What's the difference between Young Adult and New Adult?
Most notably, the difference is that YA stories feature teenagers dealing with teenage problems. YA usually features protagonists between the ages of 12 and 18, going through relatable young adult issues. They are generally a coming-of-age story, though not always so.
NA tends to veer into post-YA territory. The protagonists are usually between 18 to 25, though that's not always so. NA encompasses more of the lifestyle of coming into adulthood, regardless of the exact age of the protagonist. It usually touches on learning about being responsible for their own lives for the first time, entering post-secondary schooling, or starting their first career or an internship (different from starting their first job in high school). Themes tend to include exploring one's identity independent of family or peer pressures from teenhood and childhood.
For more information on YA, check out the YA profile here on Wattpad!
What's the difference between New Adult and Adult?
In general, NA tends to focus on coming into adulthood, whereas Adult stories feature protagonists who are already established in their lives. NA usually begins the process of adult responsibilities, such as starting post-secondary or a first career or the start of a long-term relationship or building a family. Adult stories tend to feature characters that are already settled into those careers and families and lives that they'd been building over the years.
However, these aren't the only factors that go into what makes an Adult story stand apart from NA. For more information on Adult, check out the adultfiction profile here on Wattpad!
Do New Adult stories have to be explicit?
Definitely not! While the emergence of NA was paved with erotic romance, that's not even the tip of the iceberg of what NA has to offer. Plenty of stories falling under the NA umbrella don't feature romance at all, let alone explicit sexual content.
What genres fall under New Adult?
All of them! You can apply NA ideals and themes to any genre. If your protagonist(s) are relatable to the 18 to 25 age range, then it falls under the NA umbrella. (And you should check out our reading list guidelines in the next chapter, hint hint!)
Does New Adult really need to be a thing?
New situations and responsibilities bring with them new challenges and emotional hurdles, some of which teens and adults may also encounter but that certainly stand as hallmarks of the new adult experience.
And these elements—these new situations and introspective challenges—serve as the most common themes in New Adult fiction, including:
• The Coming-Of-Age Experience
• Mental Health
• Physical, Verbal, and/or Mental Abuse
• Politics
• Social Issues
• Sex and Sexuality
• Emotional Growth
• Relationships
Even though these themes often appear in Young Adult and Adult fiction as well, what truly separates New Adult fiction from its neighboring markets is perspective. How these themes are explored and presented from both a teen's perspective and the perspective of someone with a well-established adult life will vastly differ from that of someone newly thrust into the responsibility of adulthood.
The media we consume invariably has a large effect on our lifestyles and mindsets. Diverse New Adult fiction has the potential to help facilitate new adults through the immensely stressful and emotional experiences they face in their day-to-day lives, which is why championing NA fiction beyond its stigma is so important.
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