3 Essential Strategies for Writing Meaningful Middle Grade Fiction

So you’ve got a great book idea and a plan for making it happen. You know all about hooking the reader early, building your plot, and including character transformation. But still the story tanks. Or maybe your peers love it, but agents aren’t picking it up. Or even worse, beta readers in your target age group don’t even finish the book. And yes, if you’re writing middle grade, you should find a few middle grade readers to give your book a whirl—assuming that’s not a whirl down the toilet. Of course, if that’s where the novel ends up, that’s a pretty clear sign you’ve got some work to do.

As much as we like to weave adventure and meaning into our stories, it only matters if we connect with our intended audience. So how do we do that with middle grade readers? Most of us are years (or decades!) away from that age group, so it can be tough to remember how we thought and what we felt back then. Even if we could, the modern issues and modern voice of that age group has changed to some degree.

Here are three proven ways to connect with your middle grade readers, write fiction that means something to them, and keep them up at night with a flashlight, reading under the covers.

1. Know the Issues

What sorts of challenges do middle grade readers face on a day to day basis? It is vital to recognize and understand these issues in order  to write something they can identify with (note that middle grade is not the same as middle school. Instead, it is children ranging from 7-12 years old). These issues can vary widely depending on the age of the child. 

Younger middle grade readers are learning how to interact and form social bonds. They are starting to understand and experiment with social power, which, at this age, can lead to intentional meanness. Michelle Anthony, Ph.D. writes on scholastic.com that most children do this at some time or other as they try to exert social power in inappropriate ways. Most children are also on the receiving end at some point as well. This is not the same as targeted, systematic bullying, but it can lead to that without proper intervention and instruction from parents, friends, teachers, and books.

At this age, children want to be seen as intelligent. They often start arguing their viewpoint. They need to feel empowered and able to make choices. They are also learning to recognize and appropriately express their feelings.

According to Jennifer O'Donnell at Verywell.com, some common challenges upper middle grade readers face include depression and anxiety, substance abuse, risky behavior (taking chances with their safety), obesity, low self-esteem, and too much unsupervised free time.

Many issues span all ages of childhood. Some of these include living in a single parent home, coping with divorce, sibling rivalry, educational disparity, abuse, neglect, living in poverty, difficulty relating to peers, and dealing with bullying. Be sure to keep your content at a level appropriate for middle grade readers as you deal with some of these painful issues.

2. Discover your MG Voice

Now that we’re armed with a clear idea of the issues facing middle grade readers, it’s time to witness those issues in action. The best way, of course, is observing them in real life. Be aware of the interactions between children in this age group, whether in your own home, at school, among relatives, at church, a movie theater, the park, or the pool. The possibilities are endless. Just don’t be a creeper and freak anyone out. 

If real-life observation is not an option, talk with parents or teachers of middle grade kids. They can offer great insights into the culture and thought processes of children in this age group.

When you read books that target this age group, pay close attention to the attitudes, conflicts, and voice of the characters. Some great places to start: the Percy Jackson books, Wonder, the Septimus Heap series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and, of course, Harry Potter.

Do the same thing when you watch middle grade movies. Great movies that give insight into the voice and issues of MG readers: Bridge to Terabithia, Pete’s Dragon, The BFG, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Anne of Green Gables.

As you research, experiment with your writing. Try out different voices and attitudes. Although middle grade readers may share some of the same developmental and social challenges, they are unique individuals with distinct ways of viewing themselves and the world. Practice capturing a different voice for each of your middle grade characters, revealing their unique interests and thought patterns.

A word of caution - be sure not to “talk down” to middle grade readers. Although they are young, they are savvy readers and can spot a false voice in seconds. Their problems are as complex as ours and should be treated with respect, taking care to avoid simplistic answers.

If you struggle with this, just keep at it. Keep studying and practicing. You will end up with better stories that capture your readers’ attention and can make a difference in their lives. 

3. Dig Deep

To further enrich your writing, dig deeper into middle graders' voice and their challenges. Here's some useful websites and articles to get you started.

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/stages-milestones/emotional-lives-8-10-year-olds

kid lit.com (Mary Kole's book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit, is an indispensable resource!)

3 Challenges Facing Tweens

Writing for Tweens

Emerging Issues Facing Teens and Tweens

Tips for Creating Voice in Your Writing

Late Blooming: On Writing for Tweens

Straight From the Teacher's Mouth: Tweens Biggest Challenges at School

Five of the Biggest and Most Ignored Challenges Facing Today's Children

The Most Important Problem Facing American Children Today

What are some of the issues you address in your middle grade writing?
How do you nail middle grade voice?

Voice: Just Stop Trying

It’s been said, over and over, that voice is the one of the most important parts of writing fiction. Maybe THE most important part of writing middle grade fiction.
 

Why? Well, middle grade readers want something that relates them, and most of us… are, well, not in middle grade. Those young, feisty, readers can be brutal. They can, and do, call out an inauthentic voice right off the rip. 

Voice is such a hard thing to define. It's one of those things you know it when you see it. But that's not very helpful, it is? That not-so-fun fact, combined with the pressure to get it perfectly right, can leave us… stressed.

So I’m here to tell you to STOP.

 Stop fighting with your voice. Stop stressing. Stop worrying.

What? You may ask. You just told us how it’s all important, now we shouldn’t worry about it?

Yes. But let me explain.

Back in the day, I took a “theater” class in middle school (best part of middle school, seriously.) I really wasn’t very talented, in fact one year I tried out for the musical and didn't make it even as an extra.  But there was this one time we did an improv in class where I was an angry old lady who starts attacking someone with her cane (nice visual, yeah?) I remember just letting go and having fun. Squealing in a high pitched voice. I didn’t know if I looked like an idiot (actually, I was probably pretty certain that I DID look like an idiot) but that didn’t really matter. For those five or so minutes, I WAS that little old lady.

Later my theater teacher told me I did awesome and I should play more parts like that.

Recently I learned this lesson when it came to writing. When you stop to worry so much about your voice, you often lose it. You shouldn’t be trying to methodically add in voice. It has to come from somewhere deeper.

Just like with acting, when you *try* to act, people can tell. When you mentally BECOME the character, that’s when things get deeper. If you believe you are that character, your audience will believe it too.

So stop trying to write voice. Stop studying your dialog and trying to figure out where you can add it in.When you are writing, you are no longer you. You are your character. 

If that doesn't feel so different to you, then try digging a little deeper to discover exactly who this character is. You could try a couple prompts to get to know your character better, then close your eyes and let loose. Who care what comes out? It might be complete trash. Or you might just figure out what makes your character tick.

Once you get to know who it is you are writing about--really know them-- the "voice" will come.

You may finally become your character, and that’s when your story will come alive.

Book Review: UNDERWATER by Marisa Reichardt

Title: Underwater Author: Marisa Reichardt Genre: YA Contemporary Pages: 288 pages Publication date: January 12, 2016 Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Website: www.MarisaReichardt.com My Rating: 5 / 5 Morgan didn’t mean to do anything wrong that day. Actually, she meant to do something right. But her kind act inadvertently played a role in a deadly tragedy. In order to move on, Morgan must learn to forgive—first someone who did something that might be unforgivable, and then, herself. But Morgan can’t move on. She can’t even move beyond the front door of the apartment she shares with her mother and little brother. Morgan feels like she’s underwater, unable to surface. Unable to see her friends. Unable to go to school. When it seems Morgan can’t hold her breath any longer, a new boy moves in next door. Evan reminds her of the salty ocean air and the rush she used to get from swimming. He might be just what she needs to help her reconnect with the world outside. Underwater is a powerful, hopeful debut novel about redemption, recovery, and finding the strength it takes to face your past and move on. I talk about voice a lot. I tell students and aspiring writers that making theirs unique and personal to them is absolutely essential. I tell myself that I have to keep pushing to improve the one I've already developed in my own stories. Because voice...it's the blanket we build that the reader wraps themselves in while they read our work.  The voice can be warm and fuzzy. It can be heavy and soft. It can be prickly and slightly itchy. It can be a million different sensations. One thing I've never even considered, though, is how it can completely change within a story. Marisa Reichardt's Underwater does just that. She introduces us to Morgan, a teenager under a self-imposed house arrest. We don't know exactly why Morgan won't go outside. We catch glimpses of the events that led her to be so scared of the world beyond the threshold. She hints at it, comments on it, reminisces on the tragedy, and we feel every short breath, every skipped heartbeat, every bit of weight carried around by this girl. All because of the voice Reichardt wraps us in. But then... There's Evan. Morgan's mom. Morgan's brother. Her therapist. Her own desire to regain that connection with the life she's turned her back on.  And the voice begins to change. It's so subtle. So gradual and smooth that I didn't actually catch it at first. I was about three quarters through the book when I noticed that I could breathe easier. I was smiling. I wasn't gripping the edges of the book so hard that the cover was getting wrinkled. So I flipped back several chapters and realized that Reichardt had been weaving an entirely new blanket for me while I'd been reading. Everything from the descriptive language to the overall sentence structure had been evolving right under my nose without me knowing it.   It's brilliant. And so perfect for this story. Because this story is all about change and moving on. We finally discover what's been keeping Morgan locked inside her house all this time. And while this story doesn't get wrapped up in a tidy, neat, bow in some Disney-esque ending, it does leave us with such a wonderful sense of hope. This is a book I hope everyone reads at some point. For students and teachers, it's so relevant. To readers, it's rich with complexity. To writers, it's a study in how an author can create a character so compelling, so layered with emotion, one who changes so much within a story, that the voice has a complete arc of its own, too. And that's why I'm giving Underwater by Marisa Reichardt a full five stars. Her book not only was a heartbreaking read that left me smiling, it made me want to become a better writer.

Want to Develop Your Own Voice?

Want to develop your own voice?  Steal somebody else's first

For some reason, what is perfectly normal and reasonable in one area of the arts, no, in every area of the arts, seems strange and dirty for many writers. When somebody first learns to play the guitar, they learn to do so by copying somebody else. It might start by having a buddy show you how to play a particular chord but eventually it moves on to, 'I want to learn how to play the Deep Purple Solo' just like Deep Purple did.

Nobody balks at this. Nobody says, 'hey there pal, wait a second...you can't copy the Deep Purple solo because well, it's there's and that would be cheating.'  Nope, instead a famous guitar solo, piano solo, fiddle solo (whatever) is held up as something that people want to copy, are encouraged to copy in order that people can learn to play well.

We need to do this more in writing. Particularly when people are struggling with the concept of authorial voice or style.

So clearly, writing a book about a boy named Barry who wants to grow up to be a Fizard and goes to a school named Bogwarts, is not what I'm talking about. But if you look at how Rowling crafts her dialogue, the kind of humor she uses, the sound of her sentences...and you try to copy the style of that in your own words? What could possibly be wrong with that?

If you've never written a story that sounds like a Roald Dahl story (and you almost certainly have not) then give it a try. If you've never written a story that sounds like Judy Blume, then absolutely give it a try. Take a look at the great authorial solos within the children's book world. Copy their styles, their voices.

And you know what happens? Paul McCartney may have learned to play guitar by listening to the great guitar soloists before him, but Paul McCartney sounds like himself. The Edge from U2 may have learned to play guitar partly by listening to Paul McCartney and yet The Edge sounds like himself. Alison Krauss may have grown up listening to Patsy Cline, and Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, and yet Alison Krauss sounds just like herself.

So if you're struggling figuring out your unique authorial voice and style, try copying a few others first. Eventually, you'll learn to sound just like yourself.

You must have VOICE!

It’s not enough to have a decent story. It’s not even enough to have a good character and a good story.  You NEED voice. You need to show that character’s personality and yours in every line of your novel.

Personality is how I define voice because, to me, that’s exactly what it is. Having a story without voice is like a good song sung with a computer generated voice. It doesn’t matter if the lyrics are golden and it’s masterfully written, all you will notice is that strange, bland voice.

Voice is one of the most talked about aspects of Middle Grade. Why? Because it’s easily the most important. Voice is what sells books. Rewrite Percy Jackson with a boring bland narration and flat character dialog and see how many kids get past chapter one. Here’s a hint: not many. 

So how do you know if your voice is good enough? That’s the tricky part. A lot of writers can’t actually tell if their voice is coming across because THEY see it. But just because they see it doesn’t mean the reader will. If it doesn’t translate, you’ve got problems. 

If you keep thinking about voice like personality you’ll get some good hints about what voice is and how to deal with it. 

Think about some common personality types. There’s that loud, bold and funny kid that draws people in right away. But that same loud, bold kid can drive people nuts. It’s all about how they come across.

 Then, there’s the shy quiet kid. That kind can fade into the background and never get noticed. Or they can be the most beloved all.

Or the quirky tries-too-hard to be liked kid. They can be total dorks that just get annoying or they can turn out to be incredibly loveable and really amazing friends and even hero’s.

Think about what makes those people likeable and try to put an emphasis on that aspect in your novel.

Also remember that if you’re writing third person, part of your voice is the narrator. Don’t make them stiff and boring, let them stand out too. 

Good examples of strong third person narrators to check out:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

"What is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off." The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien.

 

 You may never know who’s actually telling the story but you can still make the narration into another character with bits of voice of their own.

Good examples of great first person voice in YA:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielson

"I'd never attempted roast thievery before, and I was already regretting it. It happens to be very difficult to hold a chunk of raw meat while running. More slippery than I'd anticipated. If the butcher didn't catch me with his cleaver first and literally cut off my future plans, I vowed to remember to get the meat wrapped next time. Then steal it."

The key to writing good voice is letting go. Let your character and/or narrator take over. The first draft you should stop worry about all the mechanics of writing and get as deep into your character as you possibly can. That’s when they begin to shine. You can spruce them up as much as you need to once you go back to revise, but one thing you shouldn’t have to worry about is voice.

Another great post about voice can her found here: http://chasingthecrazies.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/finding-voice-in-middle-grade-a-guest-post-from-melanie-conklin/

Do you have any hint or secrets that you use when it comes to voice?