Today's Teen Writer

Sometimes I look at healthy people with wonder (and yes, OK envy). I will never understand how it must feel to have so much energy all the time. I can barely remember if I brushed my teeth this morning let alone anything important like what I had for breakfast (I’m going to say Cheerios because that sounds healthy). Continue reading →

Tips and advice on how to be daring…

Do it afraid. If it’s your first time or even your twenty-third, writing, rewriting, and submitting are scary. Do those things afraid but do them.

Arrive in a different way. Sometimes we choose the same path again and again, never realizing we could choose a different one. Just because you always write poetry or short stories doesn’t mean you can’t write something different.

Resist the temptation to conform. There’s always going to be someone who thinks you should write like Shakespeare, King, or Rowling. Ignore these people. You have a story all your own to tell.

Invest in your writing. What we invest in prospers. Whether it’s splurging on a new notebook or giving up two weeks of your summer to attend a writing class, invest in your craft.

Never give up. Seriously. Just don’t.

Gain a new perspective. One of my favorite things to do is to listen to someone else’s life story. Often hearing about life from a different perspective renews my vision for what I’m writing.

Debra Weiss, editor of Today’s Teen Writer, is a twenty something writer living on the East Coast. When she’s not at her desk, she can usually be found at her local Wal-Mart, searching for the perfect notebook.

Every time I sign off on an editorial, I use the expression ‘be daring’. I say that because I believe writing (and life) should be an adventure. It should be fun, a discovery process of sorts.

When I was younger, the only thing I wrote were short stories. Then I branched out and wrote two novels. Then I branched out and wrote essays and devotionals. With each new adventure, I learned something about the writing process and myself.

It’s important to regularly stretch your writing. Try different forms of writing that you haven’t before. Write a song, haiku, devotional, short story, or play.

If you don’t want to tackle a different form of writing, then tackle a theme you haven’t before.

Whatever you decide to write, give yourself the creative space to discover, to dream, to dare.

Debra Weiss, editor of Today’s Teen Writer, is a twenty something writer living on the East Coast. When she’s not at her desk, she can usually be found at her local Wal-Mart, searching for the perfect notebook.