I'm about to write a script featuring tenaged runaways. However I want to try and be at least somewhat realistic. 1.Could anyone tell me where typicaly teenaged runaways live? Someone else's house, in an alley, an abandoned building? 2.Do run away teens, on the average, steal what they need, other illegal activities, or do they get odd jobs like at a fast food place?
This is is too vague a question as things like, Age, Gender, Location, Motive, Planning, and the like all play the most important factors. There is no "One Answer" to this question. Again, this depends on the Age, Gender, Race, Location and motive of the Runaway as well as their own personal morals and ideals along with what is available to them. This might help you : Runaway Lives.
Why didn't you do some research? If you do a google search on such things as "runaway teens", "runaway girls" and "runaway boys", you'll find all the information you need. I only did one of those searches and found a huge number of interesting sites, but you need to study the information yourself.
You realize by saying this you're pretty much saying this section is useless, and if it's useless, why are you even here?
Also try some variations - exploited teens, homeless children, etc. Add in place names, too, if you have a location in mind for the story. You'll be gathering information from a much broader information pool than just one (albeit awesome ) web forum.
Useless? Not at all. Discussions on research usually begin after a person has already done the basics and they bring specific questions about the topic for further discussion. But, when you ask a nebulous general question, do you expect us to do your basic homework for you? As far as me being here, I was hoping to offer you some guidance since you asked such a broad question.
If the question is, should we do the research for you, or give you tips on doing the research, my answer is: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
I'm afraid that I'll have to agree with the others. I've only been at this site for a short time but to me, this site is all about helping aspiring writers develop their work ... the key word being develop. You can't develop something from nothing. You have to bring something to the table. In terms of your original questions, I would suggest that you look into motivation. Why do kids run away? Everyone leaves for a different reason i.e. abuse or rebellion against parental authority. My next door neighbor's kid ran away because of an accidental shooting. While playing tough guy with a stolen handgun that had been stuffed into the waistband of his trousers, he told his cousin, "If anyone messes with me, this is what I'll do." He then pulled out the handgun, put the muzzle to his cousin's head, and pulled the trigger. Although he had taken the magazine out of the weapon, he didn't realize that it was off safety and he didn't know that there was a round in the chamber. I heard the shot. I heard a woman scream. Within minutes there were police swarming my neighborhood looking for this kid. So ... one place to start with your script is basic research. Why do kids run away? If you can identify motivation, the rest should flow into place. A kid who runs away because he shot his cousin will react differently from a kid who's simply rebelling against authority. The former needs to hide from the law. The latter may simply want to have a good time.
i have to agree with the consensus here... you need to do your own homework, not ask others to do it for you... once you've gleaned whatever info you can get from a google search, if you still have some questions, then's the time to ask... not before you even go looking for yourself...
You're assuming I didn't google information in the first place. Well guess what. I did google it and all I find are things about why they run away, and vague info on where they go, which is no help. So I did my research before this thread was even created. Google's search system can be atrocious when looking for something very specific.
Why don't you tell us about the MC. Give us the tight and skinny here, start with a basic description of their home life, why they want to run away, gender, age, skin tone, moral upbringing, religious belief, etc etc. also note: Providing Mental issues, social life and the like would be greatly helpful. Then we can help you get a feel for what might happen to them on the "Street" Some of us have looked into this already, and done quite a bit of research and as such they can help you, but until you prove a working base, their hands are tied. Too many variables make giving an solid answer impossible. Do they end up in abandoned homes? yes, some of them do. Some of them in churches, or taken in by the state (As any child under 18 is not allowed to b eon their own unless they have obtained legal right to do so) many of them do snits in juve. It all depends on what they can find. There are a lot of options and I have personally seen quite a few of them. I am sure Chef Dave has as well. As for what they need to survive. Again, it all depends on what becomes open to them and their own morals.
I didn't have any problem finding information. This took me about five minutes. Stanford Study sheds light on hidden population of homeless teens http://news-service.stanford.edu/pr/91/911118Arc1054.html Survival Guide for Homeless Teens http://guide2homelessness.blogspot.com/2004/12/message-to-homeless-teens.html Making a Better Place for Homeless Teens http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0208/p12s01-legn.html What is it Like to be Homeless? http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/314309/what_is_it_like_to_be_homeless.html?cat=7
3 of those 4 articles were absolutely worthless to me and did little to answer my questions, and the one that wasn't absolutely worthless was little more then one person's idea rather then fact, and dosen't even sound feasable. Finding any information on the fly taks 5 minutes. Finding information I actually need takes longer.
Well the thing is, and I should've brought this up, they all live together. I was originally planing on them living in the apartment of this one guy who helps run aways, but I wasn't sure how realistic that was. Never mind, I'll just stick with that. Feel free to delete or close this thread mods.
Ungood was just trying to help. Was it really necessary to behave this way? You yourself said that you should have shared more information to begin with. Had I known more about your story, I could have offered better advice. As it is, you told me that 3 out of 4 of the sites I referred you to were useless. You said the 4th was unrealistic. I personally think a simple thank you would have been more appropriate, but that's just me. Do you really think that a group of runaways living in an apartment with no visible means of support is realistic? How are they going to pay the rent? How will they pay utilities? Where will they get their food?
