What is YA?

1. YA usually has a YA protagonist (13-19), but not always.
2. YA is usually shorter than adult fiction (60-80k, though fantasy can be longer).
3. YA is usually more quickly paced, with more dialog, less exposition, and fewer subplots.
4. YA tends to be in first person or very close third, and it tends to have a single viewpoint character, sometimes two.
5. YA has plot. Adult fiction sometimes doesn't.
6. YA tends to have a more hopeful outlook on like. (Despite what you hear about how dark and edgy YA can be, compare with Cormac McCarthy)
7. YA has VOICE. This may be the single most important feature of YA. Adult novels may have narrators who are invisible. YA rarely does.
8. YA is about becoming. There is no ennui.
9. YA often has a first real love, and not a sweet love as in MG. Love in YA is physical, even if it is "clean." There is a sense of smell, taste, and touch when it comes to love. Everything is sexy, sweat dripping down the face, and the smallest touch.
10. YA is about finding power. Adults may have accepted that there is no real power for them in the world. Teens don't accept this, and largely, when you think you have power, you do.