Once upon a time, when I was a teenage writer, my parents provided me with a typewriter and all the paper I needed; they paid for me to take a creative writing class for teens at a nearby college; and they encouraged my frequent visits to the library, where I’d check out stacks of books that caught my interest — most of them from the adult floor (there wasn’t much of a teen section back then).
My 15-year-old daughter, Louisa, is following a similar path, with modern adjustments — she writes on the computer, and she has access to an online community of like-minded teens who trade writing tips and book suggestions. Last summer, she combined two of her main interests and took a Harry Potter writing class at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.
Louisa doesn’t need much encouragement from me to read. But because reading is such an important part of writing, it got me wondering: what books should be on a teen writer’s summer reading list?
Carrie Mesrobian, who taught Louisa’s class last summer, says she encourages teen writers to read whatever they want because the passion for reading is related to the passion for writing.
“They have to find something — whether it’s manga or sci fi, whatever makes them feel that passion — and build off of that. If that’s sappy vampire literature, so be it. Being sucked into it and feeling that intensity is key,” Mesrobian says. “Once you have that feeling, you get an idea of how it inhabits your mind, and it makes you want to try it yourself.”
too advanced?
She says some parents worry about teens reading books too advanced for them, with mature themes or language, but she’s found that if teens aren’t ready for the material, they don’t stick with it. Other parents raise concerns about their child wanting to read the same book over and over, or choosing to read books that aren’t particularly well written. In either case, Mesrobian says, teens can learn something about writing by reading those books.
When they read a book multiple times, they can learn to emulate the parts of the writing that they find effective. When they read a book that’s poorly written, it can help them feel less intimidated about their own writing.
“Kids tend to accept anything in book format as perfect and good,” Mesrobian says. “When you tell them, ‘no, some are not good,’ they get an idea of their own potential. They are just like any other storyteller.”
Some teen writers get their start writing fan fiction, a popular form of creative writing that uses characters from existing movies, TV shows, or other books, and places them in new situations. Mesrobian says one reason teens like it is that they can post their stories online and get instant feedback from readers.
Writing classes can be a good place to meet other teen writers. A number of online sites are geared toward teen writers, like the National Novel Writing Month’s Young Writer’s Program, and an online magazine called Teen Ink.
Support from parents also is important, Mesrobian says. Parents should respect their teen writer’s privacy, but always offer to read the work, if the teen is willing to share it. “It doesn’t matter if you actually read or like it. That offer means a lot,” she says.
resources
The Loft Literary Center
Youth writing classes
loft.org
National Novel Writing Month
Young Writer’s Program
ywp.nanowrimo.org
Teen Ink
Online magazine devoted
to teen writing
teenink.com
carrie mesrobian’s summer reading recommendations
Young Adult
The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
The Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
Thirsty by MT Anderson Ordinary Ghosts by Eireann Corrigan
Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
All Rivers Flow to the Sea by Alison McGhee
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
The Hunger Games trilogy
by Suzanne Collins
Fiction
Winter’s Bone by Daniel Wooddrell
My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Non fiction
On Writing by Stephen King
Hellhound on his Trail: The Stalking and Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Manhunt for his Assassin by Hampton Sides
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
teen writers’ conference
The Loft and the Hennepin County Library are co-sponsoring a teen writers’ conference Saturday, June 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Open Book in Minneapolis, 1011 Washington Ave S. Open to students entering grades 6 and up. Meet other young writers and learn from award-winning literary artists. Registration required; call 612-543-8800.
