Writing kids believeably

I'm having a problem, basically summarized by Most Writers Are Adults.

My main characters are a 12 year-old girl and a 14 or 15 year-old boy. But the way they sound when I write them, they both come out as far too mature. Any tips for writing characters of that age, and making them sound and act realistically?

These your vampire kids?

If you are already an adult, remember your teenage days. If not, imagine your teenage life. How did you act around? Did you have friends or at least other teens with the same interest as yours? What kind of activities you think teenagers usually participate in?

In our country, boys are all about playing computer games such as Defense of the Ancients, while the girls are all about hanging around with other girls their age. In either case, their favorite class is recess.

The above statement is a start. How about teens in your country?

edited 7th Feb '12 6:09:55 AM by judasmartel

Well, there's always this. Don't get caught up in all the details, mind you, but at least it's a place to start. You'll definitely want to collect some actual adolescent anecdotes, though.

Talk to/observe people around that age and see how they behave.

Remember how you talked, acted, thought, said, and behaved as a pre-teen.

And remember that personalities and circumstances will affect maturity.

edited 7th Feb '12 7:49:09 AM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

May I just make a brief note that having a child act unexpectedly mature in the greater part is not necessarily unrealistic? The key point is that, while they may act mature most of the time, the defining realistic element here is that a child or young adolescent does not have the emotional history to react in a consistently mature manner. That is, depending upon the kid, where they may be for the most part composed and sensible, there are going to be at least a few things where they have not lived long enough to have developed a sensible (or, at least, stereotyped) reaction to a situation, such as extreme stress, loss or social pressure.

I mostly write about really smart kids—I mean, it worked for Orson Scott Card. (Then again, he seems to have lost the knack for it in recent works.)

When I do have to write a child of normal or below-average intelligence, my first step is to give them simple dialogue. I don't worry too much about attitudes—a lot of kids these days are much, much more cynical than adults give them credit for. However, I may make their worldview lack nuance.

edited 7th Feb '12 12:56:27 PM by feotakahari

Is of the opinion they've always been more cynical than adults believe them to be. Come on, don't you remember turning on the sugar simply because a grown-up was in the room? Then turning around to be bullied by/ bully another when they're out of it?

There's a reason why fairy tales with lots of blood go down well with either gender when the horrible things happen to the villain. And, have done since the year dot.

Unless you're out to make a point about innocence or immaturity or something, portraying children realistically doesn't tend to go over as well with the audience as you would think.

Kids are simple. No, literally. Back a couple of layers of thought off the subject and you're likely to arrive at a kid's view.

Do you know any children?

Children are weird.

Nope, not weird... They've just yet to learn all the tricks of filtering and interpreting the world they see that most adults now take for granted. You'd be amazed how many short-cuts you develop to limit the - whoops - "make sense of the raw data" as you go along. And, kids do this, all while having a brain that rapidly restructures itself on a day-by-day basis.

It's hard being simple and complex, all at the same time! Kids are fascinating and frustrating miracles, not weird.

edited 9th Feb '12 12:38:22 PM by Euodiachloris

I love weirdness, though.

Seriously, children are great, but they are unquestionably strange to the average adult precisely because they have not developed those filters. Listening to a child and an adult talk about what is essentially exactly the same thing can be really perplexing to compare.

Quite a few. And I was one once. You seem to be agreeing with me no less. You simply phrase it differently.

edited 9th Feb '12 1:08:03 PM by Night

What you seemed to be implying is a lack of thought rather than a lack of consideration. They are entirely different things.

Actually, I'm suggesting neither; by "stripping a couple of layers of thought" off I mean most of us will have considered, thought about, these things many before and formed conclusions about them. Kids tend to react to things and make conclusions as though they are new.

I get what you mean. You just kind of phrased it in odd way. It happens.

Maturity is a wildly varying thing. A few hundred years ago, a 15 year old boy could have been forced to go to war; and a girl that age might already be married and having children. My point is, the maturity of tweens and teenagers is heavily shaped by their upbringing. If they live in a world where they have to adapt to harsh circumstances, they can be surprisingly mature for their age.

Look for stories that emphasize these concepts for an example, like Tekkon Kinkreet (two orphan boys band together: one has to be the 'adult' and take care of the younger one,) Lord Of The Flies (contrasts the innocence of children with their potential for cruelty,) and Homestuck (most of the main characters are the same age, but vary wildly in their behavior and outlooks on the world because of their backgrounds.)

Don't dwell too much on what's considered 'normal' psychology for this age. Focus more on your character's lives and how their experiences have shaped them.

edited 10th Feb '12 11:31:55 AM by Takwin