Forming an Opportunity Belief

 A Twist On Opportunity Identification

Do the words 'post-apocalyptic dystopian future', 'modern twist on classic fairy tales', 'heartfelt angsty coming-of-age story', or 'love triangle' make you groan and send you into vividly cringe-worthy flashbacks of middle school? Yeah, same here.

My Beginning Point, Describing My Belief, and the Prototypical Customer

For anyone who has read my Bug List earlier or even viewed the comments on that post, you can tell I see a need for added variety in Young Adult genre fiction and mainstream creative media. I feel like this is a potential opportunity I could address. We all know literary fiction is very scarcely produced in this era as it is, which is why its mainstream alternative (commercial fiction) has much more publicity, exposure, and relevance to contemporary society.

Yet for pleasure reading purposes, commercial fiction has become so formulaic over the past few years that almost everything has become a parody of the same story archetypes. The last time an original series was actually given attention and recognition was many years ago, whereas before every year would churn a new bestseller for readers to enjoy fresh and new. However, after the most recent book franchise to trend in global fame fizzled out of fashion, the creative outlet known as mainstream fiction has pretty much run dry. Rather than trying to serve something original, literary agencies and publishing houses are cashing in on the popularity of longstanding favorites. Either they copy something that worked for someone else, or they simply produce mindless sequels, reboots, and spinoff stories of whatever worked for them. It's a tired trick. You can only keep fans clinging on to the same old and used thrill so many times.

And it isn't even avoidable if one were to simply find a different pastime than reading. This might be credited to the fact that books that gain a large fanbase are quick to construct franchises through merchandise and movie adaptations, thus spreading into other art mediums and facets of the entertainment industry.

So I'm beginning to think the reason nobody had anything to read since eighth grade (depending on how old you are, these numbers might be shifted for you), is because nothing good's come out since, which is why we reread the same three things from or be miserable. It's not nostalgia blinding us, or a change in preference that outgrows with age, or the hustle-and-bustle of busy life, and it's not a superiority complex. They really left us with nothing to work with here.

The prototypical customer in this scenario is basically anyone classified as a young adult. This plagues any and every reader who doesn't even have to be an avid book-enthusiast. And like I mentioned before, ditching reading altogether is just not possible or realistic. I'm 95% sure this is a legit problem, albeit it isn't the biggest crisis facing humanity, it's at least one we can tackle. People's enjoyment is important. Who want's to be bored even when they're supposedly taking a break from the routine blandness? That's the "opportunity" I chose: some new variety in the young adult genre that isn't the same exact overused archetype.

I'm proposing something new in that literary market.

Iteration Interview #1

Q: "Do you think this is a real opportunity for me to wedge into the market, or do you think it's not really that big a problem in the literary/entertainment business?"


A: "I would say yes, it’s a valid need. The only recent YA novels I’ve seen are the typical romance or supernatural type which, for a minute there, were entertaining but are more redundant as of now. I experience the need randomly. I read YA books for a different form of entertainment than TV and movies. Netflix is great and all but sometimes I’d like to relax with a good book. But the redundancy of YA novels in the market right now makes them boring and almost discourages me from reading them. So I turn to TV more and more to entertain myself during free time. Which is a bad thing because reading books is so good for you, intellectually."


Q: "Would you say digressing to television is an adequate satisfaction to replace in terms of entertainment value though?"


A: "I’d say digressing to TV isn’t really comparable. TV is one form of entertainment and books are a whole separate form. I think that both are enjoyable and both are something I look forward to. This recent tendency of mine to turn more towards TV feels imbalanced and I don’t like it."

"I’ve had this need since the beginning of middle school, probably, after I burned through the standard YA novels and realized that even after reading different novels, it still felt like I was reading the same thing, due to the lack of variety. That, and the surging popularity of things like Netflix made me rely on television in my free time. As I realized I didn’t like how I was watching more TV rather than reading books, the monotony of the YA book genre presented itself as an even greater issue."

"Currently, I’ve been addressing the need by searching for other genres to read besides YA in my free time. There are millions of great works of literature and non-fiction, philosophical books, etc. I’m aware of this, yet I’m still not fully satisfied because my desire is to read YA novels, not those other genres."

"Trying other genres wasn’t bad, and helped me find balance again between my two favorite pastime activities--watching TV and reading-- however, the greatest solution would be to promote more variety in YA novels so as to continue to encourage reading for fun and prevent boredom by the recurring storylines found in most YA books."

Iteration Reflection #1

Upon examination of this insightful conversation, I must say I'm pleased to know that a person in the target audience in the prototypical customer range such as myself feels that this is an evident and existent need. This helps validate my prospective opportunity by showing that this is not an individual discrepancy, but rather one that affects an entire time frame chunk and bracket of people within the consumer populous. What surprised me the most was the frequent mention of television shows and the nod to brands such as Netflix that people have begun to use as a substitute that quenches the need temporarily but doesn't fully satisfy the demand or hit the right spot. After all, watching television is a mainly visual and audio experience, whereas reading is a phenomena of the mind that allows each user to interpret the experience differently and tailor what they think, feel, and take away from the text, rather than a single and minimal forced view dictated by camera angles.

Iteration Interview #2

Q: "Do you think this is a real opportunity for me to wedge into the market, or do you think it's not really that big a problem in the literary/entertainment business?"


A: "It's a very necessary need and I experience it every time I have free time to read. I'm tired of rereading the same books. This has been going on for a while, yet I only really thought about it when I look to see the same three series in the library. I have found no solution yet except reading the books I enjoyed as a child over again such as Harry Potter, Twilight, and Percy Jackson. I have gained no satisfaction with this solution, as it is only a temporary fix until I need another book. The libraries in my town are small and only popular books can be found there, but my point is there are no recent books that are rising to the top. Harry Potter was a great matter of discussion and still is years later because no books have made it to a level near there. "

Iteration Reflection #2

It should go without saying that the novelty of a good book may deteriorate with each reread of it's contents. Perhaps the entertainment value is still there, but the plot twists and surprises are surely not as enthralling as the captivating hooks were the first time around. Yes, it is great to go over a book infinite times to admire the mastery and craftsmanship while allowing it to still bring joy to the reader repetitively, but nothing is as first-person and throws you into the action like going through the book as it unfolds just how the characters due, truly immersing a reader. I found a highly interesting correlation in how the interviewee names Harry Potter and other big hits of that release period and prime, but doesn't acknowledge today's Hollywood definition of current hits as actual selections worthy of merit (note how titles such as Divergent are left out of the conversation due to the fact that it is practically a cheap rehashed take on what was once the fresh concept of The Hunger Games).

Iteration Interview #3

This was a long and thought-provoking answer, and aside from the aforementioned points above from other speakers, the gist of this interview boiled down to:

A: "In my opinion, I believe that it is quite essential for you to change the literary entertainment business due to the fact that the young adult reading difficulty has decreased significantly. Books just aren't as good as they used to be... People are reading things like Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, and don't get me wrong, I love those books. They're great, but it's not okay for high school and college kids [to be reading the same thing they've been reading since elementary school. Re-reading] books like Harry Potter are fine when it comes to casual reading, but if the literature industry doesn't change now, we may be looking at a permanent change. Books that we call childish might become the today's 'young adult' [since nobody's been able to move on past the same fiction works].

Iteration Reflection #3

One might want to address the changes of a genre that is able to transition and jump age groups. What exactly is 'YA' anymore? Question why the same books available in the third-grade reading level section of public school libraries could also be found in retail stores on 'popular young adult fiction' shelves.

Nobody can say story themes of magic or fantasy are too childish and should be left in the past, as content never has a 'too-old-for-this' age limit, what with metaphors and extended meanings. The issue arrises when readers have not been able to grow or move past those themes into new ones due to a lack of new incoming diversity in the market. It stunts the development of readers and an entire industry where there is much more to explore. New themes and elements can prove to be mentally stimulating in areas our thoughts had yet to debate, and unearthing topics we have yet to discuss can be thought provoking in unprecidented ways.

As preferences change on an individual basis, we are allowed to outgrow a genre as we mature and need 'less childish' reading material, but a genre that appeals to the entire category of 'young adults' gives plenty of leeway to grow with the age and enough creative freedom to explore new themes.

Summary

After careful consideration and debate, I think much of my original opportunity proposition is there, if not more. Sure, turning away from reading and instead finding alternative entertainment sources altogether (cinematic outlets through movies or televised broadcasting shows) may have proven to be worthy dents to hamper the opportunity, but my conversations also reaffirm that nothing can really take the place of reading. What's more personalized than materializing written words into mental thought that visualizes a completely unique and individual experience different to each person that interprets them? In case that made no sense to you, I'm not referring to hallucinations or daydreams, I'm referring to the stimulation that we call reading. It's such a unique thing, and here we are depriving ourselves and doing a great disservice if we don't provide fresh new material to intake. I still agree with not using the same simple plot structure and formulaic tropes as I spoke of before, but that's not enough--I have to go beyond that. Simply 'not copying' isn't enough; I have to create something fresh and new altogether: a different subcategory within the YA genre that doesn't try tailoring to an age group, but rather a concept, and a new one at that. I don't consider 'Young Adult' to be a genre anymore--fantasy, science fiction, mystery: those are real genres. They tell you what the book's about. Perhaps a new categorizing method is due to be put into affect as well?
So thank you for the feedback, interviewees, because it allowed me to adapt my opportunity and forced me to think bigger... which produces more opportunities in itself. So I guess those will keep me busy by continuing to branch out my opportunity and continue to make me think on greater scales. I used to think there was a trade-off in customer feedback or staying true to yourself and your original mission statement, but really if you're creating your own path instead of trying to squeeze your way into a space already occupied by dozens of others who have tried, you really aren't losing any originality from your goal.