Looking for Teen Beta Readers

[ResurreSAN]

I want to create a realistic teen dialogue, but I'm struggling with it. So please help.

 

[idontknowwhoiam]

You've never been a teenager? Are you an alien?

 

[Rorogan]

UwU

 

[Irl_Rat]

Define what you mean by teen. Is this in a early pubescent 9-13ish range. A highschool 15-18ish range. Or flat out young adult but kind of not range, 18-20. Each group is very distinct from one another.

What demographic are said teens you want to write about? Broke urban kids? Internet goblins? Band or theater "people"? "Normal" human beings?

Also keep in mind that many people are affected by the media the consume. This goes for their manner of speech. So it is genuinely valid to copy how adult entertainers speak and apply it, with less exaggeration, to the audience that consumes it.

 

[ResurreSAN]

Define what you mean by teen. Is this in a early pubescent 9-13ish range. A highschool 15-18ish range. Or flat out young adult but kind of not range, 18-20. Each group is very distinct from one another.

What demographic are said teens you want to write about? Broke urban kids? Internet goblins? Band or theater "people"? "Normal" human beings?

Also keep in mind that many people are affected by the media the consume. This goes for their manner of speech. So it is genuinely valid to copy how adult entertainers speak and apply it, with less exaggeration, to the audience that consumes it.

It's 13-18 age range.

 

[Irl_Rat]

It's 13-18 age range.

America? Or other location?

 

[DarkeReises]

for me, 'realistic teen dialogue' is random spatterings of porn/hentai, weapons and warfare, best ways to kill a person, games, more ways to kill a person, and how much we hate school and life

 

[Agentt]

Listen...
No one wants realistic teen dialogue, believe me,

Teens may like it, but others will just be cringed to oblivion.

 

[Deleted member 58005]

How do teens speak though?

 

[IDKWtWrite-San]

is it modern or old-school teen dialogue? cuz, if the year lets say is 2018 and Philippines is the location then the trend for example are computer games (ROS, PUBG, CF, Dota2, LOL), mobile legend, western music, anime, recent news stuff like that for the bois while the girls are kinda..... like some type of slang (although the bois use it too), korean music, korean drama, wattpad, love stories, gossip.

Although I do think the realistic teen would bore some people out as Agentt said.

 

[LilRora]

for me, 'realistic teen dialogue' is random spatterings of porn/hentai, weapons and warfare, best ways to kill a person, games, more ways to kill a person, and how much we hate school and life

Add to that discussing recent events and laughing their asses off when bringing up new funny (and often stupid) things that happened during some party or trip.

That said though, if you ask me, it's better to skip that part of the story. It's mostly cringey and boring. But if you want to write it nevertheless, then what must be there is chaos, short sentences, randomness, and a lot of mental leaps.

 

[Mellohwa]

I want to create a realistic teen dialogue, but I'm struggling with it. So please help.

I can't help you with that, since I'm struggling to even hold a proper conversation.

 

[JayDirex]

I want to create a realistic teen dialogue, but I'm struggling with it. So please help.

What you're really asking is: What do teens talk about?

Teens in general (and no, I don't mean you weirdo introverts that hated high school, everything is not about you drama queens).

Healthy American teenagers in general are highly social. Almost everything about them requires input and or acknowledgment from their peer group. WHAT they will talk about is whatever is in their world: high school, games, events, celebrity and media worship, their futures as adults and with each other, the pecking order of peer groups. Who is popular, who is sleeping with who. Who is in love with who.

Teenagers only have a knowledge of now and the present with peers because they have not experienced the tragic existence of adulthood yet. So they speak to each other as if friendships won't change, love is forever. And the slightest drama is turned up 10x in their lesser formed brains : Samantha didn't text me after the school dance = My whole world is over, and I can't go on.

And that's fine, because they don't know any better


In regard to Adults. Adults to a teenager only exists for a few functions:

1. Caring family that provides support, discipline, and money.
2. Outside of family, adults exist to be ridiculed to their face, laughed at.
3. Obstacles to overcome or be avoided.
4. Used to provide help, info (teachers, etc)

And if you are still clueless I have THREE HIGH SCHOOL NOVELS YOU CAN READ

 

[Sayu]

Talking from experience a good chunk of them talk about girls and boys, like in a very not appropriate way. There are some who just shout random things in the middle of nowhere, example the male genitalia. A good few of them say things like 'I not taking that disrespect'. In my friend group there's a girl who just talks very sarcastically, not in a bad way, it's kind of hard to explain but it's kind of like something so over the top that it's funny. This might just be my school thing but there's a few slurs and good bit of curse words being thrown around.

If you're going for 13 - 15ish year olds, I'd say have immature dialogue with edgy humour in it.

I'm not really the social type so I don't really fully know everything, these are just the things I observed.

I also want to mention people like to play devil's advocate a lot.

 

[Ymadthepirate]

Listen...
No one wants realistic teen dialogue, believe me,

Teens may like it, but others will just be cringed to oblivion.

Haha very funny
It I could help you but I go to a high school and teenagers talk like normal people, just more vulgar and mean

 

[Jemini]

I want to create a realistic teen dialogue, but I'm struggling with it. So please help.

Teens talk about basically the same thing adults talk about, only with a bit more drama and urgency in their thought process and impatience with a desire for instant gratification. Basically, teens are incapable of taking the long view on anything other than things that adults have prepared them to take the long view on, such as what kind of job they will have in the future. It takes an adult's influence keeping the teen on track in order for them to really take the long view on anything.

So, yeah. That's probably the one somewhat challenging thing to keep in mind about writing for a teen. Remove all, or nearly all, thoughts about future planning (in a sense of not being able to think beyond the next few weeks, and even then they only think in terms of their own personal social schedules.) Once you've done that, just select subjects that anyone else would talk about in a similar situation.

Then, as other people have mentioned previously, dial up their emotional investment in things. Because they lack experience, and lack future perspective, whatever's going on now is the most important thing in the world and gets over-dramatized to unhealthy levels.

That's pretty much what teen dialogue looks like.

 

[Ymadthepirate]

Talking from experience a good chunk of them talk about girls and boys, like in a very not appropriate way. There are some who just shout random things in the middle of nowhere, example the male genitalia. A good few of them say things like 'I not taking that disrespect'. In my friend group there's a girl who just talks very sarcastically, not in a bad way, it's kind of hard to explain but it's kind of like something so over the top that it's funny. This might just be my school thing but there's a few slurs and good bit of curse words being thrown around.

If you're going for 13 - 15ish year olds, I'd say have immature dialogue with a edgy humour in it.

I'm not really the social type so I don't really fully know everything, these are just the things I observed.

I also want to mention people like to play devil's advocate a lot.

who's to say edgy humor is between 13-15
And IMo edgy humor is my favorite type of humor

 

[OokamiOkuri]

You've never been a teenager? Are you an alien?

It's an AI.

 

[Ymadthepirate]

Don't forget the staple of all teen dialogue - The snark, Snarky, witty, sarcastic comebacks to everything like yours truly.

 

[DarkeReises]

Don't forget the staple of all teen dialogue - The snark, Snarky, witty, sarcastic comebacks to everything like yours truly.

what snarky, witty, sarcastic comebacks do you ever bring to the table? you should get yourself checked out