teens
What (Teen) Readers Want
Since my writing efforts are focused in the Young Adult area, I’m lucky to have ready access to my target audience. In fact, I think I spend more hours conversing with teens than adults. Some will read anything you put in front of them. Others will tell you over and over how much they hate reading, but once in a while a book engrosses them to the “can’t-put-it-down-even-for-my-favorite-class” level.
I’ve had a few conversations with my students lately about books we’d all read, and what they did or didn’t like about them. After that, I asked them to describe what makes a book “good.” Some interesting responses so far, and I’ll add more as I collect them.
From a sophomore girl:
DETAILS! [And after further prompting…] Of characters and settings.
I love that she wants details from authors, but is reluctant to give many herself.
From a junior girl:
I am tired of the dumb chick, the unexplained dude. I think it should cover all types – romance, action, funny, and scary – in some way. I also think it should always keep me guessing!
I had an entire lunchtime conversation with that girl about the “dumb chick” issue – or Stupid-Girl Syndrome. She could have gone on, and so could I, but I’ll refrain for now.
From another sophomore girl, an aspiring writer (can you tell?):
I don’t really know how to answer, but in my opinion, a good book must have a conflict, complex characters, and a well organized plot. Characters can’t not have a personality; readers have to be drawn in by their personalities, good or bad. A well organized plot is necessary – you don’t want to confuse people. If you don’t have a conflict, it will be a never-ending story, droning on and on. The idea has to be original, too – who wants to read a story that has already been told before?
I’ll be sure to tell her Composition teacher she’s been paying attention in class. *grin*
More to come, especially some guy perspectives. Anyone else out there have info on what teens are looking for in a good read?
Speak up:
4 commentsSchool Talk: Jess M. Brallier
Students at my school (K-12) had a great experience today, hearing from Jess M. Brallier (author of Tess’s Tree and involved in the publishing of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, among many other things). This was the culmination of our first Author Illustrator Competition, where kids school-wide wrote, illustrated, edited, designed, and produced books.
Very interesting to hear from “someone on the inside” here in our little school. I loved the beginning, when he introduced the concepts of publisher, author, and reader – especially since our students are deaf and very visually inclined. As publisher, he wore a smart blazer and coordinating hat, very sophisticated. As author, he wore a scary-loud plaid jacket with a fur-lined cap. As reader, he was a regular guy wearing a baseball cap.
After setting up two volunteer students as the author and reader (on opposite sides of the stage), he explained a publisher’s role as getting the author’s work to the reader. He did a great job explaining how this could involve getting it physically from the author’s cabin in Wyoming to a bookstore in New York, or getting it translated into Chinese, or getting it published online.
The best part was knowing how huge this was for at least a couple students who I know want to become writers. Thanks to this, they know more about the process than I did at their age. I think all the students gained some insight into where books come from and how much goes into it.
Interesting note: The student who asked the most (and some of the best) questions was a self-confessed non-reader. I wonder if she was just curious because she knows I’m in the process of trying to get published. 😉
Anyone else have interesting experiences with school talks by authors (either giving or seeing one)? This was more the publishing perspective, but what other information about writing do you think would benefit students?