How writers predict what will become obsolete: Breathing Underwater for the iPhone generation (original) (raw)

My publisher is releasing my 2001 book, Breathing Underwater, with a new cover, its third. The reason for this is, basically, because boys don't like to read the book with its current cover, which shows a boy and a girl. I actually got an e-mail from a teacher who wanted to know how to buy 100 copies of the book with its 2001 cover for this reason. I find this a bit frustrating because I feel like girls get forced to read tons of "boy books," apparently because they are more agreeable. Nonetheless, it DOES sort of look like a romance novel and I like cover 3 better than cover 2 (though not as much as cover 1 which was a legit work of art). I'm also happy that my publisher is giving Breathing Underwater this kind of love after so many years. I can attest to the fact that it has changed and even saved many lives.

Anyway, this is the never cover. Feel free to squee:

Book cover showing white notebook paper with title, Breathing Underwater and author, Alex Flinn in tear-stained ink

I predict a lot of teens won't see the cover because they'll be reading the book on their phone. Which is not something I would ever have predicted.

When my publisher recovered the book in 2011, I'd just read an article about Judy Blume changing the sanitary pad belts (which were not even a thing when I was a teen) in Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret to modern feminine hygiene products. I asked if I could remove beepers from the text and change them to cell phones. I was happy they let me make a few other changes, such as jettisoning Beanie Babies, a huge fad in 2001. I didn't ask this time around because I didn't think it would be that bad. But editor suggested I could make some small tweaks to anything dated, so I gamely did.

It was bad.

Since I also tend not to use much pop culture in my books or select references very carefully, so those few references (such as saying a mom who dresses too young "thinks she's Madonna") actually still hold up. I don't like reading about made-up rock groups, and I feel like the number of teens in YA who are obsessed with 1980s groups is exaggerated. Therefore, I tend to choose references that aren't to the newest, coolest thing. For example, one music reference in Breathing Underwater is to Insane Clown Posse. Yes, they are still out there. But if they weren't, I don't feel like referencing them brands the book as being in 2001. I do feel like country, rap, and genres other than pop become less dated. I'd never mention a boy band or any artist who was under 21 at the time of the book.

The only pop culture reference I changed was Oprah to Ellen and only because the reference was to a character watching Oprah's show. The way the reference is phrased, it would still work if Ellen had a show 5 years earlier, so I'm good for a while.

What I didn't foresee in 2011, perhaps because I was a mean mom whose kids had flip phones pretty late, was the number of functions smart phones would take over in people's lives. Like, how could I have predicted that CLOCKS wouldn't be a thing in the future? Or picking up photos.

Anyway, this is what I changed. I thought it was interesting. I'd be curious what others have seen become dated in their books, and what to watch out for. A few things, like going to the mall, I don't think are actually obsolete, but I predict they will be in a few years, so I used the opportunity:

Oprah to Ellen

"waste case" to "weirdo"

References to someone writing a note to a friend on paper, instead of a text

References to getting photos developed and having a physical copy with him

Digital clock

Clock radio

Hanging out at the mall

Double date (I feel like it's now a group hang)

Reference to a phone left off the hook making a noise

References to existence of pay phones

The term, grass, to mean marijuana

ghetto blaster for a loud radio (probably should have changed in 2011)

Rollerblades (I feel like they do still exist, but only in certain places, Miami being one)

"flake" to "ghost" for ditching someone

"boat person" (used offensively for an immigrant) to "refugee"

"You the man" to "You rock"

The Rock instead of Shaquille O'Neal for a famous bald person (I could have left Shaq, but I feel like a few years from now, that won't be the case)

K-Mart to Wal-Mart

Threat of parent taking away a computer to a phone

AP rather than honors (I feel like now, schools -- at least in Miami -- push smart kids to take AP everything)

Girl wearing pantyhose

Teen subscribing to a print magazine (I didn't feel like this was completely obsolete, but getting there)

The idea of there being a full-serve and a self-serve pump at the same gas station (Should have changed in 2011)

Someone giving out his home number as the best way to reach him

Scooby Doo to SpongeBob

Cool teen driving a Trans-Am (switched it to Range Rover -- Corvette would have been okay, but I needed 3 seats)

How to avoid this in the future? I'm not sure if it's completely avoidable. I just wrote a book which mentions a teen wearing a shirt that says, "What would Beyonce do?" I feel like Beyonce, Gaga, and similar will stick around a while, though you never know what the future will bring. Yes, one can avoid all pop culture, but at some point, it sounds unnatural to me. I try not to use truly off-the-wall slang, which is why I'm not changing much in that category.

But the fact is that electronics age faster. I've taken to saying, "phone" for everything. It's also probably helpful if characters aren't constantly on their phone. Girls of July takes place in a part of the country with minimal cell phone coverage, and my new manuscript takes place at a boarding school, and the main character's main friends are her suitemates, so that is fortunate. Generic is probably better. I didn't want to mention Amazon Prime as the service a character uses to watch old movies, so I just said, "streaming service." So I guess that would be my biggest tip. But there was really no way to predict the demise of full service gas stations or pantyhose, and I'm sure there will be other such items in the future.

I've often contemplated that people in the past thought we'd have flying cars by now. But they never predicted how many different inventions keep you from having to touch the sink, toilet, soap, or towels in a public bathroom.

Anyway, hope teachers find the book. It has a new, gender-neutral cover and completely updated content.