One question that comes up a lot as a writer of Teen Fiction is this notion that you will somehow run out of ideas or lose the connection with the audience as you grow older. I think this is somewhat related to yesterday's post about not wanting to grow up in the sense that the very question stems from a myth about being grown-up.
There's there prevalent notion out there that once you've grown up, you don't suffer the trials and tribulations that come with being a teenager. That's a complete lie. Those people that say they don't are deluding themselves and/or covering up their inner questions with mundane distractions because the truth is, we never stop changing and never stop developing. At least, we shouldn't. Those who are too good at ignoring are the ones who grow out of touch and become some weird rubber stamped image of what is tragically known as an ADULT. Thankfully, that's one dementia I never bought into.
Writing about the conflictions that come with being a teenager isn't about guessing, or staying up on the latest trends or slang, it's about being honest with yourself and exploring those same feelings that we tend to ignore as adults. It's being an adult that allows you as a writer to temper those emotions with experience, turning them into something more meaningful than reality television regurgitation. Or, that's the idea anyway.
Losing a connection with those readers doesn't concern me because to lose that would be to lose a sense of honesty with myself.
Excellent posts, Brian. I almost commented on yesterday's post, too, because I have a different take on the "why" about writing for kids.
ReplyDeleteIn my case, I think it took me a really long time (decades) to deal with the stuff I went through as a kid. Maybe it took me until the point in my life where I could face all those old ghosts that I actually became grown up -- as opposed to not wanting to.
Now, writing for a younger audience is a way of compartmentalizing things that were too huge to step back and see from a more complete and detached perspective at the time. Also, I think there's a maturity that all writers have to achieve before they can really touch those experiences with words... and in my case, at least, that was a journey that took a really long time.
Anyway, good stuff, my friend.