Writing for Teens
Writing Mysteries for Teens
By Julie Tollefson
Kentucky author Lynn Slaughter spent her professional life on stage as a modern dancer and as a dance educator. In retirement, she discovered a new passion: writing fiction, especially for young adult readers. Now with five books published (four YA and one adult) and another young adult novel due out on January 14, Lynn offers five tips for connecting with and writing for teens.
1) Read what you write — The number one rule for any writer of any genre. If you want to write for teens, Lynn says, read the books that teens are reading now. Check out young adult novels in your genre, especially those published in the last five years.
“More than natural talent, perseverance and the willingness to dedicate oneself to continued growth and improvement are the greatest predictors of success as a professional writer,” Lynn says. Part of that is knowing your audience and market.
“As an adult, I continued to love reading young adult fiction, and teenagers have always been my favorite age group to work with,” Lynn says. “The teenage years are such an intense, dramatic period in our lives where we are trying to figure out issues of identity — who we are, who we want to be, and who we want to love.”
Regardless of whether she’s writing for teens or adults, Lynn’s process remains the same. “I dig deeply into my characters—their particular challenges, fears, personalities—and especially their backstories,” she says.
2) Hang out with your target readers — Seek opportunities to spend time with teenagers. Your own, if you have them. If you don’t, borrow from a friend. Volunteer at a high school. And really listen to teens when they talk: hear what they have to say about what concerns them and what interests them. Pay attention to what they say and how they say it.
“For several years, I taught and counseled students at a performing arts high school and spent seven summers counseling students at a residential summer program for high schoolers gifted in the arts. For the last two decades, I’ve also served as a comprehensive sexuality educator for young people. In our sessions, we do lots of talking about issues affecting their lives and relationships,” Lynn says.
Lynn also mentors a 14-year-old who is writing a novel.
“Her life is very busy and pressured. Her parents want her to get into an Ivy League college and she is expected to get all A’s in school and engage in a number of extra-curricular activities,” Lynn says. “She reminds me of how important it is to recognize that so many teens today are under tremendous pressure from parents to excel and have very little down time.”
3) Don’t preach — Lynn doesn’t consider any topic off-limits when writing for teens, but she believes authors have a responsibility when writing about sensitive issues to be truthful, accurate, and unbiased.
“They are exposed to so much via the Internet and social media,” she says.
Lynn’s novel Missing Mom takes on the issue of abusive relationships. “All of the warning signs are present in this character’s dating relationship,” Lynn says, “but she doesn’t recognize them because of her inexperience and lack of knowledge about what constitutes a healthy versus unhealthy relationship.”
Though others try to warn her, she eventually learns to see the truth of her relationship for herself.
4) Mine your memories — No matter how many years or decades have passed since you were the age of your target readers, don’t discount your life experience when it comes to developing the emotional lives of characters.
“Across generations, some things remain universal,” Lynn says. “The longing for unconditional love and acceptance, the need to differentiate oneself from life scripts imposed by parents and caregivers, the need to feel a sense of agency in our own lives, and the necessity of developing resilience.”
Your first break up. That time your parents just didn’t get you. Snubs from your friends. Slights and injustices. The highs of unexpected achievements and first love. The lows of misunderstandings, disappointments, and heartache. All are fodder when you’re writing for young adults who are experiencing those emotions for the first time.
“No one gets through childhood and adolescence without some emotional wounds,” she says. “When we mine our own memories, we can put ourselves in touch with what an emotionally intense time these years can be.”
5) Don’t let your adult characters get in the way — Teens may not be experienced in all the ways of the world, but you the author can’t protect them and still write a satisfying young adult story.
“It’s essential that the adults don’t ‘save the day,’ but that teens are the ones who solve the mysteries,” Lynn says. “Teens are perfectly capable of interviewing people, doing research on the internet, and soliciting help from trusted adults.”
Lynn sets the stakes high for the teen stars in her stories. In It Should Have Been You, her character receives threats from an online stalker in the wake of her twin’s unsolved murder. In Deadly Setup, a teen faces trial for the murder of her mother’s fiancé. In both, the teens face real danger and have to rely on their own ingenuity to save themselves.