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 fa ew 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.
Be logical
Teenagers generally enjoy books that are logical. They have overcome the age where fairies and gnomes used to fascinate them. They are looking for well-written fiction and non-fiction books. This is the age when books influence their mind the most, so try to make your book to something that they will remember for the rest of their lives (hopefully for positive reasons!). Keep your writing quality as you would for adults, but try to keep the situations and experiences relevant to teenagers.
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.
‘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.
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.
The three "R's" of environmental conservation are "Reduce, Re-use and Recycle" but the application of this trio can just as easily be applied to getting your commercial portfolio built up without having to have a commission from a FTSE 100 bluechip to make you look good.
Reduce the number of writing samples you have in your portfolio that deal with your contributions to the local church magazine or poetry competition. Commercial companies are not going to hire you on the basis of how many words you wrote nor any editorial credit you obtained for this type of publication. When you are looking for paid work, concentrate on targetting the market that your existing portfolio reflects and reduce wasted marketing effort on completely strange and disassociated sectors.