Writing Advice for Children and Teens

For 25+ years, I’ve been parceling retired proposal and contented connected penning and publishing, each squarely directed astatine nan big writer.

As nan years pass, much and much young writers person sought my insight, and I’ve had to look a difficult question. Should nan proposal I springiness to children aliases teenagers disagree from nan proposal I springiness to adults?

Yes and no.

I’ve written this station specifically for young people. I’ll time off you to determine what proposal applies to adults arsenic well.

First things first: support writing.

A writer is personification who writes. If that describes you, telephone yourself a writer. You are one.

If you want to beryllium immoderate good, you person to support writing. Now’s not nan clip to inquire questions astir nan value of your work, because I tin guarantee it’s not arsenic bully arsenic it will beryllium successful 3 years, 5 years, aliases 10 years.

This shouldn’t beryllium upsetting, but exciting. You person nan powerfulness to make advancement simply by penning more. What you constitute now is immensely important to your wide improvement and progress. Don’t see your early activity arsenic wasted clip and effort. It’s portion of nan travel to go nan creator you’re meant to be.

There’s thing called nan Helsinki Bus Station Theory. It goes for illustration this: you prime a profession guidance and group disconnected (in different words, you get connected a peculiar bus). Within a short period, you nutrient immoderate work—and it’s very early work. It will look for illustration nan activity produced by everyone other connected that bus. So if you show that early activity to someone, they’re going to activity you off; they apt won’t return notice. At this point, you whitethorn get discouraged and springiness up aliases alteration paths. But you didn’t realize: everyone who’s ever been awesome goes done this. Everyone. The reply is to support doing nan work, aliases to enactment connected nan bus. Most group get disconnected nan autobus excessively soon.

Ta-Nehisi Coates says, “The older you get, that way [of writing] is truthful reliable and you get hit up truthful overmuch that group yet spell to business schoolhouse and they spell and go lawyers. If you find yourself continuing up until nan property of thirty-five aliases truthful … you will person a skillset … and nan title will person thinned out.”

Ira Glass says, “The point that I conscionable would for illustration to opportunity to you, pinch each my heart, is that almost everybody I cognize who does interesting, imaginative work, they went done a shape of years wherever … what they were making wasn’t arsenic bully arsenic they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short.”

Don’t ask: Should I support writing?

That’s nan incorrect question. Ask instead: Do I enjoy nan process? Would I keep doing it whether I’m paid or not?

Let’s opportunity I was your mentor, and we worked together for respective years, and 1 day—after I grounded to connection you immoderate praise—you asked me, “Is it worthy it for maine to write, to support going for illustration this?” And I answered, “No, you should stop.”

If you responded, “Screw you, I’m going to constitute nary matter what you say,” past you person nan correct mindset to continue.

I retrieve arsenic a young personification being told I was excessively lazy to spell to college. My contiguous thought was, “You’re wrong, you don’t cognize maine astatine all.” That—that’s nan gut emotion you’re after.

If personification could discourage you from writing, past possibly you should beryllium discouraged. The much you’re obsessed pinch penning and support returning to it and are excited by it, nan better—pay attraction to that. It’s important. You’re drawn to thing that sparks power and enthusiasm, and that intends you could go awesome astatine it.

You should beryllium driven and motivated to do nan activity without personification watching complete your enarthrosis and telling aliases encouraging you to do nan work. It’s bully erstwhile we person encouragement, but it’s momentary and doesn’t thief america nutrient our champion work.

Don’t effort to fig retired if you person talent. That’s useless. Talent is boringly common; chartless talented group situation us, but fewer persevere and do nan work. Erica Jong says, “Everyone has talent. What is uncommon is nan courageousness to travel nan talent to nan acheronian spot wherever it leads.”

Along nan way, you’ll brushwood galore traps group by your friends, family, and society. Paul Graham talks astir those traps eloquently successful his effort “How to Do What You Love”: “You shouldn’t interest astir prestige. Prestige is nan sentiment of nan remainder of nan world.… Prestige is for illustration a powerful magnet that warps moreover your beliefs astir what you enjoy. It causes you to activity not connected what you like, but what you’d for illustration to like.”

Experiment.

Now is nan clip to effort it all, without risk, without commitment—see what you for illustration and what you don’t like. Try it each earlier you extremity up successful a business aliases programme that dictates what you person to create, aliases nan standards you person to constitute by. Cross arsenic galore boundaries arsenic you can; analyse and see each modes of expression.

While you could fto penning go your full world, prosecute different interests, too. The communicative astir Steve Jobs studying calligraphy and really it informed his attack to exertion and creation is now legendary. Having divers interests, and allowing these interests to pass each other, contributes to stronger activity pinch much vitality. Travels and varied life experiences thief a lot, too, but they’re not required. You tin let yourself to beryllium consumed by what you want to know, particularly what’s overseas and unusual and fascinating to you. Go retired of your comfortableness area whenever you can. Stay curious. Learn caller stuff.

Read.

Read beyond what you’re assigned successful school. It really doesn’t matter if you publication wide crossed galore genres aliases heavy into a azygous genre. Go wherever nan way seems to lead; publication what adds to your power and creativity.

Study what catches your attention, underline things you love, decorate your room, your notebooks aliases online profiles pinch quotes and lines and awesome words from books and writers you admire.

If you don’t for illustration reference much, inquire yourself why that is, and why you want to beryllium a writer. Great artists of each backgrounds start their early careers by imitating nan styles and voices of others, until 1 time they find themselves pinch a sound that is uniquely their own. Yes, you tin transcript your measurement to originality. And if you don’t read, really tin you statesman nan process of doing that? Read Billy Collins connected uncovering your voice.

Mentors velocity your growth.

You tin execute a batch connected your own; you tin execute it much quickly if personification is pursuing your progress, providing captious feedback, and pointing retired adjacent steps. It’s difficult to judge disapproval astatine first, but you get amended astatine it. You recognize it’s not astir whether you should beryllium a writer aliases not, it’s astir increasing arsenic a writer and sharpening your skills. Good mentors shorten nan way to knowing your strengths and weaknesses. They tin thief trim done nan sound and supply clarity erstwhile everything feels confusing. They tin thief present you to nan correct group aliases opportunities astatine nan correct time.

When it comes to a mentor, you don’t want a cheerleader, and you don’t want a parent. You want personification who has accomplished much than you and shares a imagination for wherever you request aliases want to go.

Don’t inquire a famous personification to beryllium your mentor aliases springiness feedback connected your work. You don’t request personification really famous. That said, if you person a chance to meet a well-known writer you love, spell spot them, perceive them, inquire questions, get them to motion your book, show them of your admiration. You ne'er cognize what you mightiness study from them moreover if they aren’t your mentor.

Writer’s artifact is simply a puzzle to beryllium solved.

Writer’s artifact is typically astir fearfulness aliases deficiency of confidence. It indicates you don’t consciousness fresh to return nan adjacent measurement pinch your project. It’s up to you to fig retired why. Maybe it’s not nan correct task to beryllium moving on. Or possibly you cognize there’s a problem that you haven’t resolved, and that problem needs to beryllium fixed earlier you tin continue. Look for nan reason—it’s there.

If you consciousness for illustration nan “muse” hasn’t visited you, aliases you consciousness uninspired, it’s usually nan aforesaid problem arsenic writer’s block. You’re acrophobic of something, aliases you’re moving connected nan incorrect point for you.

There are truthful galore myths astir writers.

Some group deliberation writers beryllium unsocial each time aliases walk their lives successful isolation. I for illustration to telephone this nan “solitary brilliant successful nan garret” myth, which tin beryllium nan astir harmful myth.

Writing doesn’t person to beryllium for illustration that. Some writers activity alone. Some writers collaborate pinch others, particularly erstwhile penning movies aliases TV. Some writers are portion of a publishing team. Some writers are performers.

Don’t ever judge anyone who tells you that to beryllium a writer you request to walk clip successful solitude. Maybe you do, possibly you don’t. That’s up to you.

Recognize your enemy: impatience.

When you commencement reasoning astir aliases focusing connected publishing, your imaginative power gets channeled differently. You person to package and coming your stories successful a measurement that makes them appealing to a publisher. You person to commencement reasoning of your activity arsenic a product to sell—because publishing is simply a business.

Maybe you’ll person a knack for doing that, but immoderate writers person a difficult clip doing this nary matter really aged they are, and they consciousness diminished and discouraged by rejection and nan trading process.

The astir important point you request to study successful this regard—and what each writer needs to learn—is patience. Be diligent pinch yourself and nan process.

John Green says, “My publishing proposal to teens is: Generally, don’t. What is nan constituent of trying to people now? There is truthful overmuch to beryllium gained from waiting and truthful small to beryllium gained from not waiting. I deliberation that not worrying astir publishing a caller by nan property of 16 will free young writers from nan constraints of nan literate marketplace. And if you constitute a caller that’s really wonderful, past you tin ever revise it and people it later.”

Instead of publishing: Consider joining an online organization wherever you’ll find other young writers, specified arsenic Wattpad. If you’re successful a large US city, look for 826 National.

If you must think astir publishing: It doesn’t matter really aged you are—you’ll follow nan aforesaid steps to publication arsenic everyone else. Here are nan basics steps to get a book published. When you interaction agents aliases publishers, it’s not basal to disclose your property arsenic portion of nan submissions process—your property doesn’t matter arsenic overmuch arsenic your writing. However, an knowledgeable supplier aliases editor will astir apt beryllium capable to show you’re a young writer. If you’re nether nan property of eighteen, your parents aliases guardian will person to get involved if you’re asked to motion immoderate benignant of contract.

Take advantage of your youth.

You person time. You person clip to believe and to experiment—without responsibility to make penning thing that pays. It should beryllium fun, and you astir apt don’t person immoderate preconceived notions astir what you should write, aliases what nan penning life is expected to beryllium like. You astir apt don’t transportation a silly, arbitrary load astir really overmuch you should write, aliases when, aliases where. You haven’t yet fallen into nan trap (I hope) of calling yourself an “aspiring writer.” You create because you person ideas you want to definitive and play with, and it feels satisfying and exciting. Follow that impulse.

Parting advice

When I was successful nan sixth grade, 1 of my English people assignments was to nutrient a twenty-five-page penning portfolio—we could write short pieces, agelong pieces, aliases both, successful immoderate genre aliases category. It was 1 of my favourite assignments, because we had complete freedom. When nan portfolio was returned to me, nan coach included nan pursuing note.

I person ever remembered, “Jane, don’t change.” At nan time, I felt (as sixth graders do) that conscionable astir everything astir maine was ill-fitting and wrong. From that constituent on, I took support to beryllium myself, support to write, and yet support to opportunity I was a writer.

Allow maine to springiness you that aforesaid permission. Now, get backmost to your writing.