Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Word for a Female Teenager? [closed]

+0
−0

Closed by System‭ on Nov 4, 2016 at 21:54

This question was closed; new answers can no longer be added. Users with the reopen privilege may vote to reopen this question if it has been improved or closed incorrectly.

I am writing a book about a teenage girl. In one line, I am saying that she saw another female. When I say...

she saw another girl

I think saying girl will make her sound like a child rather than a teenager (aged 15) and simply saying woman makes her seem more mature and like a woman in her 20's or older.

But saying...

a teenage girl that was of an age similar to her

seems like over doing it and too many common words. Any suggestions?

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/25115. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

2 answers

You are accessing this answer with a direct link, so it's being shown above all other answers regardless of its score. You can return to the normal view.

+1
−0

Your best bet in this scenario will simply be to prevent the reader from forming any false impressions. You can do this by correcting him immediately after the word.

She saw another girl, about fifteen years old.

You can use either girl or woman; be sure to use the word that you would use to describe the viewer.

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

+1
−0

In regards to your first example, if you establish beforehand that the protagonist is a teenager, the reader isn't liable to assume that the other girl is a child because of the another preceding the girl in the sentence.
Putting another girl is enough for the reader to gather that this other chick is also a teen girl, because she is directly compared to the protagonist, and also is not described as little, or small, etc.

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25120. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads