Noticing Newbies

Hiya, Rae Miller ,

Welcome to Writing.Com! We are glad to have you join our online community. It sounds like you know what you want and have the determination to get there. That's so good to see. I'm sure you'll find plenty of members here who will be more than happy to help you on your journey. Just so you know, there are several novel review groups that are available for novelists that focus on improving through reviewing each other's novels. If you think that is something you'd like to do, click on "Browse by Type" on the left side bar and choose "Groups". Then you can enter 'novel' into the search bar on that page and it will bring up the groups who focus on novels. It may give you a starting point for finding like-minded individuals.

As for my personal view on your statement about how young you want to sound in the book, I think that sounding like a seventeen year old is a great way to appeal to that age group of readers. If a teenager picks up the book and reads a chapter, they will be much more likely to keep reading if it feels realistic to their age group. I read YA novels a lot, and I very much enjoy seeing the teenage aspect of things. Adults view serious issues a bit differently than teens, and a lot of teens out there need to see it from someone their age to listen. (At least, that's my opinion. )

If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or shoot me an email. I'm usually online a couple of times a day.

Happy Writing!

~Joy