The other day we talked about writing books for children. Now we’re going to get into a whole different world – writing books for teenagers and pre-teens. Teenagers and pre-teens are a whole different type of crew when you talk about writing. They are too old for books that were created for youngsters, and too young for books that are created for adults. They need to have stories that intrigue and entice them, but that is much harder than it sounds, especially when you’re dealing with teenage boys.

So how do you write a story that is engaging to teenagers? First you have to figure out who your target audience is. Teenage boys, for example, are into entirely different things then teenage girls. There are some books that appeal to both sexes, but it can be extremely difficult to write a book that is enjoyed by both. Once you’ve figured out who your target audience is, start thinking about what type of story you’d like to write. What appeals to that sex? Girls, for instance, tend to be a bit more interested in stories that have a bit of a romantic twist to them, while guys tend to like stories with more action and adventure.

Once you’ve got a good idea in your head, it may be smart to run it past a teen or pre-teen. Snag one that you know and start telling them about the story. If they start asking questions and seem to be enjoying the idea, you’ve got something. If they don’t seem to be getting into it, ask another teenager, and if that one doesn’t get into the idea, it may be time to start at the drawing board again. Once you find a great idea, though, you can create a teen or pre-teen masterpiece!

When your children are young and you read them stories, it’s easy to think that it would be far too simple to be able to write your own children’s book. All you have to do is to come up with some sort of a good tale, and to be able to rhyme, right? Not necessarily. Any really good children’s book also comes with illustrations, and unless you’re really good at drawing and illustrating, you may find that you have a difficult task ahead of you.

If you’re set on writing a children’s novel, the first thing you may want to do is to find an illustrator. You may have a friend or family member who is a good illustrator, but if you don’t, you can always connect with one using other methods. Some people use sources such as Craigslist to place an ad, while others place an ad in their local paper or at their local community center. It’s a good idea to make sure that the illustrator that you connect with knows how to use Photoshop or some other form of digital editing software, especially if you’re going to be publishing your work online, because it is the fastest way to get your illustrations up with your work.

Once you’ve made an agreement with an illustrator, you can start working! Make sure that your story is one that is interesting to children as well as being age appropriate. It should be something that they have fun reading and that actually engages them, so that they’re anxious to learn more about how the whole reading “thing” works. Writing a children’s book is a lot harder than it seems, but if you get the right combination of things going on, you can create absolute magic!