What makes a great Middle Grade Character?: The Back to School Bookshelf Tour!

Friends, Romans, Lovers of Middle Grade! We've got something special today.

 I'm extraordinarily lucky to be included in a group of MG writers all publishing this Fall and they're  paying us a visit to share their thoughts on a pretty important question:

What makes a great Middle Grade character?

Let's see what they have to say!

Kathleen Burkinshaw, author of The Last Cherry Blossom

I think that a great MG character has to have some vulnerability, but still willing to try something a tad bit outrageous to go after what they want. I think part of a MG Character is still trying to figure out where they fit in, sometimes who their friends really are.  When something they fear happens, a great MG character finds an inner strength to either ask a friend to help them or to handle it on their own. I also really like to have some humor in MG characters, even when the book is about a serious subject.

Casey Lyall author of Howard Walace, P.I.


I think a great middle grade character is someone who finds their truth. To me, the middle grade years are all about self-discovery. Finding your voice. Expanding your world view. Learning that adults aren’t always right and that they can make mistakes. Knocking down pedestals and building your own foundation.

There’s turmoil and excitement and the chance to stretch your boundaries. It’s a time to look inside yourself and see what makes you tick. To figure out who you are and where you fit in. It doesn’t matter if the story takes place in space or a little house in the country. If the character cracks jokes or keeps to the sidelines.

I’m happy if by the time the last page comes along, they’ve found that tiny nugget of truth inside themselves. A bit of absolute that, even when life roars by outside, holds fast and says “This is me.” That’s a great middle grade character in my book.

Jennie K. Brown, author of Poppy Mayberry, The Monday

Gosh – this is a tough one. When I hear this question, my mind immediately goes to my favorite middle grade characters – Harriet the Spy, any of the babysitter club girls, Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, Serafina (from Serafina and the Black Cloak) and so many more. As I look at my favorites, I see they have a few things in common. First, I think readers can often connect to these characters because they aren't perfect. Most middle grade readers like to have adventures, and so do those characters. That being said, for me, a good middle grade character is one that readers can relate with, one that has flaws, and one that isn’t afraid of a good adventure!

Wade Albert White, author of The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes
I think one thing that makes a great middle grade character is passion. Not necessarily the type that leads to kissing (move along, YA people, nothing to see here), but passion in the sense that the character is passionate about something—whether it’s proving that aliens exist, or deciding to learn one ancient language for every year old they are, or simply creating the world’s largest wad of used chewing gum. They’re intent on reaching a specific goal, and they’re not going to let anything get in their way (and they’re not going to believe any adults who tell them it’s impossible, because we all know adults are overly concerned with things like rules and safety and not blowing up the universe—they just don’t get it!). These characters have drive and a sense of purpose and believe anything can be achieved if they just keep moving forward and putting one foot in front of the other. That doesn’t mean they don’t fail. Often they do. But then they dig deep and find it within themselves the will to keeping going. That makes for a character anyone would want to read about.

Bridget Hodder, author of The Rat Prince

Middle Grade greatness can come from any number of things!

I love characters with unusual perspectives or experiences, who are rendered with a sure sense of "voice" that makes them come alive. A couple of very different characters who became real for me in this way are Claudia from E.L. Konigsburg's classic FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKELWEILER, and Manami from Lois Sepahban's recent PAPER WISHES.

As a writer, I feel I'm doing well when my characters speak and act for themselves at a level that turns me into their recording angel, rather than their puppeteer. Great characters drive the plot and allow the story to make deep sense; it simply can't happen the other way around. If you're finding that you need to manipulate your characters in order to fit into your pre-designed narrative...time to re-think!

Sarah S. Reida author of Monsterville

It's all about voice, and that comes down to being able to read a book and hear the character speak in your head. The voice needs to be distinctive, consistent, and it needs to use words appropriate for the age group. (Think of every "adult" word as a speed bump). If you know a ten to twelve-year-old who can read your book and flag words they'd never say, take advantage of it - they might end up being one of your most valuable beta readers. 

Mike Grosso, author of I Am Drums

A great middle grade character is someone who authentically speaks like someone their age instead of like an adult posing as one. Middle grade readers are pretty blunt when they don't buy into a story, and will abruptly put down a book if it doesn't speak to them. Middle grade characters have to form a connection with the reader either by showing them an identifiable part of themselves or something that creates immediate empathy.

Erin Petti, author of The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee

Oh hey, hi! It's me, your blogger!

I agree with so much that's been said here, and I'm wishing that we were all able to have this discussion in some coffee shop someplace. In my opinion, I think that one of the most important elements in a great character is authenticity. They can go to Mars, or live in Queens, or work as a blacksmith's apprentice in the year 1400 - but as long as their emotions are true, you're going to have a great character. I don't think they always need to know what they are doing, and maybe it's better if sometimes they don't. But they need to own themselves and their own feelings. I'm just the writer, I'm not the boss. 


Thank you to Kathleen, Casey, Jennie, Wade, Bridget, Sarah, and Mike!


Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section and join us on September 28th at 8pm for our Twitter party #BTSBookshelfTour!!

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MG Minded Talks - Main Charaters and Gender

Welcome to a new blog segment MG Minded Talks! We will ask each of the bloggers a series of questions and they will share their responses. This month we are talking genders. Here's the questions:

1) What gender are you writing right now?
2) What gender do you usually write?
3) Do you prefer to write in one gender over another why or why not?

Tom T.

1) Male
 
2) Male
 
3) Actually, no preference...but it's fun writing in the opposite gender because I get to put on my "new perspective" shoes. Always have to reach out for other-gender advice though lol





Jamie K.
1) I'm currently working on three things, all with female protagonists 

2) I tend to write more female point of view then male.

3) Female point of view tends to come more naturally to me, esp in YA, but I've written in male point of view before too. I don't have a preference one way or the other because I tend to let the characters dictate their gender and personalities. It just seems like most of my main characters are female because I enjoy writing strong women. That said if I have a female MC the main secondary character tends to be male or vice versa if the MC is male the main secondary character tends to be female. That way I get a good balance.

Stacey T.
1) My current MG WIP has TWO boy main character's! Simply because that's what those characters were in my head.

2) this is my first time writing through the point of view of a boy. I usually write girl protagonists. But admittedly my girl characters tend to be more on the "Tom boy" side of things.

3) I don't think I have a real preference other than it feels more natural to write from a girl's perspective. Though I do like being able to show that girls can be just as cool as boys.



Jason R. 
 
1) Female
 
2) Both
 
3) No. A lot depends on what I think fits best with the story I want to tell at the time, but I do admittedly make a conscious effort to write strong females whenever possible (knowing that my daughter, 9, will read it).



Dan K.

1) boy 

2) boy 

3) I've gravitated towards writing boys as my main characters but I have the most fun writing girls as my MC 





Tom M. 

1) Current main character is a girl. 

2) I'd say the gender I choose to write is mostly determined by what best serves the story. 

3) I find writing female characters forces me to push deeper into creating more fully-realized characters since there is so much about them I won't personally relate to.




Brooks B.

1) Transgender female 
 
2) Both
 
3) TIGHTS has a boy MC and the one I just finished has a girl MC and I've loved writing both. After I finish this YA I'm going to start on another MG that'll have a girl MC. I ALWAYS begin by creating a character and then a story to fit him or her. Most of my MCs are inspired by people I know or meet so a lot of times that'll dictate the gender. But not always.




How about all of you?
1) What gender are you writing right now?
2) What gender do you usually write?
3) Do you prefer to write in one gender over another why or why not?

Book Review: Breaking the Ice by Gail Nall

Title: Breaking the Ice Author: Gail Nall Genre: MG Contemporary Pages: 320 Publication date: 2015 Publisher: Aladdin Website: www.gailnall.com/ My rating: 4.5 spitwads / 5

I know approximately this much *presses thumb and first finger together* about figure skating. 

Okay, fine. Maybe less than that.

When I was given an ARC of Gail's book, I wasn't sure how much I was going to be able to understand about the moves and technical stuff that accompanies the sport. Worry set in. Before I even cracked open the cover, I wondered if I'd be doing myself and the author a huge disservice by reading it.

So I tried the first chapter. 

The one where Kaitlin's just finished a routine and is waiting on her scores. And when the judges display them? Kaitlin loses it and pitches a Godzilla-sized fit in front of Mom, Dad, friends, and foes.

I actually thought to myself, "Okay, I have no idea what a double spin flipper doohickey move looks like, but I totally get the feeling of gut-wrenching regret that Kaitlin's feeling right now." And then Kaitlin's skate coach kicks her off the team and Kaitlin finds her gold-medal Olympic dreams melting right before her eyes. Kaitlin has no choice but to join the only club that'll take her: the bottom-of-the-barrel Falton Club. Sure, it's run down. Sure, the ice has potholes that a New York City taxi could get lost in. Sure, all the other skaters call it the "Fall-Down" Club. But Kaitlin doesn't have a choice. She's determined to make it to the Olympics, and if she has to do it through the biggest joke of a skate club around, then fine.

That's when I realized that this book wasn't just about figure skating. It's about following your dreams. It's about learning to get back up when you fall. 

And as a writer (heck, as a human being) that's something I know P-L-E-N-T-Y about. That's why Breaking the Ice worked so well for me. Yeah, it had a ton of skating lingo that was completely foreign, but that gets explained throughout Kaitlin's journey. Gail made it so easy to put myself in Kaitlin's skates. She makes Kaitlin accessible for all of us because we've all seen our own dreams get a little fuzzy at times. We've all had those post-tantrum moments where we collapse into a puddle of misery, convinced that we'll never reach our goals.

But we can get right back up. We can try again. Just like Kaitlin.

And if we can do it with a double spin flipper doohickey move . . . even better. 

Happy reading!

Click here to read an interview with Gail Nall and her debut novel, Breaking the Ice.

A Sidekick Isn't Just for Poops and Giggles

For every epic story, there is a quest. For every quest, there is a hero. And for every hero, there's a sidekick. A sidekick can be anything from your protagonists best friend, to maybe something as simple as a household pet. Heck, in my story, COPERNICUS NERDICUS, Nic's sidekick is a fully functional battle-robot from an interactive video game. Strange, eh? It really doesn't matter who or what they are, there is one thing you have to realize :

They are JUST as important as your main character.

Before I move on and discuss just how important a side kick is to your main character, let's take a look at some famous side kicks in storytelling history. Oh, and feel free to comment with your own personal favorites. After all, every story has one.

Star Wars - There are so many to choose from, but thanks to my love of robots from my own MG novel, I can't resist choosing these two bucket of bolts.

What's great about these two guys, is that they're not even human yet they show such a wide range of human emotion that you literally feel for them just as much as you do Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and all your other "organic" characters. But that's not even the half of it. Without these two characters, the universe would be destroyed as we know it. Without that little R2 unit, we would have never seen the destruction of the death star, and who knows how long it would have taken for Luke to find Obi Wan. And what's a huge alien universe without a protocol droid?

Long story short - without these two guys, our Star Wars story would go nowhere.

Lord of the Rings - Sure, I could have picked Gandalf. Better yet, I could have picked Aragorn. But no, they aren't even close to the same level importance as my favorite hobbit. That's right, folks.

If Sam was hanging outside Frodo's window that night, consider middle earth destroyed. If it wasn't for Samwise's undying faith and love for Frodo Baggins, Frodo NEVER would have made it to Mount Doom. What's great about Samwise, is that he is weak and vulnerable. But the love he has for Frodo makes him stronger than any weapon at their disposal. He never ONCE gives up. Okay, maybe he does have moments of despair, but he comes through in the end. Sam is well deserving of the title hero of the shire.

Now what's the point I'm trying to make? Well, you can say one fact about secondary characters is that they all have their own intriguing back story that cannot be ignored. It creates some amazing depth in your story, and the fact of the matter is, your MC isn't the only person we're following in the story. Plus, it's a lot more realistic if your secondary characters actually appear to be alive, and not just cardboard cutouts or cookie cutters.

Oops, forgot -

I'm sorry Batman, I forgot about you and Robin.

There's one thing about secondary characters that make them quite possibly the most IMPORTANT part of any story. I want you to take a guess. Come on. Guess.

Done guessing?

Here's what it is - it's all about making YOUR MC evolve! And I'm not talking pokemon (but seriously, if you want to talk pokemon drop me a message on twitter or something). I'm talking about growing as a character throughout the story. Look at what I pointed out above with our side kicks from Star Wars and LOTR. Every one of them teaches the MC something about themselves that they didn't realize before. They go through moments in the story that are life changing for both sides. But without those side characters, there's little hope for your MC to get anywhere.

So do yourself a favor when writing your story. Don't just add characters as fluff for your MC to talk to or joke around with. Static conversation with another character doesn't go anywhere. I had made that mistake plenty of times when I first started writing. Make each conversation meaningful in one way or the other. And have each interaction between our MC and sidekick move the story forward.

Remember, it's not only about your MC. Where would Harry be without Ron and Hermione? Where would Wesley be without Inigo and Fezzik? Where would Bruce Willis be without Carl Winslow from Family Matters?!

Get it folks? Good - now get writing, and give me some of your favorite secondary characters!

Finding the voice (the ones both in and out of your head)

We're lucky.

We've had years to figure out who we are. We're sort of our own biggest experts and yet, trying to come up with a quick, clean summary of our entire personality can still be pretty tricky. But why?

Because humans are complex. We're layers upon layers of characteristics glued together by an uncountable number of experiences. Now don't get me wrong, I've met some pretty dull individuals in my life, but even those people had at least some level of complexity to them. Kind of.

So many writers (me included) struggle with finding ways to make our characters that multi-dimensional. However, the solution begins with something we've all heard before:

Finding the voice.

(without gifs... sorry)

No, not the one in your head. Although that can be a great source of inspiration. In fact, this entire blog post is going to be a transcript of everything mine's currently dictating to me. The voice I'm talking about is your character's voice--the way the world is filtered through his or her senses on its way to the reader.

Below are my top seven tips I've picked up from writers I hope to be as good as one day.


1. Know your character's history.

Before you write, figure out who your main character is. I'm not talking about understanding that your MC is a thirteen-year-old girl with brown hair. Sure, that's important, but you have to know more than that. And if you don't, well... maybe you're not ready to write your story.

Imagine what school she goes to. What music she likes. Who her best friends are. Why she has that little scar above her right eye. There are so many questions you could ask (298,870,125,182,002 according to the voice in my head) that can help you come up with a solid back story for your MC. This step can take a while, but it's going to help you when you get to one of the later steps.


2. Determine who your character is talking to.

Once you have your character, figure out who she's telling this story to. This is going to severely affect not only what your character says but how she'll say it. For example, I'm choosing to use who instead of whom all the time because I don't want to come off as a grammatical know-it-all. Probably because I'm as far from a grammatical know-it-all as one person can be.

But let's get back to your character. If you want your brainy MC to be talking to a group of like-minded individuals, she may use words and phrases she wouldn't normally use if she were talking to the general public. And if she's talking to the general public, she might want to explain things so they won't feel dumb.

Then again, maybe she enjoys flaunting her intelligence over the average Joe. Maybe Joe got mad at her for speaking down to her. Maybe she wouldn't stop so he threw a soda can at her! HOLY CASSEROLEY, maybe that's how she got her scar!

*ahem*

Sorry. My head-voice got a little loud there. But my point remains--this is where knowing your MC is important.


3. Establish the POV.

This sounds like a simple decision to make, but it's not. The point of view is going to wildly affect how your story is told. A lot of this will come down to personal taste, but don't just decide on first person present because that's what the last book you read was told in.

Figure out how your story will best be told. I've heard editors warn against second person, but hey--if you want to write that, then you go for it. You know what's best for your story.


4. Vary the distance.

I learned this at my first conference. I'd never even thought about it and when Jordan Brown was talking to the crowd about this concept, it blew our minds. The distance he was talking about was directly related to the POV. Third person will allow more wiggle room for the distance. First person present will be very limited. Here's what he meant:

Every line you write needs to push the story along. Every line needs to be carefully chosen so no space is wasted on the page. A rhythm needs to be established and within that rhythm, we can step further away from or closer to your MC's head-voice. For example, you may write a line like this:

The last few leaves could be seen on the tree's branches.

With this, we're pretty far out of the MC's head. We're not getting a smattering of voice here, but we are finding some important information about our character. You'll understand what I mean when you get to the next tip. Back to our story. The next line you write may take us closer to getting in the MC's head. Sort of like:

They dangled by their stems like little swatches of brightly-colored fabric.

Now we're getting an idea of what our MC is noticing. We're closer to hearing that head-voice. Which leads us to the closest we can get--inside the character's mind. Just take a listen:

The red was wrong. Too much crimson. A color like that would never look good as a pair of socks.

Now we're hearing what the MC is thinking. That head-voice is coming through loud and clear. However, staying here too long can be almost be burdensome. We don't want to read a book where we stay the same distance away from the MC no more than we want to read a book where every sentence has ten words, do we?

No, we don't, head-voice, so shut up.


5. Find out what's important to your character.

So many of the decisions you'll have made by now are going to be based on what's important to your character. Let's say she absolutely hates watermelon flavored candy but she'd do anything to save a calico kitten. Knowing this is going to help you figure out what she'll notice around her. And even more importantly, it'll help you figure out what she won't notice.

I know we've all heard to write through the MC's senses. Tell us what she sees, hears, feels (without using those filter words, of course) whenever possible. However, if you choose to tell us all of those things all of the time, we're actually getting less of what's important to your character.

In tip number four, our MC noticed the leaves first. And then the colors. And then her mind went right to the red and how the color would be awful as a pair of socks. We've read three lines and I already know quite a bit about her. If I were using her as my MC I'd know why she thought that about the crimsony red because I would've developed that part of her back story.

Think about how you personally describe things. I'm extremely visual and I've got a nose that borders on bloodhound. If I were describing something, I may talk about how it smells and how it reminds me of the time our dog ate tinsel and pooped out silver-lined turds.

Okay, so... I'm not really sure what I'd be describing there. My head-voice says cafeteria meatloaf. He may be right.


6. Be authentic.

This is where research will come in handy. You need to understand how your character would actually speak. This will be determined by time period, nationality, age, intelligence, and so many other things. I wish there was an easy way to go about finding all of this out, but there's not. If I wanted to write a character who lived in 1800s England, I'm going to have a heck of a lot harder time than if I chose 1980s Tennessee. Because I've got that one down pat.

My fellow MGMinded bloggers have written some great advice on middle grade voice authenticity. If you haven't read those posts, go do that.

Now.

And then when you're finished reading those, go read some books. Like, a lot of them. And in your genre and target age range, too. When in doubt, take advice from those better at it than you. Which is exactly what I've been doing my entire life. I'm ignoring my head-voice right now because I'm pretty sure it's saying something mean.


7. Be patient.

The hardest one of all to master. Don't get frustrated if you don't nail it the first time around. Very few do and many who say they did are lying buttholes. So keep at it, explore different methods, don't be afraid to fail, and enjoy the journey of finding the perfect voice.

Middle Grade Girls - The Pack Mentality

Starting in fifth grade, and all the way through of middle school, I went through more groups of friends than used tissues. It may have been because I was insanely shy, a giant nerd, a goody-two-shoes, or even just because I was an easy target. I cried... a lot.

But let's face it, girls at that age can be mean. They are hormonal balls of insanity, and they often don't know how to channel emotion properly. So they surround themselves with friends hoping it'll hide the crazy. It doesn't, but they do it anyway.

Middle school girls tend to roam around in packs. Sure, you'll see two hanging out every now and again, but more often than not, you'll see groups of them huddled together telling secrets and gossiping. Within each group you will often find smaller subsets of groups. Girl A and B are best friends just like Girl C and D and the four of them hang out together. But what happens when Girl C sides with A and B or A tells her something that D can't know? You start to get a pack mentality.
The problem is, in a pack, there always seems to be a low woman on the totem pole. The odd girl out. I know because I was frequently this girl. Someone always had a secret and I was almost never in on it.

In middle school, she who holds the secrets becomes queen bee. Even if the secrets are really lies. Because everyone wants to be in on it. When you know something that only a few others do, it makes you look powerful. Everyone else envies what you know.

While the middle grade girl isn’t completely comprised of secrets and gossip, it does contribute to friendships, and the pack mentality. Groups of girls get along and talk about anything you can imagine. However, when the gossip ring starts, look out! Here comes drama with a capital D. And there's always at least one person on the receiving end. It can be alienating for that person.

I spent many lunch hours and recesses alone because of the pack mentality. But in doing so, I also discovered other girls like myself. I found solace in the hanging out with girls who had been through the exact same thing.

But this scenario can be tricky. If one of the outcast girls sees an opportunity to better their status, they often will. They will step on their equals to rise above the others around them. That girl hopes to gain notice and favor in the eyes of the queen bee which alienates the outcasts even further. And yet the outcasts (and everyone else) seem to envy the queen bee. Despite how they are treated, they want what she has. They look up to her. Her popularity and friendships seem genuine, even if they may not be.

 
It's often a hard lesson for girls to learn what a true friend is. Someone that won't stab them in the back after giving them a compliment. Or someone that won't throw them under a bus at any turn just to save themselves. But there are certain girls that find each other. They treasure each other’s ability to keep a secret, a real secret. They sympathize with each other. They get it, no questions asked. That was the girl I understood, because I was her. As much as middle school sucked, I learned a valuable thing, who my real friends really were.

So which kind of girl is your main character? The queen bee? The outcast? Someone in between?

Defining Middle Grade Characters in the School Setting

Back to School, Back to School

The start of middle school is classified by many firsts. The first time having a locker, changing classes, and having multiple teachers, among other things. Plus there are so many new people. I know when I started middle school they combined four separate grade schools. I went from knowing everyone to knowing a quarter of the kids. The idea of new friends was exciting for me, but it also frazzled my nerves. It often made me clam up and get even quieter than I already was. This transition is a whole new world, with lots of new experiences. Some good and some bad.

It's these kinds of feelings that help define middle school and middle grade writing. Middle school is a time of transition and increased freedom, but not too much freedom. Kids still need a hall pass to go anywhere, and they can’t really skip class without getting caught. They are expected to be on time and do their homework. Not that middle schoolers always do that.

All that said, there are a lot of things that go into defining a middle school kid and therefore many things to consider when defining a character in this age range. Some possible questions to consider in the realm of school:

The locker

• How clean or dirty is it? This not only shows your character’s organizational skills but it can also point to other things like how much they care about the various objects and what’s important to them. 
• What kinds of things are stored in there? Is there food? Maybe some posters of their favorite bands or celebrities? Maybe a mirror because they care about their appearance? 
• Is it a bottomless pit of junk they just chuck in there and forget about?

 Preparedness

• Is this the kind of kid who always has fifteen number two pencils sharpened to perfection with a neat and tidy folder or notebook for every class?
• Or is this the kid that walks into class with crumpled papers sticking out of their book and can never find anything to write with?  
• Or are they somewhere in between?

Each of these scenarios says something different about a character.

In class

• Does the character sit in the front or the back of the class? Is it because they like to sit there or because the teacher is punishing them or is it just their assigned seat? How does the character feel about this positioning?
• Do they have friends in class? If so this can help diffuse nerves. If they don’t know anyone, this can create tension and strife. It can also be a disappointment to have friends in class but not sit by them. Consider the alienation factor and how the character might deal with this.
• Does the character pay attention? Are they a note taker? Does he/she quietly ignore the teacher or is he/she a troublemaker?
• What are their favorite subjects? This can help define how this kid acts in class. They will probably act differently in classes they like vs ones they hate.

Social circle

• Does the character have lots of friends or just one or two close ones? If they have lots are they the “queen bee” or a follower. If not are they happy they only have a few friends? Or do they secretly wish they fit in?
• Do they dress like their friends? If so why? If not why not? Or maybe they wear a uniform?
• Status can be a big part of middle school—what’s cool and what’s not. How the character feels about status, can alter how he/she reacts to certain situations. It can also define difficult or possibly embarrassing situations for him or her.

Activities

• What kinds of things is the character into? Do they play sports? Video games? An instrument? Are they into movies or comics? Do they like art or photography? What is this kid passionate about?
• Middle grade characters often spend a good chunk of their time in class and doing homework, but this can get tired and become a bit cliché if the writer isn’t careful. So think about what other things this kid does outside of school. What unique settings can you put them in?

When you think about the transitions going on during the middle grade ages, this can really help define a middle grade character. Draw out what makes them special. But also play around with what makes this character comfortable. Once you’ve found their comfort level take it away from them. Put the character in different situations and see how they react.

What questions do you like to ask when you define your middle grade characters?