As someone who writes plays specifically for young people, this author believes she has a responsibility to create texts which are structured to help young performers extend their performance skills. This can and should include effective use of linguistic devices as well as indicating possibilities for physical gesture. The author contends that, to maximise young people's creativity, drama practitioners must be willing to explore both of these aspects. Effective communication of dramatic sign is achieved through the control of physical and linguistic sensitivity. When the students' attention is drawn to the rhythms and nuance of the spoken text, rather than engaging with it merely as a written code for physicalisation, the language becomes integral to the way the performers think and act. In this article, the author, playwright Sarah Jane Dickenson, describes how, in writing "Booters," a play for young people, deliberately sets out to create language structures that promotes physical confidence, with a particular emphasis on the reception of linguistic devices in performance.