As a (freelance) reader of unsolicteds for a major publisher, can I just say we do actually take young writers very seriously – after all, they buy and read our books, it’s the least we can do to see what they’re writing themselves. Plus it’s extremely fascinating and sometimes, yes, I am genuinely blown away.

But we’ve never published one, not while I’ve been there. I’m inclined to think even for a young writer that is genuinely brilliant, publishing them too soon would be doing them a big fat disservice. Surely you gotta suffer a bit for your art for it to really mean something. I am also sure that they would struggle with the complicated and often confronting editorial process.

When i think i might have created something decent i want feedback!
writing wants to be read!

teens don’t have that many places to put out their work. if you are 16 who can you show? your english teacher, a parent, another 16 yr old? although it is actually a giant leap, it makes sense that a teen would think the next step would be submission!

i was lucky enough to attend a performing arts high school w/a writing dpt (way back when) so i had access to incredible feedback.
best writing teacher i ever had told me that if at 14 yrs old i actually managed to write 14 good lines – out of all the poems/short stories/journal entries i would write that year – then i was in incredible shape and i should keep on keeping on! (at first i howled…then i realized i better get to work if i wanted to get a halfway decent book written -not published,just written- by the time i was 50. ha!

she told me that it is work, it is that hard, it is that demanding, the monetary compensation will not be glorious, but!!!
if you have to do it, if you can’t stop, if it is who you are at 14…if you sort of know what it will be but you keep doing it anyway…then all you really need is to get discipline, learn that people don’t usually criticize unless it’s worth it, find a place for feedback & someone to tell you to keep on keeping on. Last but not least – read, enjoy & learn from other people’s work.

(btw…i’m 30 now, and that list is still exactly what i need!)

she said i had three choices: run away, grow out of it, or accept that this is what i would do.
i have run…but i keep comming back.:)

i love what i do, but the solitary aspects can be just as delightful and horrific as they were ehen I was 16. that’s why writing blogs (such as brilliant justine’s) make me blissfully happy. i know i am not the only one!

productive, honest writers groups (especially for middle grade/young adult fiction! i have found it doesn’t always get treated the same way by the group) are hard to find whether you are 14 or 44!

any advice on finding/starting/avoiding writing groups? for teens & adults? y/a & middle grade fiction in particular?

thats all i have to say

Think again.

But after doing it — twice, because the first time was really purely cosmetic — I have found a weird peaceful rightness to it — ripping everything out by the roots and knowing that you’re doing the right thing is very …much like cleaning the house, in a way. Just open up something lemon-scented and get to it, I guess.

And I have to agree with Chris S.: there are some well-known and widely-read books by teenagers that may have compelling and interesting stories, but I had to work hard to let go of my frustration at how poorly written and contrived much of the books were in order to enjoy them at all.

Sure, there are some really talented teenaged authors. But there are very, very few Gordon Kormans out there, and far more …well, I won’t name names.

Getting published IS work. But I think that it’s worth it.

Fractionally I suspect these gems are very rare–often the piece is the lucky by-product of a teenager who has been producing reams and reams of mediocre-to-bad writing; often that same teenager has absolutely no idea what is is that makes this particular piece good, except that it is different from what they normally write.

And often the teenager who consistently produces award-winning poems in high school (or college) is NOT the one who will be continually driven to write, who will eventually emerge years and years later with five published books and a collection of short stories. The high-school poetry star has gone on to start their own medical practice and raise five children and run for Congress and simply doesn’t have the time to write. Or isn’t driven by the need to write… who knows.

But the fact remains: every now and then I come across something written by teenager, and it is truly good.

On a completely unrelated topic, I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert, and was stunned to see your name listed as one of the doners to Wayan’s house in Bali… I don’t think I ever believed in the six degrees of separation theory until that moment! Congrats on having participated in such a worthy endeavor. Where would ou planet be if our governments were as civic minded and generous as regular people who help strangers in need, one little house at a time?

I’m constantly asked by “young” or “early” designers to critique their work. I’ve only rarely run into those who can accept professional level critiques of their art. So I try and make my critiques into “you can do it, but you’re not showing it here” kinds of speaches.

So, now in my mid-years I’m going back to writing, and I can take my experience from design to writing. I know my work isn’t the best now, as I haven’t been published. But I am learning and getting better. And once I’m published, next is winning awards, etc. All of which require me moving the goal posts of what I think is “good enough” for myself. And probably on my dying day I’m going to be thinking, “you know, if I switch these sentences, delete this adverb, find a better adjective here, stregnthen this simile…” gasp, last.

I have however seen a lot of beginner writers impatient to get the first things they write out there in the published world, and it worries me. I’ve seen a lot of teens go the self-publishing route without even trying to get traditionally published, because they can sense it’s not going to happen. So they (or their parents) spend all that money on (often) scam artists and the like, for what? Because they can’t wait until they’re written a couple more novels and improved? It’s sad that published is the be-all and end-all of writing for so many people, when the writing itself, and writing the best story you can, really should be.

but… it really is hard. those big rewrites. when you look at your editor’s comments which say things like “it’s brilliant. i love it all. now throw it out and start again”. and you KNOW they’re right. but you’ve worked on it so hard… and it’s so much work…

but i think the difference between a real writer and a wannabe, is that the real writer, in the end (after some self indulgent whinging, if you’re like me) understands that editing and rewriting make the book better. and that’s the number #1 priority. making it the best book it can be.

If you throw the javelin irregularly you will only have that session’s throws to build from. You might get better, you might not.

If you throw every day but think you’re great you will just throw it incorrectly, not pay attention, and will slowly reinforce your bad habits. Progression will be random if at all.

If you throw every day but are more critical you’ll stop when you do it well or specifically poorly and adjust in the appropriate direction. Slowly, over time these tweaks will add up and you will improve.

If you throw critically and also pay attention to what people who are better than you do, and try to work out why and learn from them you’ll get better faster.

You can add coaches to the analogy too. Amateur coaches being people who say, “no, that was worse, do it like you did last time,” will help if you’re not good at being critical of yourself, but they’ll only get you to the speed of learning more critical people are at. A professional coach who knows not only how to throw but how to coach it will push you on a lot to learn much faster… but I’m sure there aren’t that many truly great javelin coaches in the world.

The different styles of writers groups fit in there too like buddies practicing. They’re only useful if they’re not yes men, and try to help you deconstrust and reconstruct your technique when needed.

There are people out there who have a natural advantage because they’ve just always been really great at chucking stuff. Chances are, whoever you are, you’re not them. But even they need to pay attention to what they’re doing to get better.

Mostly, like learning anything, it takes time and effort, and anyone sufficiently inclined can learn to do it well.

I pick javelin instead of golf because although golf has seperate areas of expertise, (putting, short game, driving,) like writing, there’s a definite goal, lowest number of shots, to map improvement. With Javelin you’d need a really long tape measure every time you went out to the field, so everything is more comparative, but great leaps forward can be guaged easily. I’ve thought too much about that, I know.

i think a problem with some teens who want to jump straight into publishing is that they’re encouraged by adults around them. in most cases it seems, these adults either don’t know enough about publishing to realize any better, or they don’t have the heart to tell the kids they’re probably not ready. no one told me until long after i’d spent wayyyy too much time stressing about it. and sure, even when i did hear it, i didn’t want to believe it, and i made excuses for why it was different in my case. and like scalzi said, plenty of teenagers are unlikely to listen if someone does tell them that their writing sucks right now. (people in that age bracket seem to have a reputation for being obstinate. can’t imagine why. ) but they won’t all of them do that, even though they might not get it right away. the information needs to be out there so that when writers (of whatever age) are ready, they’ll understand. (so cheers to you and scalzi and maureen and everyone else who’s written about it.)

um, so, i guess what i’m trying to say is: i agree. and, like miss snark always said, all that matters in the end is whether or not you can write.