Archives for February 2008

When Writing For Teens, Write Intelligently

First, let’s be clear about something. Teens are those budding youngsters above the age of 12 and below the age of 20. As you can see, this is indeed a wide range, and books written for someone who is twelve will certainly differ from books written for those at eighteen. Though different maturity levels require books on a different subject matter, all you need to know is that books for teens should be well written and about intriguing topics. There are a few tips you can keep in mind while writing books for teens.

Think from a teenager’s point of view

When writing, always keep in mind that you are writing for a teenager; try to think back when you were that age and think about what appeals to them. Get to know teens and ask them what they like to read. Don’t just listen to what they have to say; apply it in your writing. They are generally looking for thought provoking books written on subjects that fascinate them. Have a look on Goodreads to see what titles (and topics) are currently popular before starting to write.

Characterisation And Its Uses

What is a character?

The writer uses many ways to convey the nature of a character. It’s quite obvious he is unable to attach a photo of his character to a book or manuscript. However, there are ways in which a character can be described and written about that enables readers to visualize the character and create an impression of that character’s behavior. Firstly, when the character is physically described, the writer wants the reader to create a faint picture of the character in their mind.

As an example, I have taken a brief excerpt from ‘Angels and Demons’ by Dan Brown. (Read more here.)

Although not overtly handsome in a classical sense, the forty-year-old Langdon had what his female colleagues referred to as an erudite appeal-wisps of gray in his thick brown hair, probing blue eyes, an arrestingly deep voice, and the strong, carefree smile of a collegiate athlete. A varsity diver in prep school and college, Langdon still had the body of a swimmer. A toned, six foot physique that he vigilantly maintained with fifty laps a day in the university pool.

While reading the passage above, the reader imagines that Langdon has an athletic body, toned and well looked after. Now, that was easy, was it not? It didn’t need a model to explain the way he looked and it didn’t need a painting or sketch that would visualize him. We can also identify that he trains quite hard to maintain his athletic look.
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Writing: A Career Scope

Writing as a career has no boundaries. An affinity for writing is something those who wish to begin their career as a writer should have. Other necessary traits include the ability to express ideas clearly in writing, self motivation, creativity and curiosity to know more and write more.

To begin with, editors and authors are generally first choice when it comes to choosing a career, but writers with a technical background can also specialize as a technical writer. A technical writer develops technical materials, such as equipment manuals or operating and maintenance instructions. Most technical writers work with engineers or other techie professionals on technical subject matters to prepare written interpretations for general readership.

A creative writer, a poet, a lyricist, a novelist and a screenwriter, create original work—such as prose, poems, plays and song lyrics; most of these are either for performance or for publication.

As a writer of non-fiction, you will have to put a lot of hard work into research of the specific topic that you have been given to write about. Information has to be gathered through the internet, newspapers, magazines and other print media, personal observation, interviews and most importantly the library.
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