(This article was originally published in Spring 2024)

Juliana Goodman, author of The Black Girls Left Standing, visited WIU’s Art Gallery on September 26th, 2023, to give a talk on craft and young adult fiction. Dr. Erika Wurth introduced her and detailed her academic and professional accomplishments. Following this, Goodman took the podium.

Goodman began her talk by defining what young adult fiction is. Young adult fiction, or YA, is a genre written for an audience of primarily twelve–eighteen-year-old readers, the protagonists on average age between fourteen and nineteen. Goodman specified further that most narrators of YA novels are either sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen years of age. With this explained, Goodman transitioned into speaking about the process of actually writing a YA novel. She advised us to start with what you, as the writer, want to convey to your audience. For example, Goodman briefly summarized her book, The Black Girls Left Standing, and then told us her message. She said, “I wanted to tell young black girls that they aren’t responsible for how the world sees and interacts with them. I also wanted to let them know that they are not alone.”

Goodman then explained how she uses internal and external plots to accomplish this. External plots, as Goodman explained, are what we read on the surface. The external plot of Goodman’s novel is the struggle for justice by the protagonist, Beau. The internal plot is the grief she’s processing over having lost her sister. These plots work in tandem to produce the desired effect, according to Goodman.

Goodman also warned us that it is our responsibility to ensure the writings within these plots are not dangerous to our audience. Some examples include the glorification of dangerous acts that are portrayed in media, like excessive partying, alcohol and drug abuse, sensationalized sexual acts, etc. Goodman said, “We don’t wanna glorify dangerous acts.” To avoid this, there must be a founded rationalization in the text that justifies the portrayed act. This act must further the plot in some way, rather than be left as an inconsequential point. Goodman gave the necessity of consent as an example. It is extremely common, especially in older forms of media, for an anticipated kiss or erotic/sensual moment to be given without any consent. She gave the amusing example of Edward from Twilight, climbing through his love interest, Bella’s window to watch her sleep. Goodman said, “Edward [was] watching Bella sleep like a creep.” Although amusing, this is not something we usually notice, as it is portrayed as romantic or “swoon-worthy,” according to Goodman. She reiterated the impact our words have on our readers and suggested that the inclusion of consent is both safer and more modern.

Goodman then mentioned the importance of “staying current” as a YA writer. With an audience of largely teenagers, Goodman stressed that it was important for her to do some research on what kids of her character’s age were interested in. She advised designating birth years for characters rather than just their ages. With this, you can work backward, figuring out what kids from those eras liked, what they were obsessed with, what music they listened to, etc. According to Goodman, doing this groundwork helps your characters come across as more authentically young and not so easily nailed as written by an adult.

Goodman then focused on adult characters in YA. She claimed that in a YA novel, “there are three things you can do with adults.” First, you can kill them. Many YA novels portray characters with either one or both parents deceased. This often benefits the narrative of the story as it removes parental supervision while also giving trauma to the protagonist, which can be worked out through the plot. The second option for adults is to make them an obstacle for the protagonist. Goodman said that often, adults in YA fiction hold different values than the protagonist, which can spark conflict between the two. She gives the example of rigidly strict parents who won’t permit their children to have a social life. The third option for adults is to make them a “trusted mentor.” The trusted mentor is usually not the parent of the child, but is instead a close adult like a teacher, coach, or a family relative/friend. The trusted mentor often provides advice and comfort for the protagonist who feels they can’t be as open with their immediate family.

Finishing her craft talk, Goodman opened the discussion to questions. I asked two questions. First, I wondered how she dealt with the anxieties of approaching a career that does not guarantee professional or financial success. Goodman responded that she still feels those anxieties often, but you must push through, working hard and trusting in yourself, almost delusionally. I asked my second question, wondering if she, as a published author, has the resources to branch out into other forms of writing, like scriptwriting, game campaign writing, etc. Goodman acknowledged that she hasn’t truly thought about it yet but did say you would need to look for different agents, as each agent only specializes in a specific form of media. Both answers to my questions were very informative.

Goodman’s craft talk was engaging and beneficial for anyone hoping to write YA novels professionally. It was inspiring to see an alumna successfully traverse the journey that many of us, as English majors, are mapping now.