i'm also an aspiring teen writer, I set aside a certain amount of time everyday for writing once I have a good idea. If and when you get an agent, you have to remember not to let them talk down to you, they need to know that you're not a little kid. and whatever happens, dont take rejections and criticisim personally, use it to make your writing better. You may also consider sending a test into the Institute of Children's Literature (dont let the name fool you, it can teach you alot about writing for teens and adults too) they only take in students that they think have potential, and you are assigned your own personal instructor who is a published author. I'm a student there, and my writing has improved amazingly since I began the course.
Hope the helped!I'm an aspiring teen writer, do you have any tips or advice for me, thanks so much!?
Tips on plot
I will start first by going into plot-engines. A plot-engine is what gets the plot up and running and keeps it in motion. There are 2 main ones.
Event Driven : These are plots that advance because of a sequence of events. They change about everything included in your story-the setting, action, mood, tone, and your character's reaction. One thing to note is that your protagonist doesn't need to undergo any drastic changes.
Character Driven: The events all spring from ongoing changes within your character. If your character is driven to make things happen, they will probably happen.
You need plot components to have a good plot. They are problem, complication, and resolution.
There are 4 main types of problems. Man against society:
These are the stories in which your protagonist is an individual who sees the world differently from those around him.
Man against man : A highly recognizable problem is the tale of two rivals. You create two dynamic characters who are totally different.
Man aginst himself: These are more complex, and probably requires a good understanding of psychology. These are the inner struggles of a protagonist who must decide upon a particular path.
Man against nature: These are the stories where the protagonist has to dive to the bottom of a trench, climb a mountain, defeat the animal, or survive a diasaster.
Complications
Complication is what make plots interesting. It's not enough to just have a problem, you ned to have complications ot make it worse. Keep 2 basic things in mind.
1. Things must look bad as they can possibly be, and then get worse.
2. Complication create change.
Resolution
It is the way you decide to wrap up your plot. There are 3 main resolutions.
Protagonsit wins: This is the most popular, because he is the main one the audience has been pulling for throughout.
Protagonist loses: This takes the audience in a different turn. You need to make sure even in defeat, the protagonist has become a better person.
Antagonist wins: The audience isn't gonna accept the bad guy winning unless he goes some sort of transformation, maybe shedding his evil persona.
Plot Requirements
It needs direction, changes in points, and obviously, suspense. It also needs a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Tricks
Multiple viewpoint, narrated from more than one person
In Medias Res, meaning in the middle on things, because it starts off right in the middle of action. The reader is yanked in and doesn't get a chance to really come up for air, and that's when you throw in a few chapters that 'back-fill'; the events.
Your plot has to make sense. 3 examples of bad illogical plots are:
The Idiot Plot, when everyone acts like an idiot, like in the horror movies where they split up and get picked off one by one.
Nothing that just happens for no reason, author convienence.
Rabbit out of hat: Related to author concience, it is totally unexplainable and no reason for it to happen.
Sorry if It's long. Good LuckI'm an aspiring teen writer, do you have any tips or advice for me, thanks so much!?
Where would you like your aspirations to lead you? Are you interested in getting articles published in magazines or online, or would you like to write books that will be published? Is this a hobby or a career path? My advice is to really conceptualize where you hope your aspirations will lead you, then choose a path. If your goal is to write for smaller publications or as a hobby, you'll take different paths then if you intend to write a best selling book one day.
For general advice, find a mentor. Someone that has already accomplished what you seek to accomplish. Also, understand the behind the scenes business aspect of the publishing industry. Marketing, media preparation, and public relations are often over looked, but if you intend to make money with your passion then you'll need to familiarize yourself with these aspects of the business.
Perhaps you aren't at that level yet, and you are more interested in learning some basics on how or what to write, but I hope I've at least given you something to think about.
What helps me is just jotting down ideas as I listen to music or read other books. By doing that, it opens my horizons and mind to the story Im writing.
You should try to add a blue sentence to your writing. Like. . .
';The cool breeze giving me little bumps that would seem to get larger every wind. The sky, as many colors as could be.';
Something to get the reader hooked on. Also make a great cover for your writing. . . it will help!!!
I hope that this helps, and that you lead a great life to become a wonderful and famous writer.
start of with a life experience or jott down any funny stories!
or maybe write about your fav animal or your fav hobby!
i hope i helped(:
definitely practice a lot. write whatever you like. personally, i like writing ';memory snapshots'; - you write about one moment in your life, a moment that was anywhere from 1-30 minutes (not any longer than that). describe it in full detail. it only has to be 1-3 pages, not that long. it will help you hone your skill as a writer. buy books about teen publishing if you want to do that sort of thing - but start small with entering stories/poetry into newspapers and magazines.
