Considering the fact that almost all of my stories involve teenage characters, a great deal of my readers (perhaps more than half) are teenagers themselves. So...if any of you guys are reading this right now...hehehe, don't take any offense over anything that I say here in this article!

It's not like it's anything that I wouldn't have said to you in an email or the chatroom at this point anyway. I'm just placing it here as a disclaimer so you don't get all pouty on me. Besides, I've got your back on this. Promise.

For any writers here who are working with teenage characters in their fiction, whether they be main characters or side characters, I want you to take a moment...and think back to when you, yourself, were a teenager. Anywhere between the ages of 13 and 19...doesn't matter. (Hell, if you've been privvy to that multitude of 'Karen' videos online, you'll see that most people haven't even matured THAT far!) But, seriously...take a moment and think about it. I'm not being rhetorical here. Hehehe, really think about it.

Think about the first time you really had your first crush. The first time you tried smoking a cigarette. The first time you looked a dirty magazine. Hehehe, be honest. How old were you? What was your thought process like back then? Remember missing curfew? Or breaking that lamp or that window in the house after being warned not to play ball in the living room? Or that time you broke your arm falling out of a tree you had no business climbing? Do you?

I'm assuming that everybody reading this is either a teenager now or was at one time. Am I right? Taking that into account, it's safe to say that we've all made our mistakes growing up. Some of them reckless. When I think back on some of the stuff I did, I'm surprised that I even survived half of it! Hahaha! But, here I am. Hindsight is always 20/20...but ONLY hindsight is 20/20. And I think that's something to remember when writing teenage characters in your fiction.

Teenagers are NOT stupid! Hehehe! Ok? Let's just put that out there before we even get started. If you've got a teen in your house that's playing dumb or pretending to be too innocent to know what's going on around them...LOL, then you are dealing with a dangerous animal! Those are the ones that you really need to keep an eye on!

I've spent many years talking to teenage boys and girls in emails, and one of the first things that I learned is that they know more and are more self aware than many people give them credit for. Because, at the end of the day, what is a teenager? They're adults without experience. Cocky? Yeah. Sarcastic? Sure. Naive? Most definitely! But to write them off as stupid is a mistake. And if you go into your fiction with that kind of outlook...it's not going to come off as genuine at all. In fact, it may be more insulting than anything else. One thing you always want to avoid as a writer is the act of insulting your readers. People can tell.

I, personally, think that teenagers get a bad rap. Hehehe, I always joke around about how some of the greatest stories ever told just seem to 'skip' the main character's teen years altogether. Like...WTF happened there? Even in the Bible, it's like Jesus was a beautiful baby! Then he gets to be JUST about 12 years old...starts his ministry...and then he's suddenly in his 30's, he's got his shit together and everything is fine! Wait wait wait!!! What happened between the ages of 12 and 33??? ::Footage not found:: Superman? Beautiful baby, goes to school, JUST about high school age...then, ZOOM!!! Daily Planet reporter job! People have got to notice this kind of trope in stories in general, right? It happens all the time. I don't think Anakin Skywalker even made it to twelve!

The point is, I think that there are a lot of stories that really have a blindspot when it comes to writing teen characters. That part of their heroes' lives are overlooked completely, and I think that can be the most intense and most transformative period in the life of any protagonist in your story. Why skip it? Teens are seen as irrational, reckless, less intelligent, problematic, and immature. But why? They're not all a monolithic group of trouble-making asexual brats with nothing better to do than to throw eggs on Halloween and shoplift candy from the local store. They understand logic, friendship, love, fairness, sex, social interactions, anger, violence...you won't find anyone who runs through the entire gamut of emotions faster than your average teenager. So why not use that to your advantage when creating three dimensional teen characters? You can't look at teenagers through the lens of someone in their mid twenties or older. The world doesn't affect you the same way now as it did when you were learning the ins and outs of it for the very first time. It just doesn't. They're learning. They mess up and make mistakes, rush in too quickly when they shouldn't, hesitate for too long when they shouldn't, and can sometimes be easily overwhelmed...but that doesn't mean that they're stupid or helpless. Or just some wasted character that you can push to the side as though they can't participate in the 'adult' story you're trying to tell. Don't do that. Just...don't. Hehehe!

If anything, I think that makes for an extremely compelling story! The same way a married couple experiences living in a haunted house for the first time, or a space traveler meets an extraterrestial, or someone gets whisked away into a fantasy world on the other side of time and space. It's a new experience. And you get to be a part of building that world for them. Except it's a world that you already know and have experienced for yourself. Keep that in mind when you're writing. Because, while there are more honest representations of teenagers in stories like "Stranger Things" or "Stand By Me", the teen stereotype isn't all that different from using a racial or sexist stereotype in a lot of ways. Then again, I kind of grew up in the John Hughes era. And that was one of those times when teens were finally being taken a bit more seriously.

Hehehe, yes, my friends and I used to curse. We used to swipe a warm beer or two when we could find one. Tried to look cool smoking cigarettes. Tried to peek in the girls locker room. We even did things as evil as...GASP...masturbate! Oh Lord! ::Faints:: But I truly think that a lot of our most defining moments and potent memories come from that particular period in our lives, and that's what I write about. I can still remember my first loves as though it was just yesterday. I can still see their faces, and feel that racing heartbeat that used to have me tripping all over my feet all day. I can remember my first kiss. My first time driving a car by myself. My first time moving into a college dorm. My first time getting a job and having my own money. And I wasn't a pro in any sense of the word, but that was a part of my journey. How can that NOT make for an incredible and engaging story, if only for nostalgia's sake?

Not only that, but it's a challenge to think back to a time when I didn't have all the things that I do now. No internet, no real money, no real privacy, no independence...not even a way to just walk out to my car and drive somewhere if I wanted to. Stuff that I'm sure that I take for granted now, until I remember having to be clever enough to work my way around it whenever an opportunity presented itself. Still, when I'm writing teenage characters, I definitely take account of the fact that they are fully aware of what's going on around with them...even if they're not quite sure how to deal with it, or potentially navigate their way around it.

You have to go back to those days in your own life, and be honest with your portrayal of young people in your stories. You have to be self aware enough to look at your past mistakes without judgement, and recreate the excitement of not being a little kid anymore...but wanting so badly to be an adult ahead of your time. Teen characters can't be treated the same way as adult characters, especially in this day and age when they have a wealth of inappropriate knowledge at their fingertips twenty four hours a day with whatever handheld device they might be in possession of at the time. I can remember times when I was writing stories, and I actually had to jump in and defend some of these poor fictional kids from the venom and vitriol being spit at them from some of the readers. Like, "HEY!!! Jesus Christ! Give the kid a break!" Give them a chance to figure things out as a part of their story arc. None of this is real. Please don't curse at me and tell me how these teens are so STUPID that you can't stand to read about them anymore. It's like...what the fuck are you talking about? It's a free story online...relax. Put yourself in their shoes. You weren't always the way you are now. You had to go through a period of learning through trial and error just like the rest of us. So chill out. The thing about teen characters isn't about being super smart and knowing everything and having a bunch of resources working for you whenever you need them to. The teen experience is about 'discovery'. That's why I find the stories so interesting. They have common sense, and deep emotions, and (for the most part) good intentions. Explore that with your writing. They're not immune to humiliation or a fear of rejection. They make mistakes, sure...but those mistakes mold them into the adults they are sure to become in the future. We've all had heartbreak and emotional growing pains that made us stronger in the end. That's the beauty of teen characters. You get to present the nostalgia of the past mistakes to a mass of your readers...and still turn things around to have your characters learn from them in a positive way. It's meant to be a good thing, whether some of your readers realize it or not. Maybe they have some hang ups from the past that they don't want to deal with just yet. Hehehe, but let that be their therapist's problem. Not yours. K?

Of course, as always...no matter what you write, you can't expect to 'win' one hundred percent of the time. You just...you can't. You will always have people who will tell you, "This kid is way too dumb, too naive, and childish. No teen would ever think this way. It's too unrealistic." And in the very next comment, you have people telling you, "This kid is way too mature and too experienced to act like this. He sounds like he's 30 years old. No teen would ever think this way. It's too unrealistic." And that's fine. Read the comment, see if they made any valid points, one way or the other, and go back to writing your story your own way. It's not their story. It's YOUR story. Draw from your own teenage years growing up, and stay true to the story that you were looking to tell. You know who you were back then. Maybe they led a whole different life somewhere else, and they look back on their teen years in a different way. But, hey...they've got the same tools at their disposal that you do now. Any time that they want to sit down and write, edit, and promote, their own story...they're more than welcome to it. They could have gotten started with the time it took to tell you what you were doing wrong. Hehehe! So let them have a go at it. I'm sure there will be an audience for their version too. Variety is the spice of life after all.

Anyway, the idea behind writing teen characters is to simply understand what a majority of them are. Inexperienced. Not innocent. Not unaware. And certainly not stupid. Yes...they know about the porn you watch online. Yes, they know you sent them over to a friend's house for some private time. Yes, they know about the bag of weed that you hid at the top of the bedroom closet. We were all youngsters too at one time...and we know exactly how we were back then. Hehehe, probably worse than anything that we can peg on teenagers today. When you're writing them into your stories...be respectful of that. Be understanding. Let them know that you 'get it', and advise them with messages that will inspire responsible behavior, if you can. Because, believe me...they ARE reading! Trust me on this.

Coming from the hyperactive Generation X era, I can remember being talked down to and insulted by my grandparents' generation. And it sucked. Don't be that kind of writer. For every Millennial right now, quick to scream "Ok, Boomer" to my parent's generation...hehehe, don't worry. You'll get your turn too. Because the post 9/11, post Covid-19, kids that are entering Junior High right now...they'll be giving you the same weird looks by the time they reach college. So prepare for it. It'll be your turn next. And the circle of life continues...so don't go getting grumpy before your time. K? Bridge the gap, and try to reminice and understand your own youth for what it was. A training experiment, and a boot camp for you becoming the adult that you are today.

Be proud of that journey! You'll find some of your craziest and most exciting stories in that little gap of life that many stories conveniently 'skip over' when they don't want to talk about it. What are we pretending to be so innocent about, anyway? I don't know about you guys, but my teen years were not so 'Disney'! LOL!

(Hehehe, me and MY friends at 12...)

Food for thought, if any of you were planning to add teen characters to your story, or write a teen based story by itself. Hope it helps! And I'l seezya soon with more! Cool? Love you lots!