Teens Writing for Teens, issue 6

amlptj

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Welcome Sam and Breeny, nice to meet you. Dispite my username looking like the word armpit, (which it's not) you can call me Ally.

Im not really a teen anymore but joined when I was. I've been trying to pop in more. I'll say I love a superhero/villain book. I write a bunch of differnt genre YA. Love horror so everything I write has a bit of a dark side too it.

Anyway, happy new year, hope you guys post more in here soon.
 

Bookgirl2021

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I could've sworn I posted more recently than it's showing.... Anyway....

Why don't you newest Twifties tell us a little about yourselves and what you write (or what you hope to write, Sam)?

And...everyone tell me your favorite thing about your main character.
I'm very definitely not one of the new TWFTies, not even a TWFT anymore :tongue, but that's still okay, right? I'm not sure what I do the most of at this point (except for writing for research), but I guess I'd say my primary genre is probably fantasy. I've done Tolkienesque fantasy, fairy tale, historical fantasy, and mythology/legend-based. I also dabble in contemporary. Currently re-writing the historical fantasy, and when I get stuck I go back to revising my fairy tale retelling.

My favorite thing about my main character, huh? Well, in OLS my favorite thing about Abbie is that she's independent and fiercely loyal. She's not going to let anyone hurt the people she cares about, even if it means risking her own safety and well-being. In AM it's a little more complicated, because there are really three MCs. There's Melody, who's compassionate, loyal, and kind of snarky, but also a little lost; Rulon, who isn't afraid to stand up to people who have the power to make his life Hell if they want to--literally; and Darius--a smooth-talking, manipulative...something or other, who you just can't help but love anyway.
 

Samsonet

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guess who just saw The Force Awakens??

I'm not going to spoil anything here. Just that if you also saw it and wanna fangirl(/fanboy/we need a gender neutral term for this) over it, talk to me!
 

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There's a spoiler-happy thread in Movies & TV. If you're not on a phone, lots of good theories about a certain character's family for pages (but they're in white).

I am in love with Rey.

But I am mad at JJ Abrams from not only having a Ren, but also a FN --> Finn, and right before I watched it I wrote a short I want to make into a novel with the female MC named Rei, though that last one is not so annoying. I can't believe he stole my FN though (all my cyborgs are two letters and the N models all shorten their names, so DN = Dean, EN = Ian, FN = Finn, etc.)
 

Breeny19

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AH!!! The Force Awakens was awesome! Happy 2016 everyone; I hope everyone reaches their goals, writing or otherwise, this year.
 

Samsonet

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siiiiiiiigh. Homework! I've gotta write a ten-minute speech for school -- and if that wasn't hard enough, it's nonfiction. Luckily I have a topic that'll probably work (fairy-kei), it's just a matter of timing it.

How do the rest of you guys balance homework with your own writing?
 

Bookgirl2021

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A lot of the time I'd reward myself with writing. For instance: when I had a 5-7 page research paper I had to write, my first reward was a half hour of writing after I found all of my sources. After that it was every time I finished a section of my paper. It gave me motivation to finish the homework, plus writing time I wouldn't have had otherwise. I do the same thing with the research I'm involved with. Most of the time I'm stuck transcribing interviews (which takes FOREVER), so I give myself writing-related rewards every couple of interviews I finish.
 

Samsonet

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Since it's February now I thought I'd check in...

My YA plans are not going the way I thought they would. The MG story, on the other hand, is super shiny and just begging to be written. I'm torn.

How is your writing going?
 

Sweetix

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Hello, is this thread still active ? I would like to join!
 

Sweetix

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Just trying to keep going with my current story that I hope, will get published one day! What about you?
 

Sweetix

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Yasss,
1. What would you like to be called? You can call me Aurelie
2. How old are you? I'm 17
3. What do you like to write/what are you working on currently? : I like to write romance, about real life etc... I'm working on a story that I hope will get published one day!

:)
 

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Tell us about your characters.

What's your favorite thing about your book?
 

Samsonet

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A question for other teen writers (or adults who were writing seriously as teens): are you currently seeking publication? (For adults: when you were a teen, did you seek publication?) Are you focusing on other things (life in general, learning the craft, anything) first?

I'm still writing my Big Projects, so it'll probably be a few years before I head off to the next stage of my "writing career". I'm really curious about people who have books ready right now.
 

atabugl

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A question for other teen writers (or adults who were writing seriously as teens): are you currently seeking publication? (For adults: when you were a teen, did you seek publication?) Are you focusing on other things (life in general, learning the craft, anything) first?

I'm still writing my Big Projects, so it'll probably be a few years before I head off to the next stage of my "writing career". I'm really curious about people who have books ready right now.

Hi! Answering as a 25-yo, but as someone who finished my first novel at 18. I did seek publication at the time, which...didn't go so well, haha. I remember I actually did get a few requests, but no interest beyond that (but lots of encouragement from the agents since I [for some embarrassing reason] thought it would be a good idea to include my age in my first few queries [don't do this]). At the time, I hadn't taken any creative writing courses, had no beta readers, and (again) it was the first thing I had ever written/completed. And it showed, lol.

Looking back, I don't regret the experience. It was discouraging at the time to realize that what I had written was not-so-great, but it also drove me to study literature & creative writing in college and beyond. Writing is just one of those things where you inevitably get better with lots of practice & lots of reading. So yeah, I would say without a doubt that if your writing is good right now, it will be better five years from now. It'll be even better ten years from now---but that's no reason to set it aside. Focus on what you love to do, and if that's writing & working towards publication, then go ahead and focus on that.

There have been quite a few writers published as teens, so it's definitely possible & always cool to see.
 

Bookgirl2021

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I sent my first query at 17, and I'm grateful that the responses were all rejections. For a teenager, my writing was good, but it definitely wasn't ready to be published (that particular story hasn't seen the light of day since my first semester of college). I had another one I queried a year and a half later. More positive responses, but it still needed work. There are some people on here that were published as teenagers, though, including at least a few of the original TWFTies (people on this thread).
 

Samsonet

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...anyway. Are any of you writing about self-insert characters or characters with a lot of similarities to yourself (intentionally or not)?

I used to be really scornful of the idea, but I'm realizing now that writing a character that reflects the author's life actually works well when it comes to sharing oneself through one's writings.
 

@LeaLately

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Hi! I had an account on AW ageeeessssss ago, but I forgot my password for both my AW ans the email address associated, so here I am, five or so years later, at it again!

Traditional TWFT questions:
1. What would you like to be called? Lea is my actual name so I guess that'll do. Its Lee-ah not Leeeee
2. How old are you? 24
3. What do you like to write/what are you working on currently? I just finished a YA Sci-fi, before that I wrote an Urban Fantasy, but I was sixteen and it sucked majorly. I cringe every time I see it. Though I'm proud to say after several (more like ten) failed or trashed manuscripts since then, I've finally got something i'm proud of and hoping to someday publish!

Cheers!
 

Becca C.

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A question for other teen writers (or adults who were writing seriously as teens): are you currently seeking publication? (For adults: when you were a teen, did you seek publication?) Are you focusing on other things (life in general, learning the craft, anything) first?

I'm still writing my Big Projects, so it'll probably be a few years before I head off to the next stage of my "writing career". I'm really curious about people who have books ready right now.

I started writing seriously (as in, writing full-length YA novels, with the intent of pursuing publication) at the age of 13. However, I didn't actually query anything until I was... 19, I think? For a lot of reasons. One, my attention span was short. I would usually write a first draft, then get bored and move on to another one. I didn't revise much, if at all, mostly because I wrote by hand. *Sometimes* I would get around to typing it all up and revise as I went, but again, attention span. It was much more exciting to start a new book.

Also, since I wrote by hand, my manuscripts got passed around between my friends a lot. That served to stroke my ego to the point where I didn't really feel I needed to be published yet? I was so preoccupied with entertaining my friends (and sometimes total strangers at my school who would ask to borrow the MSS because their friend said it was good) that it was enough, for the time being.

Then I graduated, went to college for a bit, then started writing really seriously. I wrote the right book, saw a gap in the market, solidified my goals, and then started querying.

If I was a teen writer today, I'd probably make use of Wattpad. When I was a teen I used Fictionpress.com a little, mainly for short stories and vignettes, never for full novels, but if I was growing up now, Wattpad would be really attractive to me.

I'm not sure what approach I advocate. Maybe publish shorter stuff you don't care about, stuff with low risk for posting online and such, and meanwhile hone your skills on novels? When you write the right book, I think you'll know when it's time to start querying.
 

@LeaLately

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A question for other teen writers (or adults who were writing seriously as teens): are you currently seeking publication? (For adults: when you were a teen, did you seek publication?) Are you focusing on other things (life in general, learning the craft, anything) first?

I'm still writing my Big Projects, so it'll probably be a few years before I head off to the next stage of my "writing career". I'm really curious about people who have books ready right now.

Currently, I am 24 and am seeking publication. I've been writing since I was eleven, and finished my first novella at twelve. When I was sixteen I finished my first full length MS. I thought it was gold. I paid for an editor, I queried, I researched every facet of publication, convinced that book would be a bestseller someday. And then after countless rejections, I did the best thing I could've done for myself. I shelved that MS, and wrote several others, I shelved them too. Now, when I go back and read those manuscripts, I cringe. They were not my best work, though I thought so at the time. Now I have roughly ten MS in my hard drive or in stacks of yellowing pages in my closet and I KNOW they were nothing more than stepping stones.

I wish I would've waited to start querying. Now, over ten years later, I finally have a completed MS I think is something worthy to be published. My advice would be to wait if you think you have 'the one.' Put it on a shelf for a while and write something else, if you go back and read that first book a year later (or once you've completed your next MS) and still think its pure gold, then pursue it. However I would almost guarantee, you will not. As a writer you will grow and learn with each MS you write, no one's first, second or even third MS in most cases is their best work.