Three Tips for Writing G-Rated and PG-Rated Tween/Ya Fiction

Reading Tween/YA Fiction

Before I talk about writing G-Rated and PG-Rated tween/ya fiction let me ask you -Have you ever picked up a book for your tween or teen in the library and opened it only to shut it quickly because it’s laced with obscenities and sexual innuendo?

Your cheeks flush. “No you can’t read that,” you say as you shove it back on the shelf.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that myself. It’s disheartening for the parent and tween/ teen alike. I remember the day when it seemed we had bought ALL the books we could in the bookstore. Everything else was too graphic with sex scenes and F-bombs and other language I didn’t want my kids reading.

Shouldn’t We Let Our Teens Experience the Current Culture?

If you are one of those parents/writers who think kiddos should be exposed to everything just because it’s part of the culture, then you can stop reading now. I am going to be making some valid points about writing novels (almost) free of curse words and graphic scenes in a minute, but first, let me set a foundation. If you are a Christian (I am), then Ephesians 5: 4 sets a clear command for us.

Let there be no filthiness (obscenity, indecency) nor foolish and sinful (silly and corrupt) talk, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting or becoming; but instead voice your thankfulness [to God].

As with all of the Biblical commands, it isn’t just for one area of our lives. I know what you’re thinking, we can’t even turn on the TV without hearing every obscenity, why not just give in to the culture? Or are you telling me your kids never read anything without obscenities? If that were true, we may have had gone no further than Fun With Dick and Jane. So, no, I’m not saying that. My high schoolers read some quality literature with character change and major life lessons that may have had an obscenity here and there. “Eat the chicken, throw out the bones,” John Holtzman of Sonlight Curriculum advised- meaning take the valuable lessons and throw out the rest. 

Does this mean we writers can continue down the cultural path filling our books with lurid images and obscenities? We don’t have to. If you’re a Christian writer, no. Does avoiding writing according to the current culture mean our novel needs to be full of scripture? Nope. Or devoid of any hardship or difficulties for the main character to overcome? Nope.

Is the Word of God Devoid of Hardships or Difficulties?

If you’ve read the Bible cover to cover, you know it’s full of stories:

• of bad decisions
• rape
• murder
•  miracles
• war
• pillaging
• plundering
• sacrifice
• witchcraft
• judgment
• obedience
• disobedience
• kings
• concubines
• lies
• dry bones coming back to life victory
• and the ultimate sacrifice of a God-king who came to save us all and give us eternal life.

Every theme of literature is covered.

Character change for the good and for evil. It’s all there. Those are the sorts of things we writers love. We love a great story with disaster/dilemmas, obstacles, blackest moments, and character change in the end. Can we write this without showing too much skin? That is – can we share the story without leading the reader into places of temptation or full of words we don’t want them reciting later as part of their vocabulary? I say yes.

That Guy With No Obscenity Filter

We live in a lake community. Some of the houses are used as vacation rentals. Our neighbor has three units in his large chalet that are usually booked during the summer. Since our houses aren’t really close together and we have some woods between us, it’s usually fine. In fact, I enjoy sitting on my porch swing listening to families laugh and cheer while they play games and eat.

 But, every once in a while there’s a group that has THAT GUY. His language sounds like this “Cuss this, what the cuss? Did you see that cussing throw. I cussed it up!” and it continues for the whole weekend. No personal boundaries. No respect for the audio-sphere of everyone else. To top it off, he is louder than everyone else. I feel violated just sitting on my front porch. That’s the way I feel about tons of obscenities in any book I read- violated. That’s why I rarely use them in my writing.

Three Tips for Writing G-Rated and PG-Rated Tween/YA Novels

It took some meandering to get here, but here we are- my three tips.

I don’t use words I wouldn’t have wanted my tween/teen to use.

My novel-writing career started at a bookstore. I was there with a friend and her tween, Rebekah. Rebekah was looking for a new book to read. Every book she selected her mom opened, took a gander, and slammed it shut with a firm, NO! Rebekah was obviously upset. It felt as if she were being punished because writers were like THAT GUY with no obscenity filter. We left the bookstore and went to dinner at Olive Garden. While we waited for our food, I told Rebekah I would write a book she could read. We started plotting it out on a napkin right then and there. Those notes on a napkin became The Case of the Missing Person. I’ve already talked about my kids’ struggle with finding great reading material. When I realized it was a problem for others, I decided to start writing novels.

I Can Write About Current Culture With Few Obscenities and Too Much Skin Showing

I can write about current cultural crises like human trafficking, the plight of at-risk foster kids and teens, kidnapping, trafficking scouts online, and what the effects of trauma look like in a teen without a stream of obscenities. And yes, that’s what I write about. Why? Because I think it’s important to tell stories that educate and entertain at the same time. Also, when a foster teen reads my YA and adult novels, I want her to see there is hope. She can be the heroine of her own story. You may be thinking how can you talk about human trafficking without the obscenities and lurid sex scenes? It is possible. You’ll just have to read one and find out. *If you’d like a free copy of my first novel – Defining Home, click here or scroll down to the bottom to find out more about it.

There are other word choices in a thesaurus.

There are other words in a thesaurus. When my kiddos were younger and we heard THAT GUY with no obscenity filter out and about, I would say, “Get that man a thesaurus.” If you didn’t have a thesaurus of your very own when you were growing up, I’m sorry. My kids all did and if by some remote chance, they read this, they all just uttered a groan. It’s not a kind of dinosaur. It’s a reference book to look up words that have similar meanings so you can make your prose more colorful. Now I can use one on my computer and it’s great fun. 

We can get repetitive in our language because we don’t know what else to say. We fall into patterns. I get it. I think our culture has fallen into a pattern of using obscenities instead of other words when we are angry, upset, excited, or fill in the blank. No judgment from me. That’s not the point of this article. As a writer, I should use the full scope of the language and not get stuck in repetitive patterns whether everyone else is or not.

Wrapping it Up

This post is not to put any writer down. You write what you know. You write what you think is best. My target audience is tween/YA adult Christians and Christian women. Hopefully, foster teens and adopted teens will read my books and find hope. Maybe you have experienced some of the traumas I mentioned above. Maybe reading one of my novels will bring some hope and healing to you all without a plethora of obscenities (someone take my thesaurus, right?). I write because I think some serious cultural issues can be brought to light by a character who actually overcomes and doesn’t succumb (although there are moments you think she will).

Defining Home

In central Europe, there are over a million orphans. The system is broken. Teens aging out of the system are scouted, groomed, and trafficked. They have no one. They have nowhere to go. These teens are a prime target for traffickers.

After ten years in a Polish orphanage, Adelina’s dream of finding a home is coming true. And, so is her worst nightmare. After a new intern appears, Daria, Adelina’s best friend’s, adoption falls through. Then Daria disappears. With a human trafficking ring in the area targeting teens, Adelina must save her friend or go to the states with her new family. When Adelina steps right into the clutches of a human trafficker, will she make it out alive? Is it too late for Daria? Is this the end for both of them? Find out what happens to Adelina by grabbing your copy today!

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