Teen and YA Fiction writing prompt

Messages in the School Locker

Write a story about a teen who starts receiving anonymous, cryptic messages in their locker. As they try to figure out who is sending them and why, they begin to unpack the history of their school and a long-lost treasure that's supposed to be hidden somewhere within its walls.

Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000

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Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.

  1. End with a choice only this hero would make.
  2. Make the adults well-meaning but wrong.
  3. Use the way your hero texts to show who they are.

Writing young adult books

Ages 12 to 18: firsts, identity and everything at stake.

Young adult fiction is written for teens, with protagonists usually 14 to 18. Every genre lives here, from fantasy to thrillers to romance. What makes it YA is the voice: immediate, intense and inside a teenager's head.

What readers expect

  • A teen protagonist
  • An immediate, close voice
  • Identity and independence
  • Big feelings, taken seriously

A tip before you start

Write from inside a teen's head, not from an adult looking back. That immediacy is what separates YA from an adult book with a young hero.

More about young adult in our book genres guide

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More Teen and YA prompts

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