Flip. Flip. Flip. Scroll. Scroll. Scroll. Story after story and poem after poem, you scroll or flip the glossy pages of Teen Ink Magazine, in awe of the young writing from fellow teenagers and authors.

Why not me? You think. Why haven’t any of my pieces been chosen for the magazine? You ponder. Will my day ever come? You question. Let me tell you something from a teenage perspective. You've got talent and your work is outstanding. One day your time will shine and your eyes will bask in glory of your piece in print. Your eyes will rejoice in seeing your own writing shining up at you from the magazine page. You’ll feel like the happiest person in world and a great writer, a writer that others look up to and appreciate. You’ll be in such a positive mood that you will not be brought down from the top of the mountain. Let me tell you something: you’ve got talent. Everyone has talent, and that talent can be inspiring, put to use by writing your heart out, by pouring yourself onto the page and creating anything imaginable or even imaginable. Creating a piece ready for print in the magazine takes work. Not work like cleaning up dog poop or taking out the trash, but literary work. You have to start with an idea that you feel can turn into something fabulous, something that will leave readers wondering how someone their age could write something so stunning. However, don't write something just for the magazine. Write about what's important to you and how you want to write it. Start off with a first draft. Don’t worry about grammar or mechanics, spelling and the flow of the piece. Just focus on scribbling or pounding the keyboard to release your thoughts and ideas onto the page. After, look through your work and edit the words and phrases; take things out and add things in to make a well-rounded piece that makes sense to you and other readers. Add details and make your writing clear and unique. Create a mike-dropper, perhaps even a detail, that your readers will love or hate but doesn’t destroy the value of this piece. Then, edit your piece for grammar and mechanics so it is not lacking in any way. Also, read your piece through and through to make sure that is sounds smooth, like a pebble skipping across silky, calm water. Then edit, edit, edit and edit some more until you end with a polished and completed piece that makes you smile, proud and feel accomplished as well as wonder how in the world you managed to created it. Next, submit your piece to Teen Ink and don’t worry as you wait for it to be approved by the editors and be posted on the website. Once it’s published on the website, ask others to review it and see what they think of it. Casually wait each day and write some more. Hopefully your piece will receive an Editor’s Choice or chosen to be published in magazine. Don’t lose hope if it isn’t, though. Teen Ink has a limit to how many pieces they can publish each month. Try to make your piece better if possible and write on! Good luck!