Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “How to Write Middle Grade Cringe Humor” by Dan Richards
To be honest, I discovered that middle grade students LOVE cringe humor by accident. A fourth-grade teacher introduced me to the term after reading my novel, Stu Truly, to his class. He explained that his students loved the story because Stu, the main character, kept getting into socially awkward, embarrassing situations. For some reason, kids, and adults, […]
Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “How to Quickly Write the Fantasy Fiction Novel of Your Dreams: A Guide” by Angelina Allsop
So you are setting out to write a novel and become a published author. Congrats to you! Writing fantasy fiction can be a lot fun, but be warned, it is quite a bit of work. Fear not, with some planning, trade craft, and guidance, you can finish your novel this year! Before you start anything, […]
Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “How to Hook a Reluctant Reader” by Laurie B. Arnold
I write for kids, many of whom aren’t avid readers. You probably know the ones. They’d rather eat raw liver and overcooked lima beans than pick up a book for fun. It’s not that I don’t love the fact that die-hard readers like reading my books too, but it’s the kids who have a hard […]
Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “How to Create a Teacher’s Guide for Your Middle Grade Novel” by Melody J. Bremen
A great way to make your middle grade novel accessible for classroom use is to create a downloadable teacher’s guide. You can easily put this together in a Word doc and save it as a PDF. Look for inspiration: The first thing you want to do is look at guides for other novels to get […]
Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “How My Day Job Makes Me A Better Kidlit Writer” by Katie Sparks
After you publish your first book, it’s not uncommon to hear friends and family say: “Bet you can’t wait until you can quit your day job, become famous, and let the riches roll in…cha ching!” Yeah, right. As you might have guessed, writing for children is NOT my full-time job. By day: editor for parenting […]
Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “Help! My Novel Falls Between Genres” by Lisa Williams Kline
Maybe you’ve written a novel about a thirteen or fourteen-year-old and you’ve been sending it out and getting responses from editors that your story “falls between genres.” What does that mean, and what can you do? That happened to me, and here’s that story. I enjoy writing for tweens, or thirteen or fourteen-year-olds, because this […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Guest Post: “Have You Ever Thrown Up? Kids Wanna Know!” by Tracey Hecht
Recently some young fans were allowed to ask questions of author Tracey Hecht. These are those questions: 1. Do you ever know anyone in the classes you visit? Emma, age 8 Yes, I do! (I know Emma, the author of this question.) I love visiting classrooms and schools where I know the kids. It makes […]
Middle Grade Ninja: Guest Post: “From Idea to Book Trailer” by Eric Kahn Gale
About 1/3 of the conversation between my wife and I is us talking in the voice of our adorable pooch, Bowser. (Most-dog owning couples are like that, right?) Years ago, in our first apartment together, Bowser was especially fascinated by the door that connected our unit to the hallway. I would speak for him in […]
Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “From Adult Thrillers to Kid Thrillers: 10 Steps to Writing Scary for Kids” by Donna Galanti
Do you love to be scared? I do, as long as I know it’s in a safe environment. Haunted houses. Hayrides. Rollercoasters. Adventure rides. I got so scared once in a haunted house that I whacked the “ghosts” with the teddy bear from my costume. The management turned on all the lights and asked me […]
Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “Finding My Story’s Voice(s)” by Tracey Hecht
When I was a child I loved the Roald Dahl books. They made me laugh, used interesting language, and though they possessed characters unlike the people I knew in ‘real’ life, felt very believable to me. I can almost remember which Dahl books I read where in my house and at what stages during my […]