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Q&A How can I accurately represent young adult dialogue?

I would be careful about being too specific with slang for teenagers. There are huge regional variations, and what may sound natural to teen readers in one region (or even part of town!) could sou...

posted 13y ago by Kate S.‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:02:59Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4398
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Kate S.‭ · 2019-12-08T02:02:59Z (almost 5 years ago)
I would be careful about being too specific with slang for teenagers. There are huge regional variations, and what may sound natural to teen readers in one region (or even part of town!) could sound unnatural and jarring to readers from not that far away.

You also have to make sure you aren't 'dating' your story, as slang changes fairly quickly over time.

This isn't to say that you should have your teen characters speaking like college professors, but just that discretion is valuable. Use 'teen speak' for seasoning, but not for the whole meal!

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2011-11-07T23:29:16Z (almost 13 years ago)
Original score: 10