What is most important to teenage boys?

[Miss Plum]

Wow, Seth! I hope you've written about that -- elsewhere, I mean, not just here.

[Seth?]

Hahaha. Working on it


Also, I forgot to add this but probably the thing I was second most obsessed with in high school was getting into a good college, and it's worth mentioning because most of my friends were as well. I remember the guidance counselor always saying "no no Seth this isn't right for you, I think you would be more suited for so and so" but I was so intent on going to this one college and it just pissed me off every time she would tell me I couldn't (even though in reality she was right.)

I agree with what Lhipenwhe said about academics as well. I think a lot of people kind of assume that the "smart kids" have it really easy when it comes to school because well they're so smart so of course they just know everything and can never ever fail! But it's not really like that. It's a LOT of pressure (that's universal for everything in high school really.) You know what happened to Brian in The Breakfast Club, where he'd never gotten an F in his life and then when he did it completely crushed him? So obsessed with how now his GPA wouldn't be perfect? That's how it is in real life too. People obsess.

Oh and if you're writing about someone in late high school who plans on going to college right after, writing the essays and filling out all the papers is kind of exciting at first but God it gets so draining. The exciting part is when you get your envelope in the mail, and when it's light you get really sad subconciously but at the same time you're like "fuck it maybe there's just not much to know" and you open it, and most of the time you'll be crushed and wait for the next one but sometimes it's good. And on those rare occasions where you get into THE ONE, that you've reeeeaally wanted to go to ever since >insert date here<, that thing that they show in the movies where you're all excited and jumping around and like "OH MY GOD MOM I GOT IN!!!!" that actually happens. It did for me anyway, and if I remember correctly, for my sister.

So that's a bunch of stuff I forgot. Good luck!

[The_Ink_Goddess]

Just to add a little bit of an edge to the "you're not writing A guy, you're writing YOU'RE guy", which I 98% agree with...but I have to be honest and say that there are some lady authors out there whose male character makes me cringe. I know I probably shouldn't mention names but Logan from FORBIDDEN was the first one that sprung to mind -- I do think that, as girls, we do have to consider the "male perspective" a little bit. Even if only a little.

But, at the same time, the "no boys are sensitive/subtle/intelligent" theme that I see running through a lot of reviews bugs me a bit. Consider: Charlie from THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. If Stephen Chbosky had been a female author, reviewers would probably be all up in her shit, saying, "Oh, no, boys don't think/talk like that"...

[Lineykins]

Thanks for the further responses.

Seth - I'm with Miss Plum - your story is fascinating - thank you for sharing a bit of it here.

[Maxinquaye]

First of all, don't be sexist.

Don't fall for the ideas which girls propagate around the wine bottles when they get together to talk about boys. You know, guys only think about sex. Guys only wants to get in your knickers. Guys are dorky, brutes.

Guys are as complex and varied as everyone else. Of course they'll think about sex, but it will be tinged by actually wanting to be with that girl (or boy) out of bed too. It is said that there's nothing so pathetic as a fifteen year old boy in love, and there's a lot of truth in that. Societal pressure will make sure that this boy never speak of it, so what the girls (or boys) will see is what is displayed outward. The inner reality is different than the outer reality.

Since we're the same species it will, like people have said above, be remarkably similar states of emotions between boys and girls. Culture will however make guys and girls display it differently.

So, don't be sexist, and only base your guy on external cues that get sniggered about among the girls.

Keep also in mind that lack of knowledge is not an indicator of intelligence. A sixteen year old is mostly of adult intelligence, but lack knowledge and experience. Don't write about a guy that doesn't know something as if he's bone stupid. A sixteen year old is not a child. It is a nearly adult member of the human race.

How's that for advice?

[Lineykins]

How's that for advice?

Appreciate your thoughts and time.

don't be sexist

um, I wasn't planning on it, but thanks for the tip

[wampuscat]

I asked my hubby about this because I'm outlining a book with a male POV, and he said that teenage boys are just like teenage girls and feel all the same kinds of things, only deeper. Not deeper as in the emotions are deeper, but deeper like an iceberg-they only show a tiny bit of what's way beneath the surface. And not that girls are shallow, but that they are more likely to express their emotions.

I don't know if I agree with him completely, cause there's some stereotyping in it for sure, but I thought that he thought of himself that way as a teen was sweet in a way.

[CoryG]

I'm a high school teacher so I'm around hundreds of them a day. Here are my thoughts:

A)80% of the time they will be thinking about girls... the amount of sex involved in those thoughts is directly proportional to what the object of their affection is wearing that day.

B) ALL teenage males will do something incredibly dorky at some point during the course of a day regardless of how cool they are or think they are

C)They all pout

D)They are all smart-asses

[comped]

Originally Posted by thebloodfiend

Wondering why people always assume that your white girlfriend must be fat and named Tracy if you're a black guy dating a white chick, and if you should bring her home to mom and dad.

^ Hairspray reference (although the black guy (seaweed (yes that's his real name...) if you want to know) ends up with her non-fat, but still white friend...

Seriously, being a teenage male, and in a bit different situation then most, this post may turn out to not apply to what you need, or it may fit like a glove.

1. like was said, sex. I know, I know it's overstated, but I wanted to state it again If you go down this route with the plot PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE include a good teen pregnancy subplot with the boy not walking out (unlike glee and the rest of them...)...

2. theatre (well this applies to me). I'm a huge actor. It pisses me off when no talent kids get in because the director likes them. Stuff like the others not knowing their lines... (you could write a whole book about a straight teen boy's expediences in HS theatre!)

3. disability. I struggle with this problem every day. This isn't addressed much in YA books, that I know of. When it is, it is often toned down. Believe me, you got as good disabled character's story, and it will be powerful. (and by extension, sell loads)

4. Girls. Man that causes me grief. They like you one day, hate you the next. I'm at a school with unreliable electric systems, and when the lights went out in the hallway, a year 12 girl (senior for you Americans) said "hey!" I turned my head. "The lights are out. Wanna fuck?" lol

I'll tell more later

comped

[huu]

Originally Posted by Question

EDIT: This is probably important for anyone else writing FOR guys: Most guys I know want to feel important.

I think this is important. I was once there too, and yes, I think this is something particularly important to guys. Feeling like they're "handy".

[writingguy]

This is a tough question because I don't know if the things I worried about applied to me as a guy or just applied to me because of my personal situation. Looking at specific humiliations/concerns:

1) I worried constantly that anyone would find out my mother was an alcoholic. Biggest, most all-consuming fear for me, because I couldn't hide it - it was external, rather than internal.

2) I was embarrassed to be seen helping my mother walk down the hall and out of the school after a meeting (she had troubles walking for health reasons unrelated to her drinking). It was in the middle of a class, so there weren't many people around, but having anyone see was really mortifying.

3) We were poor, and I got free lunch tickets which I was usually too embarrassed to retrieve because I didn't want my friends to know. One day, a helpful lunch monitor brought me the ticket I had "forgotten", and I had to accept it in front of my friends.

4) Having my sister's "rich friend" offer to buy her a new winter coat, which upset my sister. Someone telling a local church we were hard up and them bringing bags of groceries around at Thanksgiving (which we didn't need and which made my mother cry).

5) Telling my best friend that I was gay and had a crush on him, only for him to tell me he didn't feel the same way (but was proud of me for coming out). Made me extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable.

6) Worrying that my super conservative stepfather would kick me out if he knew I was gay. In fact, I worried more about how to tell my family than whether anyone at school thought I was gay or not. I never really got teased about seeming gay, though.

7) Instead, I got teased for being fat. I could handle the weird girl I didn't know telling me I had bigger breasts than her mother, or the jerk who called me a girl and then pretended he'd been talking to his friend across the hall. It hurt, but I could brush it off. Not so easy when my friends - people I thought *liked* me - didn't realize I was around the corner, out of sight, and said that if I ever became a parent I could do the nursing of the kids.

So... this doesn't sound like the entirely typical "get a sweet ride, a fixer-upper of a car" or "I hope that the popular girl likes me". But these were things that I worried about and was embarrassed by in my high school days. Concerns were mostly focused on perception of my family and interpersonal relationships, as well as some worries about body image/popularity thrown in there.

I hope you find this helpful in some way!

Edited to add: Sorry if this veered away from "things I worried about as a teenage guy" and into a top 10 "my most embarrassing moments". Maybe the examples highlight some of the kinds of things I was worried about, though.

[Lineykins]

Thanks so much for the further responses - all very useful. I appreciate your sharing your experiences/thoughts with me.