Contributed by Emiliene Alemkeng

Writing a young adult story requires a lot because writing as a young adult is different from writing for young adults. Since you are writing for, it means you are no longer a young adult so it will require that you think like a young adult in order to capture their attentions. You can also make enquiries from teenagers around you or better still think back to when you were one and if that is not enough, just watch your young daughter or son.

Master your audience

If you are writing a teenage fiction, make sure you stay in that context. Young adults find comfort in what they read and they believe in it and the fact that they are talking to them directly so if you mix the audience, you get them confused and they will certainly loose interest in your work. Don’t forget that teenagers always have hormonal issues.

Think like a teenager

In order to write a successful teenage story, you have to think like one. For sure you are no longer a teenager but you have been one before, so try to put yourself back to when you were a teenager, think of how your mind worked back then and if you have forgotten because you are preoccupied with adult stuff, take yourself back to your teenage picture. Most teenagers have the same mind set, if you are able to think back to yours then you have made progress.

A happy ever ending

Adolescent age is characterised with a lot of difficulties and challenges. Most of the time some parents don’t understand their children at this phase so they turn to other comforts and assurance. So, in order to get their attention, make sure your novel ends happily because these teenagers look upon your book for encouragement and not otherwise. It is in your place as a writer to give them the hope and encouragement they seek.

Use variety of genres

The successful use of different genres in your novels will get the young adult’s attention. Teenager love different things be it beauty, dressing movies or literature. If you stay on one genre in your novel, they might get bored. But if they find varieties of genres like science fiction, poetry, romance, fantasy and others, they will stay entertained and keep reading.

The above are the four main elements you must apply in your young adult novel. For sure there are other characteristics that can help but if you apply the above successfully, then I assure you will make a great novelist.