Avoid Specific Slang Unless It’s Timeless
Slang falls into two categories: timeless and trendy. Timeless slang survives decades. Trendy slang dates a book within months.
- Why it worksTimeless slang creates authenticity without expiration. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky uses “cool” and “messed up” rather than era-specific terms. The dialogue feels teenage without feeling dated even decades later.
- How to do itUse slang that has existed for at least ten years. In Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell gives characters distinct teen voices through attitude and rhythm rather than trendy vocabulary. When specific slang does appear, it feels natural rather than performed.
Do
Choose words teenagers have used across multiple generations.
Avoid
Inserting current trending phrases that will feel embarrassing within a year.
From My Work
In The Death of Me, Sherry’s teenage voice comes through attitude rather than slang:
“She reeks of pot.”
“Is that what that was? I thought it was a skunk or something.”
“Look, Katie, this is one time where my street-cred takes prudence over your book smarts.”
The exchange feels authentically teenage without using a single trendy term.
Use Rhythm Over Vocabulary
The way teenagers construct sentences matters more than the specific words they choose.
- Why it worksRhythm creates voice without expiration dates. In The Sun Is Also a Star, Nicola Yoon captures teen speech through sentence fragmentation, interruption, and incomplete thoughts rather than slang. The rhythm is distinctly young without being trendy.
- How to do itShorten sentences. Drop subjects. Let characters interrupt themselves. In I’ll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson uses fragmented internal monologue to create teen voice—thoughts that start, stop, and circle back.
Do
Let sentence structure carry the weight of youth.
Avoid
Relying on vocabulary alone to signal a character’s age.
From My Work
In The Death of My First Assignment, Serena’s British-inflected teen voice comes through rhythm and pattern:
“Oh, yeah. So, Friday night, yeah? I’m on the out with Marcus because he’s bein’ a royal pain in my arse, so I decide I wanna have some fun. So, I go to that new club in downtown, yeah?”
The repeated “yeah” at sentence ends, the dropped g’s, the run-on construction—these create her voice without relying on trendy slang.
Text Messages Should Feel Like Text Messages
Texting has its own grammar, punctuation rules, and rhythm. Fiction that ignores this breaks immersion for teen readers.
- Why it worksAuthenticity builds trust. In Since You’ve Been Gone, Morgan Matson uses text exchanges that mirror how teenagers actually communicate—lowercase, abbreviations, quick back-and-forth. The format signals intimacy and urgency.
- How to do itDrop capital letters in casual texts. Skip punctuation in rapid exchanges. Use line breaks to show response speed. In To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Jenny Han uses texting patterns that feel natural rather than performed—characters don’t write formal paragraphs to each other.
Do
Format texts the way your characters would actually send them.
Avoid
Teens who text in complete, properly punctuated sentences unless it’s a character trait.
Online Speech Has Its Own Register
Social media posts, DMs, and online comments follow different rules than spoken dialogue.
- Why it worksCode switching between platforms is something teenagers do naturally. In You’d Be Mine, Annie Cardi distinguishes between her character’s public social media voice and her private spoken voice. The contrast reveals character depth.
- How to do itGive characters different registers for different platforms. In Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell shows Cath’s fanfiction community voice as distinct from her spoken dialogue. The shift reveals how online spaces give introverted characters a different kind of confidence.
Do
Use platform-specific speech to reveal character.
Avoid
Characters who speak identically online and in person.
Don’t Over-Explain Teen Communication to Adult Readers
Fiction that pauses to explain what “ghosting” or “sliding into DMs” means breaks narrative flow.
- Why it worksTeens don’t define their own slang in conversation. Neither should characters. In They Both Die at the End, Adam Silvera uses the fictional Deckers app without over-explaining its mechanics. Readers absorb context through usage.
- How to do itTrust context to carry meaning. In One of Us Is Lying, Karen McManus introduces teen communication patterns without stopping to define them. Adult readers catch up through context.
Do
Let slang and online speech reveal meaning through context.
Avoid
Characters who explain their own vernacular to each other.
Use Miscommunication to Create Conflict
Different generations, backgrounds, and social groups communicate differently. That gap is narrative gold.
- Why it worksMiscommunication creates authentic conflict without manufactured drama. In The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas uses the clash between Starr’s two worlds—her home neighborhood and her prep school—through speech pattern differences. The code switching is a source of both tension and character development.
- How to do itLet characters misread each other’s communication styles. In Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson uses the gap between Mary’s institutional speech patterns and teenage vernacular to reveal her character’s history and isolation.
Do
Mine communication gaps for character and conflict.
Avoid
Every character immediately understanding every other character’s speech patterns.
From My Work
In The Death of My First Assignment, Julian—Death incarnate—speaks in formal, archaic patterns while Katie uses modern teen speech. The gap creates consistent friction:
“How droll… That always seems to be the primary question. Who are you? Why can’t anyone ever inquire as to how my voyage went? It’s so discourteous…”
“Who the hell are you!? If you’re a wraith, I’m not interested!”
The contrast reveals both characters immediately and generates humor through miscommunication.
Let Silence and Avoidance Speak
What teenagers don’t say—the ghosting, the vague responses, the read receipts without replies—matters as much as dialogue.
- Why it worksDigital silence is its own form of communication. In Alex, Approximately, Jenn Bennett uses the gap between online communication and in-person interaction to build tension. What characters don’t say online tells readers as much as what they do.
- How to do itUse unanswered texts, delayed responses, and one-word replies as character reveals. In Love, Rosie, Cecelia Ahern uses letter and email exchanges to show what characters can’t say in person.
Do
Let silence and avoidance carry emotional weight.
Avoid
Characters who always respond immediately and completely.
Final Thoughts
Teen speech in fiction works when writers choose timeless slang over trendy vocabulary, use rhythm over specific word choice, format texts authentically, give characters different registers for different platforms, trust context over explanation, use communication gaps for conflict, and let silence carry weight.
Readers stop feeling patronized by over-explained vernacular or cringing at dated slang. The communication feels real because it captures how teenage speech functions rather than trying to replicate exactly what teenagers said in a specific year.
That’s when teen dialogue stops feeling like a performance—and that’s when readers hear voices they recognize.
Extras
- Read about Salt & Bone
- Read about The Death of My First Assignment
- Sign up for the newsletter to get weekly tips
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
- The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
- I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
- Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
- They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
- One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson
- Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
- Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern