The Interesting Side of Being a Teenager

I really am a bad blogger. I get so distracted by everything that's going on around me that some things slip my mind. I'm ashamed to say that this blog is one of those things. Please forgive me, Bloggersphere, I still love you!

Lately I've had a bit of trouble with writers block. I've had a dozen preliminary ideas that have found a home in the folder 'Ideas' on my memory stick but none of them have stood out in the shining way that a writer requires to risk pursuing a 100,000 word adventure.

The market is currently flooded with dystopian and fantasy novels as I have begrudgingly had to accept. This particular sector of the market is unfortunately my forte. It is the type of story I am most commonly drawn to - the world building, the variety of characters, the adventures that can be had.

I think that a lot of young people are similarly interested for the same reason as a writer. The teenage years of someone's life is majorly filled with school, appearance, popularity and pressure. So a book, for most, is the perfect escape.

Take Game of Thrones or The Hunger Games or Divergent for example. No youngster is the ruler of Dragons or fighting for their District in a rebellion or battling against fellow Initiates. However the majority of teenagers are struggling with identity, falling in love or trying to prove their worth. Which if you look hard enough in a Young Adult book, so are the characters there.

That's why teen fiction is so popular nowadays. Teenagers have grown increasingly interested in reading, yes, but they have also found some friends, some family, in the characters. They have found people who can silently understand and help.

Moving away from dystopia and fantasy has been difficult for me. It's a passionate interest that is hard to detach myself from. But I've found myself wanting to give a voice to those teenagers who are struggling. Not through subtle messages or a battle with the self through a battle with the werewolf that's threatening to take over. I wanted to tackle the problems head on. Mental illness, PTSD, the war, love and pain.

That's why I'm excited and proud of my book that is currently sitting in an agents office being read and considered. Whether it gets published or not I have tried to speak for those who can't. For the minority and majority. That's why I'm confident in the idea that I'm currently working on.

Sometimes it's not about shouting the loudest, sometimes it's just speaking enough to be heard.