Dear Young Adult Authors,
Please use pop culture reference points that are a reflection of what teenagers today actually watch and enjoy. You grew up in the eighties therefore your reference points are John Hughes movies. Mean Girls is Heathers, for kids today. YouTubers are their VeeJays.
It's not cute or a reflection on your characters affinity for things retro when they like things you liked when you were a teenager. It's actually a subtle alarm pulsing from the book in their hands that's letting them know that this book was written by an adult when really they don't want to sense that. They don't want to know about you and all the cute or cool or quirky things you liked, it just makes your book seem unrealistic. So please don't do it.
Instead, do your homework in he form of research. Discover what they listen to and watch and read and find those examples that are pertinent to your story. Just because you loved Audrey Hepburn movies doesn't mean the kids your writing for do. Unless, of course, you really are writing for adults.
In that case
please don't pretend you're writing a young adult novel.
Cordially,
H
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