Dissertation - Critical Commentary

— Excerpt from the Real Deal —

When I set out on my dissertation, my main goal was to understand the career path, needs, and work patterns of authors who published in their adolescence and early adulthood, painting a picture of the way they are perceived in the publishing industry, and also establishing the relationship between youth and publishing.

It was a wide objective, but as I started analysing the primary texts, reading reviews and their critical reception, and discussing them with writers and people from the publishing industry, I began to break it down into the five chapters of the dissertation: young characters in books written by older authors, young people as readers & the YA genre, the presumption of autofiction in young writing, maturing in the public eye, and pathways into publishing. I learned about the challenges that young people face in the industry, but also that, despite the lack of formal research, they are appreciated by editors, publishers, and reviewers.

Overall, I am glad I chose to do a dissertation and to look into young writing. It hasn’t been easy, but I know that my research will be useful. I already started thinking about the next steps on how I can use this information, and I am also looking for options to publish and expand this piece of work.