How gory is TOO gory?

So yesterday I ploughed on and hit 43,621 words (tried to post this last night but broadband was down). I’ve come a long way in a week, let’s be honest here. I had to write a pretty tense scene today, involving a dead body. The question arises - how much gory detail should I go into for YA fiction?


My clearest memories of being a teenager are:

• Having some really hilarious times, especially with friends.


• Feeling different , odd, overwhelmed or lonely at times.


• Being quite sensitive to horror / gore – I only got into gory books when I was a bit older.


• HATING being patronised.

These last two come into direct conflict while I’m writing. I want it to be vivid and immediate, but I don’t want it to be really disturbing. I also don’t want it to be some cartoonized version of a distressing event, all watered down. I imagine the teen equivalents of me rolling their eyes and making barf noises as they read it.

When you’re a teenager and you’re smart it is hateful when people treat you like you’re dumb. In THE WATCHERS Evie hates feeling out of the loop, or like she isn’t trusted enough to handle certain information. After all, she’s doing pretty well dammit!

It’s said that every writer puts a little bit of themselves into their characters. Maybe this is the side of me that ends up in Evie. I certainly got luckier on the family front!

What I contribute to Javan on the other hand... hmmm, scary stuff! I’ll leave that to the head shrinkers to figure out... ;-)