Think about it; how many times have you noticed the author’s age of the young adult novel you’re reading? Most of the time, it will be an adult in his/her twenties or older. Most of us are probably reading popular books by authors well past their teenage years.
This doesn’t mean that older writers shouldn’t write teenage genres, but more that teenagers like ourselves should write more teenage novels. Just because you aren’t an adult yet doesn’t mean you can’t write. Over time, your writing will improve, but I think it’s better to write something now while you’re in this ‘teenager mindset’ rather than waiting until you’re forty years old and looking back, reflecting about your experiences in a different light. After all, the life of Clary Fray from City of Bones will never come true, and we do not have the same experiences or feelings she does, however sad this may make us.
Also, it’s not as if nobody has ever done it before. There are many examples of famous novels directed towards teens- which have also appealed towards adults- that were written by teens as well. S.E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders wrote this classic when she was in high school. Other examples? Christopher Paolini, author of the Inheritance Cycle, and Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, author of In the Forests of the Night. In fact, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes was mentioned in a New York State English exam from some time in the past decade. Ah, the memories.
So, my point? Teenagers ought to give writing a try. I think that at this age if we write something targeted towards others our age, it will have the feelings we are feeling right now, instead of thinking of what we may have felt in twenty years. So give it a try, and when you take a break from your work tonight, try and see if you can put that story bubbling in your brain for the past two months into words.
