Writing a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy

Spy_on_the_Inside · Mar 19, 2012

I have a problem writing the main character for my next story: a thirteen-year-old boy. The problem is I have never been a thirteen-year-old and have no opportuity to interact with them without seeming like a sexual predator.

So how do the rest of you combate the problem of writing a character whos life experiences you can never live for yourself.

What I would love is if anyone can point me in the direction of a Phillip Pullman interview where he talks about how he came up with the character of Lyra Belacqua. He's an author I really admire, and I would love to know how he combated a very similar problem.

So what advice do the forums have to offer a twenty-four-year old woman write the character of a thirteen-year-old boy?

warofthesparks · Mar 19, 2012

Include lots of boobs.

No, just kidding. I would suggest watching a lot of coming-of-age movies, like The Goonies, Stand By Me, etc. You can also read About A Boy and other YA books featuring teenage male protagonists. Just remember to make the character an individual and not stereotypical. I dunno, maybe someone can chime in with better advice.

Drachen Jager · Mar 19, 2012

Thirteen is more like MG than YA.

The Lord of the Flies is a good book to examine the darker side of that age.

Spy_on_the_Inside · Mar 19, 2012

Ah, Netflix, here's where you finally become useful. Maybe I could also get a list of books with 13-year-old protaganists that could be useful to read.

Maybe I'll take the clients to the library and kill two birds with one stone.

Stiger05 · Mar 19, 2012

I have a thirteen-year-old boy MC in an MG adventure so I feel your pain. I was a tomboy though, so I mostly played with boys when I was that age and could channel that spirit for my MC. I also asked my husband for help. You can talk to guy friends about their middle school selves, and of course, read about thirteen-year-old protags! (Although there really should be a National Geographic doc about them since they're basically another species at that age!)

Amarie · Mar 19, 2012

Both my books have boy MCs between the ages of 12 and 14 (the books are MG.) They really aren't so hard to write if you concentrate on developing a well-rounded character rather than a gender. The toughest part of writing boy MCs for me was more in their relationshiops with their friends. That part, from what I've observed in my own son and his friends, is more competitive and less feeling-sharing than it is with girls.

And it is easier if you make your book clearly MG instead of YA-kids at 13 are still trying to figure out their place in the world.

lolchemist · Mar 19, 2012

Just because you've never been a 13 year old boy before doesn't mean you can't start now! Go to the stores and see what kinds of clothes they're offering for kids these days. Go to the toy store and see the kinds of toys they have and video games. Figure out what 13 year old boys do on the internet (besides looking up porn!) Research what it's like to be an 8th grade student in 2012. Imagine what kind of classmates he might have. Who will his best friends be? What's going to be his favorite TV show, his favorite sport, his dream car, his dream girl? What does he want to be when he grows up?

It will be really fun for you and you'll find that while you're researching you end up stumbling into tons of plot points!

Spy_on_the_Inside · Mar 19, 2012

Amarie said:
And it is easier if you make your book clearly MG instead of YA-kids at 13 are still trying to figure out their place in the world.

The boy is the protaganist along with his fifteen-year-old brother, and the book is going to become a series over the course of two years. By the end of the first book, he will be fourteen years old. At the end of the series, the main character will be fifteen and a half.

I suppose the first book will rest rather on the borderlands, rather like The Golden Compass.

But what are some good stories with a thirteen-year-old MC to study? Where are some good research sources to start looking up?

Amarie · Mar 19, 2012

Spy_on_the_Inside said:
But what are some good stories with a thirteen-year-old MC to study? Where are some good research sources to start looking up?

If you haven't already, read the whole Harry Potter series. He starts out at 11, but is 17-18? at the end. It's a good example of how you don't have to include stereotypes of what people assume is boy behavior to make a believable story.

EmilyBrooke · Mar 19, 2012

I second Harry Potter!

The Percy Jackson series is awesome, too. He starts off at age 12 and you can watch him grow as a person and in age.

Clueless · Mar 19, 2012

Markus Zuzack's Underdogs is a really good series for kids of that age. although the protagonist is a 15-year-old, many of the issues that he deals with are the same for any guy who's beginning to go through puberty. The Spud series by Jon van de Ruit. It's about a bunch of kids in a South African border school. It was made into a movie as well, so it's easy to see how the kids interact.
The one thing that I would say is the most important about boys at that age is that they are jerks. At that stage, they're still learning how to empathize with others, so they tend to be cruel to each other. This is also when they start to really notice girls and the possible relations they could have with them. For most of them, that means sex, but they also mellow out a bit as this progresses. However, up to this point a majority of their friends tend to be boys, so most boys tend to be really awkward around girls.
On a psychological view, the age of 11-13 is when a child usually develops the ability to think in the abstract (Piaget's theory of child development) and how they connect within a society. Also, this is when they start to pay more attention to how they interact within a society, and where they fit in. This is important to them because this is when they find their group niche that they fit into. This goes for both girls and boys, however, with boys, the abstract changes tend to be more extreme, and for girls their connections within society (i.e. "fitting in") is more pronounced.

thebloodfiend · Mar 19, 2012

What kind of thirteen-year-old boy are you trying to write? An adventurous, but slightly stupid boy? A science bowl geek? The sex obsessed peeping tom who'll spy on his own sister?

I'd say the traits are more important the gender. What's he like?

Spy_on_the_Inside · Mar 19, 2012

The mist defining characteristic of this character is that he grows up in a cult, that a hundred and fifty years ago, all the members picked up and moved to create this very isolated compound in the Yukon. You can imagine all the fun little effects that had on his psyche.

backslashbaby · Mar 19, 2012

Maybe it wouldn't seem so pedo-y if you post questions on some babysitter forum/board? High school age babysitters will talk your ear off about anything; I was one!

I know most of what I know about 13-year-old boys from babysitting them. I have a brother, but that's the age he clammed up and got moody, so it started getting hard to tell what on earth he was thinking.

I take it 13 is a rough age for boys. I think our (girls') rough age that way came a little younger. I'm sure puberty is a huge factor in all of it, of course. Some kids are far along, some haven't really started it, schools usually change to bigger ones, etc. It's a confusing/competitive/lonely time, imho.

CharacterInWhite · Mar 19, 2012

I'd focus less on writing a 13 year-old boy and more on writing a 13 year-old boy.

Socialization varies from region to region, but one thing I find universal no matter what sex you are (or perceive yourself to be) is that differences from the "norm" are inflated by your peers:

Girls have to be skinny. Guys have to be tall. Girls have to be "pretty", guys have to be "tough".

Who are some of the most common targets in fiction? Big girls, wimpy boys. (Another interesting dichotomy for you to undermine: Have a boy trivialized for his appearance and a girl for her personality, instead of the other way around)

You used to be a 13 year-old. I can guarantee that there is something in your past that is analagous to many a 13 year-old's experiences, regardless of gender. There's really a much smaller difference between boys and girls than people like to think. For instance, I identify with many female protags that struggle with body image since I stopped growing at 5'2"--even though that sort of self esteem issue is stereotypically "girly", I can relate to it a lot better than, say, a male MC stuck in a love triangle.

lolchemist · Mar 19, 2012

Spy_on_the_Inside said:
The mist defining characteristic of this character is that he grows up in a cult, that a hundred and fifty years ago, all the members picked up and moved to create this very isolated compound in the Yukon. You can imagine all the fun little effects that had on his psyche.

Oh, awesome, so all the advice I gave you turned out to be worthless, LOL!

That sounds like a really cool premise though! Have you thought about reading those "I escaped from a Mormon marriage" type memoirs? I think stuff like that might be useful for you. There are memoirs of male runaways too, they are called "lost boys."

Becca C. · Mar 19, 2012

I recommend Hannah Moskowitz's latest book, Zombie Tag. It has a thirteen-year-old boy narrator, and it's just a great book overall. Plus she's on this forum herself (Shady Lane)

MysticPunk · Mar 19, 2012

If you're religious, offer to volunteer teach the sunday school class.

I teach sex ed at my church for 4th through 6th grades and I teach the sunday school class for highschool aged kids and they are all very open and honest. You learn a lot about people that way. My adult friends tease me because I have all these teen aged friends but they help keep me young and hip. I know what's what.

If you're not religious, you can hang out with relatives kids or volunteer at a youth center, coach a baseball or soccer team, or join big brother.

Spy_on_the_Inside · Mar 20, 2012

I've decided to take the advice and start looking up memoirs of boys who grew up in FLDS, but I would love to find some memoirs of other people who grew up in cults other than FLDS.

Does anyone have any books you can recommend?

Clueless · Mar 20, 2012

I'd look up the Children's Crusades. That sort of brainwashing could definately be considered cult-like behavior

Spy_on_the_Inside · Mar 23, 2012

I have begun asking what few male friends I think would take this question seriously. But are there any male posters on the YA threads whose brains I might pick?

little_e · Mar 24, 2012

Honestly, I think you should get out around some 13 yr olds. Find a volunteer opportunity--church, school, tutoring, etc., and then just observe. I don't think you'll get accused of raping anyone. Get creative. If you can't actually interact with and observe someone like your MC, then I foresee a lot of issues in the believability department.

Because as good as Harry Potter is, I've never quite gotten the impression that Harry was *entirely* a real boy--and I'm unsure about the feasibility of writing entirely 2nd or 3rd hand, if you know what I mean.

However, I would also caution against extrapolating too much from modern, urban kids, because culture matters a lot, and in an environment like the Yukon, I'd expect him to shoulder a lot more responsibility and independence than your average American teen. I'd look into accounts of life growing up among the Amish and any pre-modern society--like Laura Ingles Wilder's Farmer Boy (I don't remember the ages of the protags, but you get the idea,) and especially any accounts of growing up in the Yukon or being homechooled in Alaska.

Debbie V · Mar 26, 2012

Amarie said:
The toughest part of writing boy MCs for me was more in their relationshiops with their friends. That part, from what I've observed in my own son and his friends, is more competitive and less feeling-sharing than it is with girls.

For boys, it's all about the game, the activity. They are interested in what they are doing.
For girls, the game is an excuse to get together. They are focused on the relationships.
This is true for adults too. (Okay so its a bit of a stereotype, but it has merit.)

MEPurfield · Mar 26, 2012

Have you read any child psychology books? Or books on how to write for children yet?

Then maybe check out some acting books and really dig into the mind of a 13 year old

Mike

MDSchafer · Mar 26, 2012

I've been somewhat lucky with my YA novel because I'm writing a 14 year old boy and one of my good friends has a 14 year old son who comes to our writers' group. Also, as a pastor's kid myself I have age appropriate friendships with my pastors' kids, all of whom are boys around age 10 to 15. Also, I run an orphanage in Kenya. I don't know how useful interaction with kids is, because remember kids interact with adults in a vastly different way then they interact with each other.

My other piece of advice is that youtube and social networking are amazing outlets to see what's current with teenagers. I have a secondary twitter account that's sole purpose is to follow random teenagers. Teenagers blog, they video blog, they film each other doing stupid things, and its the sort of thing that once you tap into one account you can mine it and it leads you to other teenager produced content.

One of my more random sounding scenes is lifted directly from youtube.

Writing a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy

Spy_on_the_Inside

warofthesparks

I know what happened to Baby Jane.

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

Spy_on_the_Inside

Stiger05

Amarie

carpe libri

lolchemist

Shooting stars.

Spy_on_the_Inside

Amarie

carpe libri

EmilyBrooke

Queen of Gallifrey

Clueless

Going on a mental vacation.

thebloodfiend

Cory

Spy_on_the_Inside

backslashbaby

*

CharacterInWhite

Kind of a big deal

lolchemist

Shooting stars.

Becca C.

MysticPunk

Spy_on_the_Inside

Clueless

Going on a mental vacation.

Spy_on_the_Inside

little_e

Trust: that most precious coin.

Debbie V

Mentoring Myself and Others

MEPurfield

MDSchafer

Writing a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy

I know what happened to Baby Jane.

Professor of applied misanthropy

carpe libri

Shooting stars.

carpe libri

Queen of Gallifrey

Going on a mental vacation.

Cory

~~~~*~~~~

Kind of a big deal

Shooting stars.

Going on a mental vacation.

Trust: that most precious coin.

Mentoring Myself and Others

*