Teenage writers looking for some advice.

One thing you might want to consider is finding a compatible writing buddy and exchanging your work. Having another writer read your work is usually better than getting a friend or family member to do it. If you find someone you're comfortable with, your fear of having something stolen will lessen. By the way, ideas really are a dime a dozen, if somebody wants ideas we'll give them away here for free. It's the actually writing that's important.

While you are writing your novel, you can poke around here on the forum and get all sorts of information, including things about agents and submitting a manuscript.

For starters, I'll give you one piece of writing advice that you might find helpful. It's how to format your manuscript: http://www.shunn.net/format/novel.html

First write it, Then revise, revise, revise.

Uncle Jim's thread has some great advice - http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6710

As for being published as a teen, it's certainly do-able. There are people on AW who have done just that. I'm sure at least one of them will be able to come along and tell you a bit about their experiences.

Write your story revise and edit it to make sure it is perfect. When it is perfect you can look for agents to send it to. At AW check the Beware and Backgrounds to make sure your prospective agent is a good one. Also check Agent Query and Publishers MarketPlace and the AAR for agents who specialize in the genre you are writing. Cross reference those names with AW's Bewares and Preditors and Editors another good site for agent reputations.

When you find prosepctive agents write a fantastic query letter. This is a letter that gives the agent the genre, word count and an concise but thorough description of your book. And any other writing credits if you have them. Then you wait and wait and wait. If rejections come in don't despair we all go through it. Just keep plugging.

Hi, frejyaathena and welcome to AW.

To echo what people have said above, the first thing you need to do before you do anything else, is finish your novel and then revise and refine it as much as you can before you even think about starting the submission process.

Saying that, you're doing the right thing in deciding that you need to learn about the industry. The other posters have stolen (stolen, I say!) all my suggestions for resources on how to research agents and publishers. What I'd add is that it's really important that you research those agents that you think might be a good fit for your writing (e.g. there's no point submitting a YA fantasy to an agent who wants crime mysteries and thrillers).

I haven't used the SYW Forum here, although I have commented on some people's work and I think it's a good place to get help on extracts from chapters (although be warned, people will give you your opinion so be prepared to get a thick skin and learn that it's not you they're criticising, it's your manuscript).

Personally, I'm a little leery of publishing anything to the internet - not because I don't trust the guys here, but because there's a risk that if you post a substantial amount of your manuscript onto the internet, it counts as first publication (but you should be fine with a short sample). Note: this comment will doubtless start a debate as to whether it is or it isn't, but I'm one of those people who'd rather be safe than sorry .

You might want to consider checking out your local community college or adult education facility to see if they run creative writing classes, which can provide a forum for meeting other people and sharing and critiquing work whilst also learning your craft. Alternatively, if your school supports extra-curricular activities, it might be worth chatting to your English teachers to see if they'd be willing to set up a creative writing group (I don't know how the US education system works, but I understand that some schools do it for extra credit).

You can also see if there are any writing groups who meet in your local area (try Google or your local library).

frejyaathena:
Just so you know, I'm writing a young adult fantasy novel. I am planning, or hoping, that this will have a sequel.

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My recommendation is that even though you're planning a sequel (and it's fine to outline what you want in it), while your first novel is out on submission, start writing a completely different book. The reason for this is because if (as often happens), you're either unable to get an agent for your first novel or you do get an agent, but no publishing company wants to buy it, then you'll find that you've spent a lot of time on a book that you won't be able sell. If however, you've got a completely different manuscript, then you've got something fresh to stick under the noses of agents and/or publishers, which speeds up your chances of publication.

MM

Momento Mori said:

Hi, frejyaathena and welcome to AW.

Saying that, you're doing the right thing in deciding that you need to learn about the industry. The other posters have stolen (stolen, I say!) all my suggestions for resources on how to research agents and publishers. What I'd add is that it's really important that you research those agents that you think might be a good fit for your writing (e.g. there's no point submitting a YA fantasy to an agent who wants crime mysteries and thrillers).
MM

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No not stolen, Momento Mori just borrowed without asking

Don't even think about publishing if you haven't even finished the book. It's a mistake most first timies make, and then they feel threatened because they know more about the world of publishing than they do about writing. Thus, they feel discourage and put their pens down.

As everyone has said, you need to write it first, then revise until you can revise no matter. Than have a couple good people read it for you--have someone with a good background in grammar edit it for you. I don't advise hiring a professional because even if they do a fabulous job with it, your novel still may not get published, and you will have wasted TONS of money. They charge about 5-15? (correct me if I'm wrong) dollars for every 250 words.

It's great to plan a series, but don't get so blinded by planning it. If your first book doesn't sell well, than the publishers are going to cancel your sequel.

It's not 100% safe to post your stuff on here, but then it's rare for people to plagarize someone else's writing. They do everything they can on here to ensure that your stuff is safe. PW protected forums and the fact that you can only view writing when you're logged in.

Don't give up on writing if it's what you truly want to do. If you love it, don't listen to those who tell you that you can't make a living doing it, those who tell you to go into Accounting or Marketing instead.

I found evening classes in creative writing to be a real boost when I was younger. I'd highly recommend it. Check the credentials of the instructor. The ones I found to be the most valuable were published authors, although one was a drama coach. I was rather apprehensive about the drama coach at first but found he taught us how to write without censorship. We all do that at first, conscious of who might read our work.
Good luck with your writing!
Linnea

Hello, Frejyaathena.

I am a teen writer too. I am also working on YA Fantasy novel. I don't know as much as the fine veterans here on AW, but I can tell you to not let the dream of hitting it big get in your way. Publishing is a hard thing to do, and even when it is done, there is no guarantee the book will sell.

But like Brainstrains said, if it's really what you want to do then go for it. I recommend googling "Fantasy cliches" to see what has been overdone and what is tired. Dragons, Elves, and dwarves have been done many times but I think it would be best if you can put a fresh spin on it.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Lep.

Just curious -This OP has 9 posts apparently but only 2 show up on a search of 'all posts'.

thecraftteens:
I recommend googling "Fantasy cliches" to see what has been overdone and what is tired. Dragons, Elves, and dwarves have been done many times but I think it would be best if you can put a fresh spin on it.

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I agree that you need to be aware of cliches, and would echo that it's not necessary to come up with something wholly 100% original in terms of a creature, but it is necessary to write it in a fresh way. For example, if you're writing a teen vampire or werewolf novel, there needs to be something fresh about the story or the way you're writing it to make it stand out from all the other vampire and werewolf novels being written for teens.

To that end, I'd suggest really immersing yourself in what's out there on the YA shelves at the moment - particularly fantasy because that's what you're writing.

Stephanie Meyer, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Justine Larbelestier (I know I've spelt her surname wrong and apologise), Sam Enthoven, Eoin Colfer, Philip Pullman, the author of the Stravaganza series (have just drawn a blank on her name) and Garth Nix are all authors you should check out. Depending on what kind of fantasy you're writing, it might also be worth while checking out the adult shelves as well where there are writers dealing with the same setting (i.e. urban fantasy or epic fantasy). You can get the books through your local library, which will save you money.

MM

Well, everyone dreams of making it big, no matter their motivation.

I wrote from the time I was a child, and one of the things people drove into my head was to write, a lot.

A good idea is to keep a writing journal handy at all times so you can jot down ideas. Yes, that means taking it out with you everywhere, but believe me, it really helps.

You might want to try your hand at short stories. Not everyone is a short story writer (I'm not), so don't get discouraged if they're harder for you to write. I suggest them because there are places for teens to publish(magazines, etc.), and you could definitely look into those markets.

Don't feel like a failure if you start a story and don't finish it. This happens to even the best of writers. Just consider it more practice and move onto something else if you just can't find a way to fix it.

Read a lot of what you want to write. I'm sure you already do anyway. It's okay to imitate styles of other writers when you're first starting out. A lot of people do this in the search for their own voice. Mimicking other styles really teaches you a lot about voice anyway.

Being prolific doesn't make you the best writer in the world, but if you keep a journal, then at least you're writing. I've kept journals on and off since I was a teenager. Of course, I don't write in them every day, and they tend to be more of a self-therapy for me. But it's writing, and I have noticed improvement of my writing in entries when I read back on them.

Those are just a few I've read, been given, or have learned in practice.

Never stop writing. Write the stories that you would like to read. Enjoy what you write. Research the industry thoroughly (which seems what you're doing, so kudos to you). Never stop trying to improve your writing. Never stop learning about the craft.

A lot of people throw around the adage "Write what you know" I think when you're starting out, this is very useful. But it's also something that can put you in a creative strait-jacket. Once you are comfortable with your style and prose, branch out. Find something that interests you that you may not know a ton about and research. Find something or some part of society that confuses you and write about it. Write to learn. About yourself. About the world. About other people. About writing itself.

I started writing books when I was a tween, it took me a good 8 years to write anything remotely decent. But those other 5 novels that I wrote when I was younger were totally necessary to get where I am now. Of course, I've got those books locked up in a box somewhere because they are SO. BAD. But I'm grateful for them, because now I can look back and go "Wow, that was so bad. Thank goodness I learned my lesson about plot/character/setting/stupid ideas involving gremlins."

Talk to your English teacher and see if he/she knows of any writing groups. If you have a community college near you, think about asking your parents to let you take a class there in Creative Writing. Some colleges have workshop classes where you and your peers exchange work and critique it.

You can also find an online critique group, there are many out there looking for members.

Good luck and keep on writing!

Echoing everything Tesla said. Write, write, then write more. Don't get discouraged if your first novel is a pile of garbage (just saying; I don't know if your story is good or not). My first several novels were utter crap. And just like Tesla's firsts, they are sitting in a drawer somewhere, never to see the light of day again.

Lep.