should i keep writing my story ? im 34-40 now and feel that cant pull it off any one have any advice to give me?
John Green is 45. You age is not a factor. But (at least a couple years ago) Green frequently interacted with teens. I bet he knows teens pretty well. Do you?
What Bing Z said...
Do you remember what it was like to be the age you're writing about? You're qualified to write YA.
Do you still read YA, and interact with today's teens, in a way that doesn't involve broad-brush "kids these days..." dismissals or over-generalizations? You're qualified to write YA.
Are you going to write a story that will appeal to teens, and not sit them down and lecture them about the follies of their generation with a condescending Message? You're qualified to write YA.
Many older YA books still resonate with YA readers for a reason, and that reason is not that an author correctly uses the latest internet slang or references a band that was popular last week on TikTok: there are universal truths and themes about being that age, the challenges inherent in stepping into adulthood, that transcend specifics. Get those right, and you'll have a readership.
(Of course, if you
are going to write in a contemporary setting and use contemporary "teen terms", be sure to use them right. Even if you're setting it in another decade, even the one you lived through as a genuine young adult, research it thoroughly. Don't just rely on your own memories, because not only does memory tend to blur and fade over time, your specific experiences might not reflect those of your characters. Plus there are things you can appreciate and learn as an adult that will lend weight and verisimilitude to your depiction of the time that teen-you probably didn't consciously tune into; even if your teen characters don't deal with it and you don't mention it in the story, the knowledge will help. Sort of like when Mom and Dad are going through a rough patch and a kid only knows that everyone's angry, but looking back you can pick up that, oh, dang, that's when Dad's company downsized and Mom was feeling trapped and almost skipped out, or Grandpa had a murky diagnosis they didn't share with the kids but which made everything that much worse, and oh I guess that's why they yelled at me when I said I wanted to go to Harvard Law right when they weren't sure they could make the next car payment, let alone tuition... The more you understand the overall "scene", the better you can write it.)