What type of issue would you like to see portrayed in a book?

I'm planning on writing a book sometime in the near future. I know your probably thinking "Ya right, a 14 year old writing a book, we'll see how that comes out." Well anyway I would like to know what issue you would like to see portrayed in a book from a teenagers point of view?

I like reading about racial issues from either today's society or from yester-year, and from either the black or white perspective. Although when written in a fiction novel, it still has to be based on a actually happenings/fact/experiences etc etc. Without any bias either way. I love it when the story is just TOLD. Do you know what I mean. This may be one of the biggest issues to write about, and therefore would be a very hard issue/topic to portray correctly onto a page...

Anywayz, with my veiws aside.......Best of luck with your endevours in writing a book. And don't let anyone tell you that your age is a obstacle to writing a successful book.

Cheers

It depends on the focus of your book, e.g. if you were planning to write children's or teenage fiction, or adult fiction, or non-fiction.

I would like to see more books written for children and teenagers on their responsibility to the environment and how their actions and the actions of societies en masse. In Australia, for instance, water storage levels are decreasing and yet our usage is as high as ever; there are plans to place the east coast on nuclear power; the Australian government refuses to sign the Kyoto protocol.

Fiction, using strong characters and storylines, is a great way to teach young people about social values.

Beyond that, I suggest writing about the issues you are passionate about. What issues do you think are underdeveloped in fiction/non-fiction?

Bookworm Beauty said:

I know your probably thinking "Ya right, a 14 year old writing a book, we'll see how that comes out."

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Why not? Helen Oyeyemi was only fifteen or sixteen when she wrote The Icarus Girl and Christopher Paolini was, I think, thirteen when his fantasy novel hit the shelves. Hell, if I remember correctly, Mary Shelley was only nineteen when she wrote Frankenstein, although the times have changed since then.

But, if you want to write a book, start writing some short stories first and forget about a book. The more short stories you write, the less chance you have of abandoning them and becoming disillusioned. Also, the more time you work on them, you should be able to grow as a writer faster because you are constantly working with new people rather than languishing over the same people for pages and pages and pages and.......p a g e s

Also, you may want to study the difference between you're and your.

Bookworm Beauty-
Stewart is right about being careful about spelling and grammar. But don't let that paralyze you. Just go for it.
Getting to your question, I like books with a theme that was often employed to great success by Hemingway: Grace Under Pressure.
To me, that theme makes for a interesting story.
Put people under some kind of pressure. The exact kind of pressure is your design. Example: a group of people dealing with Hurricane Katerina. Perhaps they are cut off from everyone else. Maybe they missed the evacuation bus. How do they fare? How do they extricate themselves from their predicament? You can weave an interesting story based on an idea like that. You can even kill off a few of them. There are myriad possible scenarios - that's just one suggestion. Use your imagination. Visualize a scene and then write it.
One other thing - as some others have said - don't view your youth as an obstacle. What you lack in life experience you will make up for with enthusiasm and vitality. If your writing is good, and it draws the reader in, nobody will care what your age is.

Libre said:

Bookworm Beauty-
Stewart is right about being careful about spelling and grammar. But don't let that paralyze you. Just go for it.
Getting to your question, I like books with a theme that was often employed to great success by Hemingway: Grace Under Pressure.
To me, that theme makes for a interesting story.
Put people under some kind of pressure. The exact kind of pressure is your design. Example: a group of people dealing with Hurricane Katerina. Perhaps they are cut off from everyone else. Maybe they missed the evacuation bus. How do they fare? How do they extricate themselves from their predicament? You can weave an interesting story based on an idea like that. You can even kill off a few of them. There are myriad possible scenarios - that's just one suggestion. Use your imagination. Visualize a scene and then write it.
One other thing - as some others have said - don't view your youth as an obstacle. What you lack in life experience you will make up for with enthusiasm and vitality. If your writing is good, and it draws the reader in, nobody will care what your age is.

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Perhaps you might use your youth as your 'angle'..telling your stories from a 'behind the scenes' vantage point. What ever your topic or viewpoint, write about stuff you care about so you can bring that enthusiasm to your readers.

Stewart said:

Also, you may want to study the difference between you're and your.

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Opps! I do that all the time. My English teachers always yell at me for it too. I don't mean to it's just I get so rushed to get the words out of my head and onto paper before they leave me that I make stupid little mistakes like that one. I guess that's what editors are for anyway.

Thanks for all you suggestions everyone. I've got it narrowed down quite a bit as to what I want to write about. Keep the suggestions coming though because you may post something that will change my mind.

Bookworm Beauty said:

Keep the suggestions coming though because you may post something that will change my mind.

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Don't let anyone suggest your direction, let it come naturally. Hell, I've written horror until I moved off into historical tales set in my local area, and now I'm playing about with stories about relationships in my contemporary area.

Stewart said:

Why not? Helen Oyeyemi was only fifteen or sixteen when she wrote The Icarus Girl

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She was seventeen, still impressive. And she wrote the entire novel in seven weeks, if I recall correctly.

Mary Shelley was only nineteen when she wrote Frankenstein, although the times have changed since then.

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How so?

But, if you want to write a book, start writing some short stories first and forget about a book.

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I disagree with this. I've written almost three books now. I say almost, I don't mean two and a half, or anything, but three incomplete (but all longer than 100,000 words each) novels. One at seventeen, which is teenage romance rubbish, two very recently, this year, which are adult rubbish. And very few short stories.

The more short stories you write, the less chance you have of abandoning them and becoming disillusioned.

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Disagree with this too. Short stories are very hard to write. You have to get your story and work out a way of saying it, omitting the detail you would usually include. With a novel, you can just write and write and write, and you know you will need to go back over it anyway. With a short story you are conscious of every unecessary word, and that details are to be limited. It's easy to become disillusioned when you have an idea of a story, but when you go to write it, you find a different story appearing to what you intended.

But everyone is different.

Also, the more time you work on them, you should be able to grow as a writer faster because you are constantly working with new people rather than languishing over the same people for pages and pages and pages and.......p a g e s

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That's likely true.

Good luck with it, Bookworm Beauty. Just write whatever you want, whether or not you have a story "idea" and you'll find it will probably come together somehow.

I would suggest thinking about what genres, topics, and issues you like to read about and going from there. Don't write something because you think it will appeal to the masses, but because it comes from the heart. you don't have to address and 'issue'; you could share your views about society, culture, history, or anything really. Write whatever comes naturally to you, and what you like writing about.

There is nothing wrong with being fourteen an aspiring writer. Age hasn't anything to do with talent, and while you may have less experience than a seasoned writer, your age doesn't dictate the quality of your work. There are some people who have been publishing for years, and they still can't write, in my opinion. But I won't get into that...

Thanks for the comments. I just said about the age bit incase there were some shallow people on here but from what I found there are not. I have started to write and what I have found is that the story is just forming itself as I write. Thank you for all your help! Once I have it finished I will surely share it with you all! Thanks again.

Bookworm Beauty said:

I'm planning on writing a book sometime in the near future. I know your probably thinking "Ya right, a 14 year old writing a book, we'll see how that comes out." Well anyway I would like to know what issue you would like to see portrayed in a book from a teenagers point of view?

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Hey, I've been writing since I was eleven. Grant it, I used to write very badly, but it's good to have experience. If you learn how to write earlier on, it is easier in the long run. I don't think anyone is going to discourage you.

An issue from a teenager's point of view? Hmm...I suppose it might be interesting to explore something like brainwashing. That may sound really random, but I'm actually thinking about doing a book on that subject. A friend of mine was brainwashed, and actually she does not speak to me anymore, but I think it would be a fascinating subject for a book.

Does this spark your interest in any way? Consider a teenaged girl or boy, forced to think a certain way by being cut off from the rest of the world and having the rest of the world demonized, and unable to think for him/herself. And the teenager slowly overcoming this forced way of thinking and becoming an individual. It might make an interesting subject. Unfortunately, my hands are too full to experiment with it properly at the moment. But maybe you'll like the idea.

I started writing when I was 12. I love it. Don't let anyone say 'oh you're too young too write' or anything like that - it's a load of bollocks.

I agree with everything Stewart said - you may wanna start with short stories - a book and a well-written short story are equally challenging but you don't want to be tied down with a big book when you're first writing, experiment, it's something writers (seasoned ones as well) do all the time.

To be honest BB, I think that your style is pretty impressive for a 14 year old. Although there's the odd gramatical error, you can always pick up on that as you go along and with the help of a computer. My spelling is poor, but I often find that people pointing it out makes me more aware of it and tend not to make the same mistake again. So we'll be watching for 'your; you're' in the future

Stewart's advice is worth taking on board. Don't aim as high as writing whole novel just yet. See if you can get people interested in your short stories first. Best of luck anyway.

perhaps this is too topical, but i'd like to read a book by someone your age on being a digital native. you've grown up in an environment of hyper-communication: with a computer, dvd, cell phone, iPod, Iming, text messaging, etc. i'd like to know how different that is and what it means to you.

in fact, you could leave your typos in as it would add to the authenticity!