Teen Writer

Hi everyone

My name is Cori. I'm a teen writer looking to meet other writers and YA enthusiasts. I love all genres (except, for the most part, tragedy); lately I've been really into contemporary and paranormal books. For example, I recently read If I Stay by Gayle Forman and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (both of which were incredible).

I definitely want to be an author someday, but I'm not sure what kind of books I want to publish. Right now, I'm just exploring different things, trying to find my "voice" and sharpening my skills as a writer. I'm super excited to have found this forum and to have the ability to talk to some people with my same interests.

A note to other teen writers: I recently created a Facebook group/teen book club in the hopes of meeting some other people who like to talk about books (my family doesn't read much and I don't have any friends who are quite as obsessed with it as I am; I'm going a little crazy from the blank looks I get when I freak out over a book and, tbh, I'm kinda tired of trying to explain entire plots to people).

If you're a teen and you like reading (anything -- YA fiction and beyond), please join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1533846726893433/

Thanks!

- Cori

Shrykespeare said:

Hello, Cori.

I'm Patrick, and I am now a YA enthusiast and writer at the age of 45.

I haven't been a teen since George Bush (Sr.) was in his first year of office, but I wish you well. Let me know if we can help in some way!

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Thanks, Patrick!

RandomWords said:

Welcome!
I think you are on the right track; the first step to becoming a writer is being a reader. Read as wide a range of books as possible, old and new. But keep in mind that some of the classics you might have to read in school are not fully understandable from a teen's view. I found that some books I hated in highschool, had somehow become great... ten or twenty years later!

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Hey RandomWords!

Thanks for the advice. I am trying to read more outside of the YA genre. Right now, I'm really into Jane Austen and Lucy Maud Montgomery, but I'm also very fond of works by Ayn Rand and Ray Bradbury (although I'm not entirely sure whether the latter are considered "classic").

What are some of your personal favorites? Ones that have greatly impacted you as a writer?

- Cori

RandomWords said:

Austen and Bradbury are great. I remember Hemmingway being a writer that bored me to sleep as a teen, but later I learned to appreciate the understatement.

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Ugh...yeah, I'm not really digging Ernest Hemmingway. A few weeks ago, I had to both read and sit through a two-hour movie adaptation of "The Old Man and the Sea." It was brutal...one of the least exciting stories I've ever read. I suppose it will be one of those books I appreciate later, as you said. Currently, I am at a loss to understand why this book ever became popular, despite its important themes.

Alyssa L. said:

I think it's a great idea that you started an online teen book club! Like you, I also don't have many friends who are as avid of readers as I am (and by friends I mean people not in my English major classes, where EVERYONE is an avid reader...). I read that part of your post about it and I all I could think about was how much I related.

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Well hey, if it sounds like something you'd be interested in, please do join! By "teen" book club I really just mean no old men haha (just trying to keep the creepers away...) I'm also in my late teens and I know there's a lot of twenty-somethings into YA, especially on YouTube. Have you ever heard of PolandBananasBooks or Epic Reads? If YA is something you're really into, these channels are great!

I just created the Facebook group a couple of days ago, so there's only a few people at the moment, but I think that as it grows, it will be a lot of fun.

Either way, thanks for welcoming me and it's nice to meet you, too!

- Cori

P.S. Thanks for reminding me about The Duff! I keep forgetting to pick it up at B&N -- I've heard a lot of great things about it.