Thoughts on Teen Writing Websites

Interesting rant, I take a different view point to you on this. For the purpose of my argument I feel the need to make it clear that I am not a fan of Twilight. I read the first one, couldn't read the others. I've only seen the first film. As for the Vampire Diaries: I've never seen it.

For me it's great that more and more youngsters have found inspiration. Whether that's from Twilight of the Vampire Diaries does it matter? If I book/film/TV programme has got a teenager inspired to write about a similar topic or situation then has it not accomplished something?

Yes, there are far more vampire fan-fictions and stories out there now than possibly there should be but should we not encourage more participation in the writing world? Can we be sure that this isn't just a phase, or that this is not the starting point for some talented young writers?

Should we really judge someone on what they read/write/watch? No, I don't think so. The fact that so many people are reading still is actually something we should be proud of. Being the age of advancing technology there are many things that a teenager could be doing such as playing on a games console or searching the internet. The fact that they're inspired to read, does that not say something?

Just because you, one person in this world of billions, does not approve of Twilight does not mean everyone else has to. Yes, a large majority of teenagers love the series but life would be pretty boring if no one was allowed to choose what they want to read or watch, or what they could even like.

I don't personally follow the Twilight series but I would never try and stop someone from liking something they enjoy, especially when it could be positive to the writing community.

Well, there is one thing that seems to be clear here. I gotta watch this "Vampire Diaries" show and read this "Twilight" book.

I mean, man, think about it. I am a strapping young lad, and What is there not to enjoy?

From your description, I see that there is horror (good), lewd acts (always good), and gory vampire stuff (excellent). Vampires (and vampire zombies) are awesome. Didn't you see I am Legend and 28 Days Later? The bloodsuckers are awesome monsters,and reading and waching shows about them sounds amazing.

This sounds like a regular journey down the white water rapids! Sounds like a testosterone packed adventure thrill ride. The manliest of stories.

Thank you so much for opening my eyes to these awesome TV shows and books!

I will watch and read it all, then tell everyone I know how awseome you are. I will say, that Charlotte T, she showed me this stuff.

Thanks again!

EDIT: I specifically clicked "Not a review", when writing this humorous little comment here, but for some reason, it was a review. So a review is what you'll get.

For what it was, this was a pretty good piece. You made a point in the beginning to say that it was just a rant, nothing less, nothing more, and based on the rants that people have in real life, this one is comparatively pretty congruent, so I'll give you that.

I didn't have a problem with the overgeneralization or insensitivity to the audience or the mild language, like some of the other people here. I mean, it's a rant, its not supposed to be a banana boat down the whipped cream and gumdrop politically correct river. It's supposed to be high energy, deliberate, and make a point. And that you did, and then some.

So overall, I though the piece was good. Nothing too great, and certainly nothing poor, and it seems as though you didn't really care about it being so either, because you were ranting.

So good job.

Have a good one.

I love this story I like when you said "the next generation of bestselling authors needs to grow the fuck up?''
That's funny make more great story, because I like the grammar of this
story.
I SAY Everything is great on here.
Your welcome.

Hello!

I stumbled across your work. I enjoy debating, discussing, and occasionally ranting. However, I am careful to always try to do so in an educated and appropriate manner. I feel that I could give you some well-warranted advice.

Writing is about sharing your ideas and influencing others. First, you must organize your ideas logically. Your ideas seemed to be all over the place. Second, you must tailor your message to your specific audience or target demographic. Your audience could have been anyone. I can guess who your intended audience was, but it was never made clear. Third, you must write in a way that makes for maximum impact. You have not done so. Please realize that your success depends on your personal credibility, knowledge of your topic, preparation of your writing, the manner in which you write, sensitivity to your audience, and your overall enthusiasm. You did not come across as credible and you seem to possibly have knowledge of your topic, but it was not conveyed well. You don’t seem to have prepared at all before you wrote any o this. And you certainly did not come across as sensitive to your reader. However, you did seem semi-enthusiastic, so I suppose that’s a plus. Remember that you need to make sure that your intended message is the message that is actually communicated. In order to do this, you need to express your message in words that are accurate, clear, vivid, and appropriate. I did not think the message of this chunk of writing was communicated very well at all.

You must take responsibility for your writing. Writing is a form of power; therefore, it carries some ethical responsibilities. Always avoid name-calling and other forms of abusive language. You never want to demean the dignity of your readers. Using derogatory language can undermine your readers. You did warn that what you wrote might be offensive, I will give you credit for the warning. But it is my personal opinion that smart and educated people can get their message across successfully without having to use derogatory language.

Moving on…You need to prepare your writing—not just throw it out to the public haphazardly. Focus your topic and select a limited number of points and illustrate them clearly and be creative in the process. Colorful and concrete illustrations and examples really help your writing. You stated that this was a rant, but even a rant can be prepared well.

When organizing your work, you have to have an introduction, beginning, middle, end, and conclusion. You had none of these. In your intro, you need to gain the reader’s interest and provide a statement that identifies what you’re going to be talking about. You just launched in and I felt like I was on a rollercoaster the entire way through this chunk o writing. And don’t forget to make transitions throughout your writing. I also suggest ending on a dramatic, cleaver, or thought-provoking note. You ended your piece in a very childish and juvenile manner.

Now, I would like to talk about your audience? I already stated that who your audience was specifically wasn’t obvious. When you are writing, you need to adapt your writing to your audience. You need to think about how your audience is likely to respond to what you say. You also need to adjust what you say to make it as clear, appropriate, and convincing as possible. This isn’t an easy thing to do. But it appears that you didn’t even try.

I could continue advising you, but I think you have quite enough to work on for now. Message me if you have any questions. Good luck!

You'll probably find some very interesting essays on how to define 'good taste' from many of the Canon authors you clearly hold in high regard, Charlotte. You'll also find that many of them can't really draw a conclusion because what they say is so entirely crafted around individual opinion.

Let me talk to you about something here. Writing rants is all well and good. I do it myself, all the time and for part of my living. You can get away with writing expletives but a lot of the way you've done it here is just going to deter not persuade your audience. I find some of your use of language very deterring - very mainly due to your extreme generalisation of teen writing. You only need spend a good 30 minutes around this site to find a wealth of excellent writing from all sorts of different genres. Okay, sure, I get it - generalising is part of ranting but then you have to do it properly: either be comical or have a point based on evidence. Unfortunately your work fails to do either of these.

What is the most frustrating is that, in some places, your writing is pretty good. If only you had the time and courtesy to nurture this into a well-rounded rant then we'd have something quite impressive to read... but that hasn't happened.

I think it would be good for you to throw yourself into a young writing community and simply experience it. You'd be very pleasantly surprised.

Keep writing.

"Teen Ink"? Forgot to substitute YWS there, eh? Whilst I agree with some of your points, a lot of them are just rants and not altogether true.

Point One: I think you'll find that most authors write a fantasy sort of story first. That may slide over to romance or even horror, but often it's not intentional. People just seem to start off with the same sort of story; we write about what we know. By the time we start writing, we're old enough to have feelings for the opposite (or same) sex and wish to write down what we're feeling. Writing about romance isn't a thing to be abhorred, everyone does it at one point or another.

Point Two: Fan fiction. I am not at all ashamed to say that most of my early works were fan fiction. I distinctly remember writing about Dementors (JK Rowling), I remember writing about dragons who could mind-speak (Kate Forsyth), I remember writing about people dying due to an apocalypse sort of event (Richard Layman/Stephen King). Writers draw inspiration from all around them, including the entertainment they watch on TV, the books they read and the conversations and events that occur in real life. You can't really criticise a new author for "borrowing" an idea that worked so perfectly hundreds upon thousands of books sold. Most authors tend to stop regurgitating published content once they realise they'll have to write their own stories to be published (some exceptions to this rule, like 50 Shades of Grey).

Point Three: Target Audience. I have never seen that formulae in my life and I find it very disheartening that you follow it as a general rule. I'm 21 and I love reading about a boy spy (Anthony Horowitz), a boy thief (Eoin Colfer)... I also love reading about the tainted male side of magic (Robert Jordan), the Quickening (Fiona McIntosh)... and I don't consider myself an "adult". You shouldn't restrict your reading horizons to categories. If you want to write the best you possibly can, you need to read a little bit of everything to understand how to write differently from everyone else, shape your own style.

Point Four: Discriminating Eye. I find this possibly the most annoying thing you've said. What right do you have to judge others on their reading taste? One of the best pieces of fiction I have ever read is by Lightning on a Wave, and is a Harry Potter fan fiction of astronomical proportions - literally 2x more content that the original work. One of my favourite series is Artemis Fowl, written for "12 year olds". One of the authors to whom I hold the up most respect is Robert Jordan, may he rest in peace. Just because I like these authors and their works doesn't mean you can sit in your corner and judge me on pathetic merits of "age" categories :3

- jhoi

Wow, I disagree. The vampire romance genre is overplayed, but to describe it as the hangman of contemporary literature seems a bit much. Look up from your Charles Dickens for a moment and take a look at all the great stuff young authors are producing!