After traumatizing myself with my own crappy drawing skills, I decided to start writing a novel. My novel is basically a shounen manga about a boy who's part of a secret monster hunting organization in modern day London. It sounds cheesy and generic, I know, but the charm is in the characters. Anyway, I focus a lot on the fighting, although I've toned it down so that the fights don't drag.

But anyway, other than visual things, melodrama and over-the-top jokes, what do you think are the differences between shounen and a young adult novel? Do you think a shounen story could work as a young adult book, or do you think there are fundamental differences that mean that a shounen story wouldn't read as well as the stories authors usually write?

I'm still trying to figure this out as I write. I can't help but feel that something is off with my story... that there's something really DIFFERENT in the direction shounen stories and a young adult novels go in. Maybe they focus on different things? Aaargh, I really can't figure this out!

What is nice about novels (or sometimes boring) is that they are very detailed. Usually, the main character also narrates a lot. In manga, a picture speaks a thousand words, so the scenes are normally rather short.

You can compare yourself by reading the manga and novel versions of some titles like IS or The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

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