Essential Tips for Writing Middle Grade Dialogue

Middle grade dialogue can be tricky to write. The modern middle grader reader is quick to spot dialogue that doesn't feel "real." These tips can help you write it right.

Use Age-Appropriate Speech

Please, please use contractions and slang in your middle grade dialogue. Middle grade speech is characterized by casualness, and at times, wordiness. At this age, children are not completely aware of social niceties and will often ramble or dominate conversations. Precocious children may be eager to demonstrate their intellect through use of advanced words.

They're Smarter Than You Think

Nothing will turn off middle grade readers faster than writing down to them. The story (and the dialogue) should leave plenty for the reader to think about and figure out. Don't spell everything out for them. Trust them to think. Show your characters thinking. Modern middle graders are savvy and have been exposed to tons of ideas. They often face issues as tough as any that adults have to deal with. Let your writing and your dialogue reflect that. Leave it to Beaver simplicity will come off as unrealistic. 

Check Out Middle Graders

Spend some time eavesdropping on middle graders or, if you need a shortcut, watch some middle grade TV shows or movies. You will notice them finishing each other's sentences, inventing new words, using big words wrong, and making strange sounds -- whooping, hollering, or sometimes even shouting nonsensical words. Note the use of different types of dialogue and attitude between friends, between middle graders and older children or middle graders and adults. Even the topics of conversation may be different. There may also be an anxiety factor for youths raising tough issues with older people.

Remember: Texting is the New Talking

Dialogue, shmialogue. Who talks anymore anyway? Not the rising generation. If you haven't seen a bunch of tweens or teens standing around texting each other instead of talking, you're not really living. Of course they talk sometimes. So you will still need those other handy dandy dialogue tips. But you might want to beef up on digital communication, too.

If you don't know what ab, brb, bc, or idk mean...it's time you got with the times! While middle graders certainly aren't speaking text shorthand, they definitely text it, whether on their phones, iPods, tablets or sneaking onto social media platforms a few years early. Trust me, they are there, adopting trendy abbreviations. Although you won't use these in actual dialogue, there's a high likelihood that your story will need digital conversations if it's set in modern times. 

What are some of your favorite dialogue tips?