: Re: Researching sensitive subjects How do you research subjects for a novel that might be sensitive? Both cultural and jurisdictional. Example: I usually try to "research" the setting and characters

@Debbie451

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If you want to write from a child's perspective, I suggest spending time with actual children.

If you don't have any or aren't related to any, then you'll have to find some. You might try volunteering at (in the U.S.) a YMCA, or getting a job as a camp counselor. Just remember that if you're getting involved in other people's lives, take the relationships seriously. You can be a peripheral actor in the lives of adults without too much trauma, but don't ever treat kids like research.

Barring that, well, try and find your old diaries, read as many books with 12-year-old protagonists as you can, and find a good editor. JK Rowling didn't have a 10-year-old when she wrote the first Harry Potter, but her characters sounded age-appropriate to me.

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