A freelance job I have involves me speaking on a regular basis with a 15-year-old girl. Since I haven't had much experience interviewing youngsters (and in general am not even that adept at talking to kids), it was a challenge at first, getting my subject to open up. As my teen is about to advance from her freshman to her sophomore year of high school, I thought about what I learned from my experience and asked some of my fellow writers what they have also gained from the experience.

Lauren Smith, a writer in Texas, has been following 15-year-old Shunetra Kincheon through her freshman year of high school for ElleGirl magazine's "Class of 2008" series:

When talking to teenagers, I think it is important to try different things, like sometimes phone, sometimes in person, sometimes an email. Depending on what mood they are in, they feel more comfortable with different ways of communicating as their emotions tend to change often. Gaining their trust is the number one priority. I have gotten closer to my teenage subject by telling her some personal things about my life, which often leads to us connecting on some level. You can't be afraid to be vulnerable with her if you expect her to be vulnerable with you. I have learned that as much as it is about getting the story, some teens are truly just wounded, fragile beings, and you have to be careful not to cross the line. Our story is unique because it isn't just a one time thing. We have to keep relationships up, which can be difficult, when we want to write something that we see, which the girl may not while keeping parents, friends, boyfriends and grandparents not feeling uncomfortable. Most importantly, you must make your subject feel accepted, like they aren't the only ones going through difficulty. Make sure you laugh with them because that is often times how they feel connected to others. It's better not to fire questions at them, but just to spend time together walking in the mall, browsing through books, playing basketball, and wait for them to do the talking.

In addition to not firing the questions, I've learned to ride the awkward silence. Often my teen will respond with a one-word answer, and instead of me pressing her for details, she'll expand on her own after a little bit.

On the other hand, teenagers are by nature not detail-oriented people. When you ask a teenager how school was, she's not going to say "It was so-so. I had a really hard test in history and my friend Mandy and I are in a fight but I had a lot of laughs with my pals in the cafeteria at lunch and I was excited to wear my new sneakers in gym class." They're going to say "fine." So it's important to have questions ready and be prepared to explode topics as they go along.

Also, keep your mouth shut in group situations. Even though I often think I'm youthful enough to joke around with my high schooler and her friends, to them, I'm ancient. When I hang out with them as a group, I can't force them to talk to me but after a while they forget I'm there and start acting like themselves.

By the way, if you're feeling teen-y, there are updates to Mediabistro's How to Pitch guide for Teen People.