Questions tagged [middle-grade]
This tag should be used for questions about writing intended for readers between 8 and 12 years old. For readers between 12 and 18 years old use [young-adult]. For readers under 8 use [children]. For questions about characters, use [child-characters]. For questions about children or teens who are writers, use [young-author].
25
questions
2
votes
3
answers
141
views
How much is too much for an upper middle grade book? (TW suicide mention)
One of my main characters is named Lucas. Lucas can turn into a cat. He struggles with controlling this power. He’s also from the bad side of town; his parents are neglectful and eventually disappear ...
- 21
2
votes
2
answers
236
views
Wanting to write a gay kiss... for young audiences
I wanted to write a gay kiss at the close end of my third book. I already started their chemistry with each other on the first and more in the second now it's leading up to the kiss. I have a ton of ...
2
votes
4
answers
212
views
Are My Novels Middle-Grade or Young Adult? Having Trouble Figuring It Out
I have written and thoroughly reviewed/edited three novels that I don't know if they would be marketed as Middle Grade or Young Adult. I am currently working on a fourth. Okay, the first novel is ...
user42900
1
vote
1
answer
146
views
Is Masterclass worth it for a middle-grade author?
I already read Larry Brooks' very useful book "Story Engineering", and Mary Kole's Writing Irresistible Kidlit. Now I have finished and revised my first middle-grade (MG) novel a few times.
Before ...
- 53
3
votes
1
answer
122
views
Is there a market for all-ages novels?
Historically, books and movies didn't always have a specific target age. While some material was just for adults, a lot of what we think of now as being for kids or teens had a more general market.
...
- 32.4k
23
votes
7
answers
6k
views
Showing mass murder in a kid's book
Galastel did a spin off question based on one of mine.
Mortal danger in mid-grade literature.
And hers has spurred a new one for me.
This is an issue I've been grappling with for a while and I still ...
- 32.4k
14
votes
8
answers
3k
views
Mortal danger in mid-grade literature
In a comment to my post here, Cyn mentions wishing to avoid implying that the characters might all die, because she's writing for a mid-grade audience.
Which made me wonder.
I remember reading The ...
22
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How to write cleanly even if my character uses expletive language?
I'm writing a story that I'd like younger readers to pick up. I and they know and understand that some situations are far better expressed with one f-word than a thousand milder ones. I'm keeping my ...
- 1,909
8
votes
3
answers
485
views
Naming things the POV character doesn't know
My middle-grade novel is third person with one primary and one secondary viewpoint character. Sometimes the narrator hovers a bit more, sometimes the narrator is more in the character's head.
The ...
- 32.4k
6
votes
3
answers
137
views
Is it okay for the final chapter to be a lot longer than all the other chapters?
In one of my novels (it's a middle grade fantasy novel) the chapters average around 2,000 words. But the final climactic chapter is currently almost 7,000 words. I am considering splitting it into two ...
- 3,537
9
votes
4
answers
660
views
Incorporating research and background: How much is too much?
The amount of research I'm doing for my novel is staggering. To the point where my spouse says I need to write a companion book (or a blog) just talking about the research! Sometimes I research for ...
- 32.4k
12
votes
7
answers
3k
views
What language shall they sing in?
I'm writing a middle-grade novel in English. I have time-traveling kids from 1995 America who go to Ancient Egypt to join the Exodus. None of the kids speak anything but English (aside from a few ...
- 32.4k
6
votes
2
answers
250
views
Crossing the line from Middle-Grade to Young-Adult
I would like to followup on this excellent question which outlined differences among works for children, middle-grade, and young-adult. What are some clear differences in theme/story between children&...
- 32.4k
7
votes
3
answers
425
views
How to get my characters' emotions out of the way so I can get on with the plot?
Setup: 18 kids (ages 2-14) from 1995 America time travel to Ancient Egypt just before the Exodus. The MC knew this would happen (or thought she knew) and told people, but no one believed her. Now ...
- 32.4k
24
votes
15
answers
9k
views
Should I add racism in my book's world or have my world have no racism?
I've been writing a children's novel inspired by action cartoons, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, paganism/Wicca, mythology and Harry Potter. It's a very dark children's book I'll admit, but Harry ...
- 517
4
votes
1
answer
394
views
Is there a test for cliches in plot?
I know there are already questions about cliched phrases, but are there resources to help identify plot and characters that are cliches?
I found some (like this), but they weren't very helpful for ...
6
votes
6
answers
455
views
Early investment in a character who "learns better"
I'm looking for ways to build early reader investment in an unlikable character who "learns better," but not until fairly late in the book. In particular, I'm writing a first-person middle-grade ...
- 56.5k
14
votes
4
answers
6k
views
A children's book that takes 25 minutes to read out loud - is it too long?
I've written a 3rd grade level (8-9 years old) children's book that takes about 25 minutes to read out loud. I read it to a 3rd grade class, with a few posters for illustrations, and it actually ...
- 281
6
votes
5
answers
393
views
Foreign language dialogue in Middle Grade fiction
I have written the first draft of a Middle Grade detective adventure in the vein of Enid Blyton's Famous Five or Astrid Lindgren's Bill Bergson. In my novel, the protagonist, a boy from England, is on ...
user32754
7
votes
2
answers
896
views
What are some clear differences in theme/story between children's, middle grade, and young adult fantasy?
At the moment I'm trying to write a fantasy novel, and I think it's leaning more towards middle grade rather than children's or young adult fantasy, but I'd like to know if there are any particular ...
- 965
15
votes
6
answers
960
views
Is it better to avoid names with a difficult pronunciation in Middle Grade fiction?
Many languages are written using Latin letters, but often these seemingly familiar letters aren't pronounced in the way that we are used to.
For example, an English speaker might read the name ...
user29032
6
votes
2
answers
211
views
How to engage a child audience when my characters have no language?
Good afternoon all,
I find myself in a predicament: I'm writing for 8-10 year-olds who, as I understand it, are very dependent upon dialogue to keep the story engaging. Unfortunately the protagonist ...
- 63
3
votes
3
answers
669
views
Is an Introduction and a Prologue good or bad, especially in middle grade fiction?
Is it bad to use an Introduction and/or a Prologue in Middle Grade Fiction? I have a lot of information that is useful, but the information in dialogue will sound fake and way too much info-dump like....
- 1,343
10
votes
10
answers
5k
views
Very long sentences: personal style or just bad writing?
I'm writing a story targeted towards children in which the protagonist is a young girl. I find that in writing her dialog and the narrative, I'm producing a lot of very long sentences, to the point ...
- 786
5
votes
2
answers
374
views
Should I use different pen names for different audiences (non-fiction)?
I am working on three separate works for three different audiences. All are non-fiction. One is for children ages eight to twelve, another is for teens ages fourteen to twenty, and the third is for ...
- 53