Write What You Know...Research What You Don't

Other than things like spelling and punctuation, facts are pretty important.

If you want to include a topic in some way, or even a detail, it's important (in my mind any way) that it is represented as accurately as possible. The Internet is a great place for "learn enough to fake it" research; depending on the topic, the Internet is also occasionally good enough to in fact just "learn it", whatever it might be.

That's the writer's responsibility. The reader's responsibility is to keep in mind that a novel? Is fiction. The characters are not the author. Though if the reader is drawn in enough to believe that the author must have experienced described events or feelings in some way, I guess the writer has succeeded, yes?

Where Am I to Go, Now that I've Gone Too Far

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal recently on how young adult fiction has become "too dark". I was interested and perplexed by this kind of an article and argument. There is lots of dark young adult stuff; there is also still a fair number of bubblegum and sunshine high school and boyfriend style young adult fiction. A lot of these books address "real teen issues", though, perhaps more than they used to. Judy Blume has always been very forthright in her writing of these sorts of things, and I think that many current authors maybe be taking a page from her book.