Writing for the Middle Grades

Got a story you’re itching to get out, but worried there’s not enough material to turn it into a full-length novel for adults? Consider following the lead of Jackie Minniti and her novel Jacqueline, written for middle grade readers.

It’s the simple, straightforward tale of a little girl in France during the Second World War. The story relates the fictionalized account of her father’s experience there as an American GI. Jacqueline’s family clings together, her own father missing in the war. When the Allies drive the German Wehrmacht out, an American soldier befriends the little French girl. A bond forms, one so strong that the GI later names his first daughter after little Jacqueline.

Minniti had always wanted to tell the story in fiction but felt it too long for a short story, too little for a novel. One day, a stranger mentioned that her father had just told him the story, and the gentleman insisted she write it; his young daughter knew next to nothing of World War II—the defining struggle of the 20th century—and this would make the perfect vehicle for teaching her about it.

The light bulb clicked on. A middle-school teacher herself, Minniti realized that the story begged to be written for readers in grades six through eight. The problem of length vanished; no need to worry about reaching an 80,000-word novel length when the material wanted 30,000 to 60,000 words. She rolled up her sleeves and went to work, the story pouring out.

Minniti offers solid advice on writing for the middle grades and pares it down to six basics:

1) Know your audience.

Talk to kids in that age range and find their likes. Talk to librarians, talk to teachers, talk to booksellers. They know what hooks and holds the kids.

2) Keep it skinny.

The massive, weight-trainer Harry Potter tomes are outliers. Stay within that manageable length, 30,000 to 60,000 words. To do this, focus on dialogue and action. Avoid unnecessary description and discourse.

3) Grab them on page one.

Sage advice for any work of fiction, but vital for this age group. They don’t want to wait three chapters to get to the real story. Don’t tarry.

4) It’s not Hamlet.

The protagonist is key. Don’t paralyze her with self-doubt and reflection, like Shakespeare’s Danish prince. She should have strong opinions and should be able to work through her problems on her own or with friends her own age, and not parents.

5) R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Kids don’t want to be talked down to any more than the rest of us. Minniti advises not to dumb the language down or use words middle-graders may not yet know. They’ll get the gist and a stronger vocabulary if you drop it into understandable context and plug in hints as to what those challenging words may mean. But by all means, keep it clean; student and teacher alike should be able to read it aloud in class.

6) Momentum is a must.

Kids will set it aside and not pick it up again if story gets lost in the weeds. Think foreshadowing. Think page-turners. Think cliffhangers. Keep the thing moving forward.

Most of us have a few story ideas for which we’ve never found quite the right mode of telling. As this example shows, simply changing the target audience might do the trick. But each demographic will bring its own challenges, and the work of knowing them must be done. Take the time, do the homework, learn the audience, and tool the story to fit.