedom, parents are increasingly serving as "extras" in their teens lives rather than key players. At least with the kids I work with as a therapist for my day job. I think absent parents lead kids to get involved in the stuff of YA stories.
ReplyDeleteAnd absent can mean a whole lot of different things, too. I guess thinking about the parents is alway a large part of what I do when I'm plotting, even if they aren't directly part of the plot.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful and challenging day job, and it really puts you right there at the heart of the teen experience.
Can I just say that I would love your day job? I'll trade you. :D
ReplyDeleteIn my last story, my MC was part of a blended family, but the parents are very much present. My current story involves a more dysfunctional family relationship.
I think that's exactly my point. There are loads of different kinds of families, but we all have one--even if members aren't around physically or emotionally. Even if a person is created in a test tube, they would probably compare their lack to what others have.
DeleteParents have so much influence whether they're physically present or not, so I think they'll always play a part.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have an idyllic job in your Vermont country store. :-)
It's wonderful, except for the heating bills :)
DeleteI do get annoyed when I read a YA book where the parents are conveniently absent/dead/useless. So in my own stories, I do try to have parents present in a realistic way, without losing sight of the fact this is the teenage MC's story and not the parents'...
ReplyDeleteIt takes more work to include parents in some way, but I think it's worth the extra effort. It also give a nice contrast to how teens act and think about their peers.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting! I don't know much about YA, so I can't claim to have an informed opinion on that situation, specifically. However, I think every genre has its so-called "Overused Plot Devices". In my opinion, it's usually only a problem when the overall characterization is weak. If you have a unique, full-blooded character, they will respond to OPDs in their own unique way.
ReplyDeleteIf it makes your story turn, I say go for it!
That's probably exactly why agents and editors see overused plot devices as red flags :)
ReplyDeleteI think that, although they may not be there physically, parents and family have a huge influence on YA characters. To ignore them completely wouldn't be realistic.
ReplyDeleteBoth of my WIPs focus on the theme of "belonging" and "family", and so the MC's parents and family play a major role in terms of motivation. They don't play a major physical part in the story, and are often just a present felt or longed for, but there's no doubt that they're influencing the MC's actions.
Thanks for sharing this!
Belonging is a theme which works its way into my stories as well. Probably because it was one the most important things to me as a teen. Not so much the need to belong to a specific group as to move beyond belonging to a just a biological family, and onto something more personally defined by me.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a reason that makes sense for the story, then I don't have a problem with it. But if it feels like a laziness on the author's part, that's a different story.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, in today's world many parents are absent from their children's lives.
Writing laziness in general is probably one of the top reasons I stop reading a story, if it's because of the parents or a lack of reasearch or another detail. This is a good reminder that extra writing effort is rewarded in a way better/deeper story.
ReplyDelete