Writing Realistic Teenagers in YA

By Jodi Turchin, @jlturchin

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: The young adult market has been hot for years, and many writers are testing these deep waters. Jodi Turchin visits the lecture hall today to share some tips on writing realistic teens. Please help me give her a warm welcome.

Jodi Turchin is a Young Adult novelist represented by Dawn Frederick at Red Sofa Literary. She’s also a photographer, a high school English teacher, a former actress and director, an Independent Scentsy Consultant, a Younique presenter, and a dog-mom.

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Take it away Jodi…

How to Write With a Teen Voice

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Part of the Your Writing Questions Answered Series

Q: I’ve been submitting my 12+ novel to agents since the end of 2015. I’ve been rejected each time but have had quite a lot of good, encouraging feedback. One of the comments that keeps cropping up is that I should strengthen my main character’s voice. He’s a 15 year old boy in a difficult position, grumpy but basically a good guy. Any suggestions on how I could approach this?

A: Capturing the teen voice is one of the harder things to do as a writer. It’s also a tough thing to talk about without seeing any of the actual work, but let’s look at what makes a teen voice (if the submitter of this question wants to post a snippet in the comments as an example, please feel free).