Things Teens Can Write About

Past Experiences

• Teenagers can write about past experiences in their personal journals or for class assignments. Writing about experiences in narrative form is a core writing standard for students in grades nine to 12, according to CoreStandards.org. A teen can provide details about the event, discuss emotional responses associated with the experience and explain why the event is significant to her. She can strengthen her writing skills by setting the stage, creating an intriguing plotline, captivating readers with a thought-provoking introduction and summing up her experience in the conclusion.

Pop Culture

• Some teens enjoy writing about pop culture because it has historical and social relevance. They might write about trends, celebrities, current events, media, music, books, electronics, fashion, food, consumable goods, politics and technology. Teens can write about how pop culture has influenced them directly or how it has affected society as a whole. Pop culture is important to teens because it's something they can share with their peers. Teens might even compare and contrast present-day pop culture with societies of the past.

Fictional Stories

• Fictional stories give teenagers the opportunity to explore creative writing. They can create bizarre characters, outlandish plots and obscure themes, or they can stick with traditional stories based on believable characters and common story lines. Writing fiction is fun because the parameters are wide, giving teens a way to express themselves in ingenious and unconventional ways. Parents and teachers can encourage proper grammar, structure, spelling and overall fluidity, while allowing room for experimentation. Teens can also create original poetry or write song lyrics to expand their creative writing skills.

Views and Values

• Deep-thinking, cerebral teens often enjoy writing about philosophical issues, values, religion, politics and relationships. They might compare and contrast political views over the past century or debate religious beliefs in their writings. Some teenagers have less difficulty defining their values and explaining their beliefs on paper than in verbal communication. Others might struggle with friendships, romantic relationships or family relationships and find writing to be a positive way to express and release their emotions. Even though teens need instruction on how to become accomplished writers, some gain better skills just by writing, editing and rewriting their own papers.