10 Writing Tips for Teens

by David Waite

As a young writer, just like an older one, you have the task of reinventing literature every time you sit down to write. Sound scary? It shouldn’t. Creative writing is a way of challenging yourself by expressing an idea and doing so in an original way. While prepared writing exercises can get your creativity going, eventually you might want to try writing poems, stories or essays with content you create. The following tips might help you look at your writing in a different and more interactive way.

1. Be on the lookout for topics that affect you. During any week you will have moments of anger, joy, frustration, wonder, disappointment and confusion that are the result of an event or topic. These emotions come from your personality and are an expression of what’s meaningful to you. You may not be able to write about all of them, but these moments can be good inspirations. Have you ever seen a movie so good it is hard to explain how? Try putting those thoughts into a poem or essay. The phrases and adjectives can help to explain why that movie, or book, play, conversation, accident, etc., was important, either because it helped you, hurt you, or just failed to ignite a spark. If these same emotions come from a moment in your past, that event or place might be usable as well.

2. Read any literature that challenges you. You don’t have to just read one form of literature to be inspired to write in that same form; just about any type of literature is going to have original content and styles that can help you to see methods of writing. This includes novels, mysteries, short stories, myths, and poems. By looking at multiple uses of a device a reader can start to see the variety and methods of its use. For example: Mark Doty and Alice Munro both interweave multiple stories in their poems and fiction, respectively, and do so to create a more complex and interesting tale. Whatever form of literature you pick (or music, art or dance), make sure it has a degree of complexity and originality and makes you think.

3. Listen to how people use language. Just as literature recreates the form every time, people recreate language every time they speak. Sitting in a classroom or a restaurant and listening to people’s phrases, pronunciation and tone can give you ideas about the variety of language or the multiple ways in which people use the same words in different contexts. From this language you can challenge yourself to think about what the speaker is like or how they uniquely use words and grammar.
4. Don’t be embarrassed to put yourself in your work. Poems, stories or essays

should have a perspective that only you, the writer, could create. This doesn’t mean that every perspective is an “I” perspective (writing as someone else can be really interesting) but that there are always your ideas and personality in the piece. If you are writing about a horse race, try to convey an idea other than the fact that it happened. Was it thrilling? Disappointing? How did other people’s reactions affect the emotions? The straightforward way of describing an event is probably not that interesting; your personal version has much more potential.

5. Talk to someone about literature. Talking about books is contagious and will lead to new interpretations and recommendations for pieces to study. Try to find someone with similar sensibilities in literature and see what they enjoy. Ask a lot of people about books and see what they think. As well…

6. Join a writing group. You can also share with fellow writers or take a creative writing class to observe new concepts in literature. You might not always find someone to talk to or an available class to take, but the search is worth it.

7. Create a writing routine. A routine doesn’t mean you have to write a poem every day or week, just that when you do write, it feels normal and comfortable. Get a notebook or journal that fits your style. Materials don’t need to be fancy; a yellow legal pad or an old black and white notebook can work. Try to find a good spot to write that is quiet and usually available. If you come up with ideas for future poems, write them down before you forget them and keep them in a file or a desk drawer. If one day you feel like writing but are short on ideas you then have a whole folder to skim through. If one of those ideas you jotted down catches your imagination, try writing about it.

8. Try to make your poems accessible… mostly. If you write for yourself to relieve frustration or explore your thoughts, a poem or story may seem “complete” to you even if no one else understands it. But one of literature’s jobs, pieces that are shared that is, is to convey meaning to a reader. Someone reading your work should be able to figure out the emotion that they should have or understand the scene… but you don’t have to give everything away. Using tools like symbols will tell the reader that there is a deeper meaning to a poem without spelling out exactly what it is.

9. Move away from clichés and common symbols. Writers and readers absorb a lot of images and phrases when they experience literature and grow used to certain notions, like the red rose meaning love or the common meaning of a line. These simple concepts are useful but usually have been done to death (Example: “She was sunshine on a cloudy day”). In order to be more original, stay away from these ideas and make up your own symbols and phrases or, in a twist, change the meaning of symbols. An example: make black mean love instead of death by describing someone’s dark clothes or hair.

10. Be bold. If you come up with an idea but think, “that’s just way too hard”—try it anyway. You can always attempt it another time with fresh eyes if it doesn’t work out. Play around with ideas you have or techniques you’ve seen. Try using those methods if you think they can help enhance the mood or meaning. In the end, you are your most important critic and you can feel proud of attempting the difficult, even if it doesn’t work the first time. Try a lot of styles and try them often.

Remember: you’re not alone out there, and if you feel frustrated, that’s normal. You can work through that aggravation by revising and soliciting other’s opinions. Literature should be both rewarding and a challenge, though, so make sure you balance the concepts. Feel good about what you have written because you made it and, in the end, it’s an experience that only you could have created.


David is a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program from Goddard College. His work has appeared in or will soon appear in Bellowing Ark, Small Brushes, Children, Churches and Daddies, and Love's Chance Magazine.