By Julie Daines
"I hate you!"
"This is why I'm moving out when I'm eighteen!"
"I have no control over my life!"
Yes, those are all phrases I have heard from my own teen-age sons. Frequently. I have three.
So, I thought I'd do some posts on capturing that teen voice, starting with vocabulary. Here are a few do's and don'ts.
Be Extremely Careful of Overusing Slang
According to Agent George Nicholson, "Slang dates good fiction more easily than any other single thing."
Slang varies by region, so too much slang makes your book non-universal. If you do use a lot of slang, make sure it reflects something about the character and adds to the depth of the story. Don't just use it to sound teen, teens are expert at picking out phony voice.
The best writing has a richness of language, not just a scramble of slang. Use vocabulary that reflects the time and place you're writing about.
Don't Dumb it Down
But at the same time, it has to sound like something a teen (specifically the one in your book) would actually say. Teens, in some ways, are smarter than we give them credit for. As long as the voice is authentic and rings true, teen readers are open to a wide range of voicing styles.
Mix it Up
Don't give all your characters a similar sounding voice. Vary vocabulary and rhythm to create contrast and interest. Some teens never stop talking, some are only one word anwerers. Some rely on humor, some on emotional extremes. (See examples above.)
Keep the Narrative in Voice
Make sure the narrative parts are in the voice of the POV character and not the author's. Maintain continuity.
In Part 1, Editor Krista Marino explained how YA Voice is related to diction, perspective, dialog, interior monologue, and character. In this second section she explains what makes a young adult voice unique and different from an adult writing voice.
Let’s Talk about the Teen/YA Voice in Particular:
- YA is specific in terms of voice.
- YA is teen experience, outlook, and their limited life experiences.
- YA is about teen beliefs, likes and dislikes, etc.
- Think about how small your life was when you were a teenager. Remember when you believed in Santa? What did you believe when you were in high school? Did you think you were going to marry your high school boyfriend?
- An adult looking back on the teen experience is an adult book.
- “When you’re young everything feels like it’s the end of the world.” – movie quote. Teens have no reference to know that things will get better in their lives, where as adults bring life experiences with them.
- Teens are not making stupid decisions. They are making their decisions because they have only been on the planet for 16 years and don’t have any life experience.
- Teens have nothing else to compare their experiences to.
- When you are writing you need to erase the worldliness you’ve experienced over the years.
- Your protagonist can’t be simple.
- Every teen is questioning how other teens view them.
- Your character must evolve. Voice can change as a character grows and learns over the course of the book. Voice must change with the evolution and movement of the book.
Exercises to Get to Know Your Character:
- Exercise: List three character traits about your protagonist (i.e. sassy, romantic, uptight) then push yourself to go deeper and find out who they really are under those traits.
- Exercise: Write two pages that tell you something new about your character. These pages do not need to go into the manuscript. See what they will tell you.
- Exercise: Go to a public place and eavesdrop on teens. Write down their conversations exactly as you hear them. Now try to use that conversation in a scene you are writing. Watch how your characters interact.
Telling about Character in the Writing:
- Weave info about your character into the story, but make it invisible.
- In the writing insinuate how a character looks without listing everything they are wearing. Pick a particular trait to embody a greater image of the character. Example: A character wearing skull rings.
- You can’t assume the reader knows what is going on inside your character. You need to clue them in. Is the character tired? Excited?
- Layer your characters actions. Stomping could mean a character is angry, but they could also be embarrassed. Sometimes more is more.
- It’s better for someone to tell you to cut than add.
- Beware of too much telling, it will sound like you (the author) are speaking to the reader rather than the character.
Krista Marino is a senior editor at Delacort Press where she edits and acquires young adult and middle grade novels. Books she has edited include King Dork, The Necromancer, The Maze Runner, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
1 Comments on Perfecting Your YA Voice (Part 2), last added: 10/19/2011
I totally agree! It's so hard for me to do an accurate teen voice! I'll have to borrow one of your teenagers...
Yamile, you're welcome to them ANYTIME!
I think the key is to not try too hard. It's very much like dialect: the harder you try to capture it, the less likely it is that you'll get it right.