If you're writing a book and you're under 18, do not post it here

As a former underaged writer myself, I understand that the impetus to share your work - any work - with other folks. If you're like I was, you'll post it here, bad spelling and all, and eagerly await critique - and I want to urge you to reconsider this choice. You really shouldn't share it with anyone. You should not share your first drafts with anyone, and you should not share your first drafts with anyone who may not have your best interests at heart (that is, the majority of internet users).<br><br>The internet is a bad place for this for a lot of reasons. For one thing, if you have a bad habit of posting your work online, it's easy for someone to scrape your work off of the internet and steal it for themselves. This is something that happens a lot to 'tween writers on places like Wattpad - it's not something we like to talk about much, but it happens, and it - obviously - isn't good. And it's not just that either. If you post your work online, you can count on at least one person dropping in to sexually harass you. Maybe you won't get this, but I've found when I was twelve, the info that "I'm twelve!" seemed to not quite register with the men trying to holler at me.<br><br>And that's not even getting into the fact that you're posting a first draft - something that has probably had very little editing or critique. If you're still in high school, you might not even know how to edit; I know when I first started writing, I knew very little about how to write. And this is completely okay - it's okay to not be a good writer. The problem comes when you involve other people. If you post your first draft, you're going to attract a lot of people who will be very critical without being very constructive. This is something that a lot of writing communities tend to forget - that our "critiques" are not actually critiques, but raw, unfiltered feedback from people who have never spoken to us before in their lives. This can be frightening, if not outright intimidating, to someone working on their first novel. If you're new to writing, a harsh critique is enough to keep you from writing for good - something that, if you're like I was, you really don't want. And this is not even getting into all the folks who will deliberately try to discourage you from writing because you're young.<br><br>Again, I know from firsthand experience. By the time I was thirteen, I had been told to kill myself by multiple critiquers. By the time I was fifteen, I had been kicked out of multiple writing communities. By the time I was sixteen, I hated writing, and I started to hate myself too. And if I had never posted my work on the internet, none of that would have happened. If I had just kept writing for myself, I wouldn't have started to feel like I'd failed as a person. If I had just kept writing for myself, I would probably be more confident as a writer, and I would probably write more. If I had just kept writing for myself, I would probably be a much happier person.<br><br>I'm not saying you should never share your work. I'm just saying you should wait a while. If you're twelve, it's a good idea to wait a few years and just learn to write. I know that you want to learn, and I know that it seems like the best way to learn would be to get a critique, but this is a bad idea. You don't know enough to actually understand what a critique is saying, or how to apply the feedback. I know when I was twelve, I would often misinterpret a critiquer just because I didn't know the terminology. And - again - a lot of critiquers are very harsh. They can be very mean and very hurtful, and as a young person, you may not realize that just because someone is rude to you, doesn't mean it's your fault.<br><br>And finally, it's just not a good idea because you don't know very much. If you're twelve, it's unlikely you know very much about the world - and it's unlucky, since writing is about the world. I know when I was twelve, I wrote a story about domestic violence that actually made things worse for the victims. I wrote a book about poor people that portrayed them as thieves. You may not realize it, but when you're twelve, your grasp of the world is limited, to say the least. If you write a book at this age, you're probably going to fuck it up in some way, and it's better for everyone if you don't share something like that. After all, you wouldn't share your underwear with the world, and you shouldn't share your shitty first drafts, either.<br><br>As you get older, you'll realize all of this stuff. You'll realize that the 'tween years are not years to be spoken of. You'll learn how to write, how to edit, how to critique. You'll learn that a critiquer is not your friend, no matter how nice they act. You will get happier, you will get healthier, and you will get better. But I know it sucks right now. Waiting is hard, especially when you're young and you want everyone else to know how great you are. But it's better for you to wait. It's better for everyone if you wait. And if you're currently under 18 and you're posting your first drafts on the internet, I urge you to stop.<br><br>You will not regret it.<br><br>ETA: I'm glad this post has touched some hearts. I'd like to clarify that I have nothing against underage writers; if you want to share your work with someone, you should! Just be sure they're someone you trust; I'm not saying you can't share it with anyone, I'm saying you shouldn't share it with people you don't know very well. A lot of people in this thread have mentioned teachers and parents and writing groups as good alternatives, and I completely agree! By all means, share - just share with people you know and trust, not critiquers you don't know very well