I'm writing a short story hear and I want some emotional distress between my female character and her family. I'm a male so I don't have any knowledge on this. My character is a teenage female and she's having some serious issues between her mother and father. Maybe some females here could help me out here and could tell me these problems could possibly be.
Well, a lot of common problems for teenage girls are the need for freedom and independence... girls feeling frustrated when they're told they can't date the boy next door... wanting to wear make-up and not being allowed to... but those are very stereotypical things. I can't think of anything right now but I'll add later if I can help
Perfect question for me to answer: -Don't understand her problems.. -Not accepting her 'Boyfriend' -Expectations.. Can't think of anything else..despite myself being a teenager..I don't have many problems with my parents soo..xD
When I was a teenager (which wasn't that long ago), my parents were never controlling with stuff like makeup/shaving/how I do my hair/etc...to be honest I've never understood why people's parents cared about that stuff, unless their kid was dressing like she's an easy lay or something. Umm stuff that could cause friction...maybe if all her friends were going to a theme park or concert or something and she's the only one not allowed to go...or maybe they put way too much pressure on her (like acting like getting a B on a report card isn't good enough for them), or as people have noted, the dating thing.
Teenager is embarrassed about where they live or maybe one or both of her parents are alcoholic/s. The daughter could be a disappointed to the parents, she does not -and possibly could not-live up to their unreasonable expectations. Or maybe the daughter is not as pretty, bright, intelligent as some other family member's or neighbour's daughter and is always being compered with the other girl. Maybe the daughter is the black-sheep of the family. The parents don't like the company she keeps. The parents are not strict enough- they do not set boundaries, therefore the daughter feels unloved.
An issue with teenage girls today is sometimes weight. There is a lot of pressure out there, and I know my sister got a hard time in the family home for dieting when she didn't need to at all!
I really appreciate the help. I didn't realize I had posted this thread in General Writing. I meant to put it in Character Development. I think I know which one I want to go with. It's just difficult for me to write dialogue for this since I'm not a female and can't really relate to it. I'll keep trying though.
Just make her human and find some women to look at it for you. My first novel was POV of a seventeen year old boy (I was never a typical teen and I was a 33 year old woman at the time). I have got him passed by several teens lol I accepted their help when they read it and gave feedback.
If you think about the logic of it, a kid is basically trapped in a house/life that they don't have to economic means to escape. Also, we did not choose our parents and so the kid is under the control of people who have unknown values. For instance, your mom is your mom, but before you came along she could have been a prostitute or a nun and if she didn't tell you have no idea who she really is. Her motivations for instructing you could be coming from a very weird place, or the best possible. The same goes for dad, of course. The kid has little experience in the world and may see smart values as being oppressive because they haven't observed/experienced the consequences. The kid may be the one with the good values, and their parents are out of it, but still control the kid. In both situations, the kid is likely to do the exact opposite of what the parents value and it's like a mini-revolution. Some things to look up: 1. Oppositional Defiant Disorder. 2. Borderline Personality Disorder. Tone these down a bit and you'll have the correct shade of a rebellious person.
