Writing a book about teenagers in a hospital for suicidal youth, with real problems. Ideas?

Question

I'm writing a book about teenagers in a hospital for suicidal youth. Since I've personally been in one recently, I want to write something that might someday show readers the things that everyday kids can go through, and the huge ammount of pressure that gets placed on them. But I want my characters to have realistic problems - ones that people won't roll their eyes at. Something a bit original?

Answer 1

All good stories show how "life is like this!". If you're trying to write a moral tale, you will fail. And your teen critics will see right through it.

Instead, write a story that teens want to read that has a powerful controlling idea and a story well-told.

What you simply have is a setting: teens in a hospital for suicidal youth. You now need a premise and then a controlling idea.

Essentially, you need to learn how to tell a story. That way you can write something that the teens will want to read (and everyone else too). And your story should be drama. If it's just like real life, why would a teen who is going through those problems read it when they're experiencing it already?

Check out the tutorials on http://www.storyentertainment.com to learn how to tell a story.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Hi, there! Well, I'll be happy to help you because I want to be writer myself when I grow up. I want to write books for teens and pre-teens, and want to write murder mysteries as well. Okay, so here goes: first off, think about the setting, characters, point of views, themes, tones, etc. Where will the stories be held? Who are the characters and how are they going to act? Will they be dynamic characters (people who change throughout the whole novel) or static (people who don't change)? Will one of the characters be narrating the story? Is your tone humorous, serious, descriptive, or thoughtful? Make an outline to help you plan everything out. Second, you should think about a theme that teens could relate to or would love to read about. Like, a girl likes a guy, but he is involved with another girl, and the main girl feels heartbroken. You have to somehow let teens put themselves into your stories so they could realize what is going on. Third, if you want to be a successful author, you should organize your stories. Plan out your chapters, plots, and themes, and write down some ideas about what you'll write about. You need to plan out your time management to know when you'll be able to write out your book.

Answer 3

Okay I am a basic smart girl preppy sort of kid. My problems are that I am under a huge amount of pressure and stress to succeed. Also, I feel like i don't fit in because my family is rather poor, so I can't afford teh "cool" clothes. My family does not ahve a lot of money because my father has been in jail for 6 years. Through all of this I try not to let people know that I am anything less than smart and confident and ahppy and I can't talk to anyone about my problems.
That would be an interesting character i would identify with!

Answer 4

"My dad married a mail order bride from the Phillipines and she has lied, manipulated, and connived a wedge between my dad and all of us kids. She lied on her application and said she was 27. He didn't find out until the day before the wedding that she was only 21. He married her anyway since he had been writing to her for 7 months and had developed feelings for her. He's somewhat aware of what she's doing, but he's not equipped to handle emotional issues, so it's easier for him to say we're jealous. She has provoked us into physical fights with her, then run screaming and crying to my dad like a victim. He emancipated me at 15 years old, with tears in his eyes, because he didn't know what else to do. I was always Daddy's little girl and now he's forgotten me like yesterday's trash. She even turned my grandma against me with her lies, making her think I'm jealous. Hard to believe it was me who encouraged my dad to find her and marry her. I even helped him pick her out of a catalog. She was #B17034. I wrote letters to her for seven months, excited about her arrival, for my dad would finally have someone and be happy. He went to pick her up in the Phillipines and they got married there on my birthday in honor of me. The problems started when she got off the plane here. I couldn't wait to see her. I went up to her and gave her a big hug. She was limp. I figured she was just shy, but I later learned she took it as a sign of disrespect for me, the daughter, to approach her that way and touch her. She boiled about it for five months before she told me, but meanwhile she made my life hell and I've lost my father and grandmother and I want to die. "