An Insight Into What It Is Like Writing As A Teen In Modern Society | Caylin Vermeulen

Recently, Celenic Earth Publications gave high school students who are part of a writing group a chance to write articles about what it’s like to write in the modern world as a teenager. Caylin Vermeulen from Fairbairn College in Goodwood, Cape Town (South Africa), shares her wisdom and words with us. Here are her thoughts and experiences.

An Old Pen in the Hand of a Modern Teenager by Caylin Vermeulen

In today’s society, one never truly sees the interest in reading and writing among the youth. However, there are a select few who seek more than the endless Instagram posts or the next TikTok trend.

It is extremely uncommon to find people with the heart for writing in today’s society. Digitalization and the internet have truly changed the way people express their creativity or the way they appreciate literature. It is tough because sharing something as beautiful as a poem or a short story is seen as weird or odd, and before you can say the first line, you are labelled as a nerd.

Yet, while most do not understand it, there is a new surge of interest in writing and reading. There are many people who write and share their work on social media to reach others. They understand the power that words hold and instead of using it to “trash” people in the comment sections, they use it to heal and to empower others.

Personally, I have been writing for 7 years. If you had asked me how important writing was to me back then, I would have probably called it a hobby. However, my view has changed. Writing as a teenager in modern society is niche, if you ask me. Everyone is too busy texting or posting to really take in the beauty that works can create. Not many people know how to get their work published either, because not many people really care about old nor about modern literature. However, writing has helped me navigate the complexities of life whilst providing me with a healthy form of escapism.

Writing allows me to explore the depths of my character. It shows me what I can create and what my mind is capable of. I can be whoever I wish to be or become whatever I wish to become. I can travel to any place in the world or to other universes, even though I have not stepped foot outside of Cape Town. There is no greater feeling than to create a story or a poem that is so beautiful, that holds such depth and feels so real that it brings tears to someone’s eyes or makes their breath hitch.

As a teenager in modern society, writing is something that I cannot live without. It was there for me when I was at my lowest and thought that I was worthless. Writing was there through every trauma, and instead of letting that trauma kill my light, I turned it into art. I read books and poems by great poets and authors, and the power of writing has changed my life. It has changed my life to the point that I have decided to study literature at university next year.

I might never be like one of the greats – such as Shakespeare, Wilde or Austen – one day, but if my work can touch one person’s heart and allow them to escape the cruelties of today’s life, then I would be more than happy. So in short, what is it like writing as a teen in modern society? It is extraordinary.