Step one: The Concept

In depth characterization is important to the mature consumer of 'I'm Not OK'

Don't worry! It's not really. I was just being ironic. 'I'm Not Ok' is basically an excuse to be insensitive about teenagers and trivialise serious emotional problems.

Still, it might be useful to have some sort of idea of the sort of Emo Kid you want to inflict on the world. Here are some basic Emo sub-divisions to help you start your Emo-Kid off,. At some point there may even be some questions for you to consider in order to flesh them out.

Emo Sub-Divisions

The Inferior Musician can often be spotted playing the same few bars of Street Spirit and Under the Bridge around campfires whilst their friends feign interest. They often belong in bands with long names who compose derivative emo songs.

Goths are easy to spot by their black livery; which they wear as a result of their unique realisation of the fundamental meaningless of life. Most Goths respond by becoming bleak and macabre, though a small few become bubbly and chirpy. Perhaps they are trying to create meaning? Perhaps they have been driven mad by the black chasm of despair into which they gazed? Perhaps they once read The Sandman and though Death was cool.

The Randoms are crazy, quirky, wacky and zany in one horrific little package. They break a carefully selected set of social norms, after careful planning. Part of the planning involves the illusion that the trangression is spontaneous and a result of the youthful spirit within them. They can be seen rolling down the hills that they checked for dogshit before their friends arrived, before starting a food fight with the jelly they just happened to have with them.

The Snobs are the people who are telling you that they used to like your favourite band/TV show but only before they sold out last year. Everything you do and like will be compared, unfavourably, to an alternative that you have never heard of and never will. Because it's almost certainly fictional.