KEEP IT real

Writing for teenagers sometimes feels like trying to get an octopus into a jumpsuit. They don’t stop moving long enough to get a good grip, nothing fits properly and just when you think you’ve got somewhere they slip away again: skinny limbs and massive eyes everywhere.

Teenagers are potentially the most elusive audience on the planet. Unlike writing for adults – where your target demographic essentially just becomes more and more themselves every day until they die – teenagers are constantly changing, with ideas, emotions, passions and interests in daily flux. As a group, they are mercurial and fascinating; as individuals, they shape-shift by the minute. What they loved yesterday they will deride today; their passions will become their greatest enemies and visa versa.

Therefore staying up to date with ‘teen trends’ is an impossible task: they’re often not that sure what they want themselves. And they certainly can’t tell you what’s going to be cool in a few