Teen Authors?

Mythical Tiger · Apr 3, 2009

What's your opinion about published Teen Authors? Do you think their books are good? Worth reading? Do you think they could've done better? Do you think teens should even get published?

I'm really curious on AW's view on this. I'm not trying to get under any teens skins here by asking. I myself am a teenager and absolutly love writing.

I think published teen authors are OK. I've read a few books and I think it was alright. I've heard some pretty harsh comments about Teen Authors and their books. For all I know, they're probably all true. I think some of them could've done a bit better. I definatly think teens should get published. If they worked there butt off and did there best? Why not. As long as they didn't just type it and didn't even bother with re-doing any of it and such. Somehow getting it published, then no, they shouldn't be published.

Now that I threw my two cents in, what do you guys think?

~Sam

dancingandflying · Apr 3, 2009

I'm a teenager. Unfortunately, I think most (most! not all...) teenagers' books are not worth reading, but that's not to say that I have a bias against them and would not read a book simply because it was written by a teen. I would. I don't know - I think they should be graded on the same scale as other authors and not be criticized or ignored because they're a teenager.

Just my two cents.

d&f.

shokadh · Apr 3, 2009

Personally, I've never (knowingly) read a book written by a teen author (age 14-19). If I did, I wouldn't know, so obviously, the proof is in the writing.

TheIT · Apr 3, 2009

Voted "I could care less". Note: I'm interpreting this response to mean "I could care less what age the author is as long as the book is a good read".

Fade · Apr 3, 2009

The only book I read by a teen author (I think; I don't check the age of the author normally) was In the Forests of the Night. I couldn't even tell. It was first person POV a three-hundred-year-old vampire, and with a believable voice. Unfortunately, the author's next book involved taking the villain from that book, dropping it in a high school, and adding an average fifteen year old who was a writer. I didn't bother finishing it.

Basically, they're just as good, sometimes better, sometimes worse, than all the other authors, IMO.

blueobsidian · Apr 3, 2009

All teens who write are not the same. Some are more talented than others. As far as I'm concerned, it's of no use to judge them based on their age.

I have stylistic and content preferences, but I never judge a book based on the author.

Mr Flibble · Apr 3, 2009

The age of the writer has absolutely no importance

Writing is everything.

Adam · Apr 3, 2009

Makes no difference to me whether the author is 16 or 106. As long as the writing is good, what does it matter?

Chanelley · Apr 3, 2009

I love reading excellent books and finding out a teen wrote it. It annoys me to no end when people make the assumption that teenagers aren't old enough to write. If you're writing YA, then teenagers are going to be pretty clued up in what they're writing. I know a lot of teens who've been writing from young ages, and their skills are on par with adult writers who are first time novelists.

geardrops · Apr 3, 2009

When I read, the only thing about the author I find useful is the author's name, and that's only to look up other things they've written

AnonymousWriter · Apr 3, 2009

The author's age doesn't bother me. It's all about the story and its writing.

There are many teenagers who can write better than some adults. And there are adults who are better writers than teenagers.
They're either a good writer or not. Their age isn't going to change that.

Wayne K · Apr 3, 2009

S.E. Hinton got me interested in writing with The Outsiders. She was 17 when she wrote it, so I thought "Why not me?'

Matera the Mad · Apr 3, 2009

I can't vote because you flubbed "they're". My allergies, y'know.

One of my online non-AW friends is a teenage writer. She's damn good.

Dirtpoor · Apr 4, 2009

They get a dubious point from me if they use it as a selling point.

That they write a good story is all that matters.

Mythical Tiger · Apr 4, 2009

Thanks for the reply's guys! If I offended anyone, I apoligize. I only posted this thread out of curiosity. I never made it to rub anyone the wrong way. Thank you again for the intresting opinions.

~Sam

ElsaM · Apr 4, 2009

Honestly? If I had a choice between two books by two different authors who I hadn't ready before and I knew one was a teen author and the other wasn't, I'd probably choose the book by the non-teen. This is a prejudice of mine and I am aware of this.

I generally feel that teenage authors have had less time to develop their writing skills. I do know this doesn't mean that all teen authors are less skilled than adult writers, that many teen authors are very talented writers, and that I'm the one who's missing out by not necessarily reading their books.

I also believe that people who start writing in their teens (or earlier) have an advantage over people like me, who's starting ten years later.

MetalDog · Apr 4, 2009

Couldn't care less. Could not care less, my caring is at it's lowest possible point.

Could care less means you could probably care less about it, but you're sticking with a higher level of caring because it bugs you.

Not that the expression gets to me at all. *twitch*

I could probably care less about it, but I'm not going to!

ChaosTitan · Apr 4, 2009

I voted other. The age of the author doesn't matter to me, whether they are fifteen or fifty. The story counts. If it's bad, it's bad. If it's good, it's good. The only author I know was a teen when she wrote her books was SE Hinton--that inspired me, as a thirteen year old, to start writing. But the stuff I wrote when I was her age was hilariously un-publishable. I needed the depth of experience and emotion that comes with age in order to improve and tell the stories I want to tell.

Claudia Gray · Apr 4, 2009

The age doesn't matter to me. I suspect a number of teenagers seeking publication really aren't ready, but OTOH, any teen who gets published has cleared that hurdle. So at that point, nothing matters but the story.

Matera the Mad · Apr 4, 2009

There are teens who can write stunningly, and adults who are too immature to see how badly they write. Some people are early bloomers, some aren't, that's all. The main difference age makes is having more experience to draw on -- and that doesn't always make a difference.

ChrisKelly331 · Apr 4, 2009

Ive read books by teenage authors that Ive really enjoyed, especially Amelia Atwater, she is another inspiration of mine because she was published so young. and its been really cool to see her writing mature and grow, I love her book midnight predator. From my own experience with my novel that I'm shopping around now I started it at 16, forgot about it came back and generally did the whole thing over because Im older and see things differently now.

Gillhoughly · Apr 4, 2009

Writing is one vocation where age truly doesn't matter.

If the writing appeals to someone, it will be read, no matter what the age of the author.

aadams73 · Apr 4, 2009

ChaosTitan said:
I voted other. The age of the author doesn't matter to me, whether they are fifteen or fifty. The story counts. If it's bad, it's bad. If it's good, it's good.

This is me too. I don't care about anything other than story. Story is king in this business. Capture my attention and I'll never care how old you are, what color your skin is, whether you have F or M on your driver's license, or where you live. Entertain me, damn it!

stormie · Apr 4, 2009

It depends on the writer, not the age. I'm a firm believer in that.

lm728 · Apr 4, 2009

There are some teen writers who write better than adult writers. In my yahoo crit group, for example, we have anonymous "themed" short story submissions each week, and you vote for the best one. Most of the time, a teen wins. Sure, adults may have more life experience, but a teen faces more challenges.

Teen Authors?

What do you think about Teen Authors?

I think their OK.

I LOVE them!

I would rather go with Meyer's in this one.

I could care less...

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