Writing for Young People

Written by Harry Fritsch

One of the common misconceptions about writing stories for young people is that you have to “dumb it down” to cater for their age group. If only!

Here’s the thing about kids and teens: they’re far more inquisitive than us adults can ever dream of being. This means they can smell out a condescending script from a mile away. And it makes sense. Their place in society is to be at the receiving end of the conversation. Parents, teachers, and other adult figures easily fall into the trap of talking down to young people instead of engaging them in a two-way dialogue.

The last thing young people want is to be treated the same way by writers.

Then there’s the other eternal problem. Trying too hard. Filling your script or stories with references and phrases that are definitely “hip with the kids” right now. My next play is going to be called TikTok of the Skibidi Rizz. I think I used all those words correctly…

Young people will, naturally, roll their eyes at anything they feel is trying way too hard to connect with their generation. It won’t be an honest work for either the writer or their audience and should probably stay locked away with out-of-touch marketing executives.

So, how do you write for young people while avoiding these common pitfalls?

Simple. You engage with them. The first play I ever co-wrote with Virag Dombay was Dear Adults… It was a verbatim work of theatre that took the thoughts and concerns of contemporary young people (gathered from interviews) and shaped those words into scenes that held real, tangible meaning for its performers.

My play The Playground in the Sky was inspired by the real stories of children who were affected by the Brisbane floods. I combined these with my own experience of natural disaster, sprinkled in some magical realism, and wrapped it all up in a semi-fictional, semi-non-fictional context and setting that hopefully has a timeless quality to it.

This isn’t to say I have mastered writing for young people. Far from it. But if I ever feel stuck for inspiration when drafting a kids story or feel as though my high school scripts are veering into cringey territory, I usually just go straight to the target market and involve them in the process.

Kids and teens are way smarter than we often think. If you’re writing for young people, you’d be smart not to forget it.

You can order or pre-order a range of plays and play collections written for young people from the writers at Play on Stage. Pick up your copies today!