Posts Tagged “writing for children”

Writing Irresistible Kidlit: An interview with Mary Kole

By on October 12, 2016   /   Author Interviews, For Writers  

If you’re a MG or YA fan, you’re probably already familiar with Mary Kole, creator of Kidlit.com. Kole is also the author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers and when she’s not writing or blogging, she works closely with writers to get their books into the best shape possible at marykole.com. Today, Kole is talking to MUF about mistakes writers make, her love of books that tackle real issues, and where the children’s publishing industry is headed. (Want to win an autographed copy of Writing Irresistible Kidlit? Enter below!)

Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole

Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole

Mixed-Up Files: Tell us a little about yourself, and your daily routine.

Mary Kole: I moved from NYC to Minnesota, where my husband is from, in 2013. I grew up in California. The climate has been a huge adjustment, to say the least! I worked in publishing and agented in CA and NY starting in 2009. My passion has always been books for children, whether picture books or YA novels. That’s what I represented when I was an agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and that’s primarily what I work on now that I’m a freelance editor. Instead of working with publishers to broker deals on behalf of writers, I now work directly with writers to get their manuscripts submission-ready and help them take the next steps in their craft. I couldn’t be happier! Our son was born in March, so my routine has had quite the shake-up. Now that he’s in daycare part time, I have a lot more flexibility. I like to do some exercise every day, whether it’s a yoga or barre class, a walk around the small lake across the street, or just a half hour on the bike downstairs. Moving keeps my mind sharp! Otherwise, I’m working on client manuscripts, writing blog posts, and reading writing craft books because I’m noodling another book idea and I want to see if the project has wings. Creating my craft book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit, was such a highlight for me that I’d love to do it again. My husband is a chef, so he works long hours. When he’s home, we’re spending time as a family with Theo and our two pugs, Gertie and Olive.

MUF: You provide a great deal of helpful information to writers on your site and in your book. What made you choose this as a career path?

MK: Writing has always been a part of my life. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t working on some poem or script or short story. Or reading. My parents were academics, and our house was always full of books. So I decided to “read for a living” and work in publishing. Ha! That was a bit naive, since most agents and editors read submissions in their free time and concentrate on the nuts and bolts of the publishing business during their actual work hours. But I was always passionate about story and the writing craft, so I pressed on, interning at Chronicle Books, earning my MFA, and joining Andrea Brown as an intern, then an agent. My favorite part through all of this was working directly with writers to help shape their manuscripts in terms of concept, plot, character, and voice. I’ve always dabbled in writing myself, and the blog and book were great extensions of that. Plus, I get to work from home and pick my own schedule. I’m stubbornly independent, so I was always going to create a career for myself, no matter what I ended up doing. I’m thrilled that it’s in the world of the written word that I love so much!

MUF: Writing for kids can be tough when you’re no longer one yourself. When it comes to mistakes people make in writing #kidlit, what do you think the biggies are?

MK: This is a great question. I think one of the biggest mistakes in any age category, from picture book to middle grade to young adult, is to come at the novel with an agenda in mind that you NEED to pass along to young readers. In that mindset, you’re separating yourself (wise adult) from your reader (naive child). Picture books in this vein always have a teacher or parent preaching the moral of the story at the end. Novels like this lay really heavily into the theme, telling it at every opportunity. The most successful stories, on the other hand, have theme in spades, but it’s left to the characters–and, by proxy, the readers–to discover. Nobody ever states “the point” outright. It comes across organically as the character experiences things. In order to truly do this with the respect and dignity that all young readers deserve, you need to dig deep in your own childhood experiences. There are universal coming of age themes everywhere. Kids are looking for a sense of identity, to belong, to differentiate themselves, to feel like they matter in a big and overwhelming world. How can you weave these elements into plot points? How can the character react to situations where they’re confronted with these truths? Writers who are passionate about the kidlit categories for the right reasons are more likely to be grown-ups who carry their childhoods around as part of their journeys, rather than people who grew up and left the wonder, pain, and experiences of childhood behind. I think it all boils down to seeing young readers as worthy of great stories instead of as receptacles for your opinions about life. I know this might seem obvious to some writers, but that just means you’re ahead of the game!

Mary Kole of Kidlit.com

Mary Kole of Kidlit.com

MUF: What are some of your favorite middle grade novels? 

MK: When I think about the wonder and nuance of the tumultuous middle grade period, I instantly think of Savvy by Ingrid Law, which came out in 2008. Sure, it’s “old news” these days, but I love it for several reasons. First, Law has such a light hand with the magic premise. Yes, it’s a “kid gets powers” story. And those are a dime a dozen in the slush pile. But it’s, above all else, a family story. And a voice-driven story. And a coming of age story. I see a lot of writers aiming for a high concept premise and forgetting the character-driven human elements of great middle grade. Editors are always going to be looking for fantastic middle grade with both girl and boy appeal, adventure, and a touch of Hollywood stakes. I would prescribe a reading of Savvy if you want to see this very commercial type of novel done with enormous heart.

MUF: Lately, we’ve seen MG books finding success while tackling difficult and mature subjects. What’s your take on this?

MK: As you can probably tell from my theme answer, I am all for books that tackle real life head-on. Even for younger readers. We now know more about what’s going on in the world, good and bad, than we ever did before. Kids are becoming aware of some really big truths at a younger age. I love this trend because it lets us all tackle this experience called life together in a way that lets kids feel authentic and vulnerable. If they’re going through something difficult, they can come and see that reality on the page, and they won’t feel so alone.

For a long time, sugar-coating was popular because there was this perception that kids’ fiction had to be nice. Like a little oasis. Well, kids will be the first to honestly say that not everything in life is nice! I think kids today tackle as many tough experiences as they did decades ago, but some of the stigmas against discussing difficult issues are finally going away. This is great. It’s been proven over and over again that repressing difficult feelings leads to problems. Sure, there are some issues that will be more controversial than others. In the middle grade category, your publisher’s customers are more likely to be gatekeepers like teachers, librarians, and parents. Depending on their institutional or family values, they may not buy books that are seen as too edgy or gratuitous, so houses may not spring for subjects that are too violent or sexual. Middle grade still has more buffer than YA, but you’re right, those standards seem to be changing these days. Some books don’t sell because their controversial elements are gratuitous. They’re in place for shock value, and not so much as a necessary part of exploring the issue. Books like this are much less likely to succeed than those where the edgy elements are unpleasant but necessary to an honest portrayal of the topic.

So the best way to honor what kids are going through is to be honest. And it just so happens that honesty is also the best way to tap into your authentic writing self. You have to experience your personal truth about life in order to communicate it, and manuscripts that come from that true, messy, emotional place are the ones that can be the most relatable.

MUF: Parents often worry about a book being too scary/mature/etc. for their child. Do you think parents/caregivers should read books along with their kids, so they can discuss the book together? Do you think young readers know they can stop reading a book if they’re not comfortable with the subject matter?

MK: It all depends on the family and the child. In an ideal world, a parent and child could read the same book and be able to discuss difficult topics openly. But everyone’s values are different. There are lines that certain parents or school administrators will not cross. I think that kids are very capable of deciding for themselves whether something is too challenging (emotionally or in terms of reading level). If something doesn’t feel right, a kid is likely to put the book down. If they have a receptive atmosphere at school or home, they may even talk to an adult about it. My answer in most cases is, “Try it.” The child might pull away, and that’s okay. Or they could really surprise you.

MUF: Industry-wise, can you read the tea leaves for us? What’s going to happen in #kidlit? Any trends you see bubbling up? Asking for a friend 🙂 …

MK: The market is quite healthy these days. Especially, as I mentioned, for middle grade. That means, however, that agents and editors expect more. Higher stakes. Twists on familiar concepts. Blends of action, adventure, magic, fantasy, etc. Barring a high concept premise, a really strong coming of age theme in a contemporary setting. Big feelings. Above all else, though, today’s MG gatekeepers demand voice and humor. If a character falls flat, or the writing doesn’t sizzle, you are in for stiff competition. Don’t take this as advice to litter your manuscript with #slang and references to Snapchat. But do read your work aloud. This is my most potent advice, and not many writers actually do it. You will learn so much about your characters and yourself if you take this step. Take risks. Be funny. Have fun. Get in touch with that inner middle grader. Sometimes writers are so busy trying to prove that they’re great writers, that they forget to listen to their characters and their own inner voice. You may surprise yourself!

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Andrea Pyros is the author of My Year of Epic Rock, a middle grade novel about friends, crushes, food allergies, and a rock band named The EpiPens.

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Subtext in MG

By on September 26, 2016   /   For Writers, Writing  

(For study purposes and maybe a potential future post, I am putting together a list of middle grade books that excel in the use of subtext. Please feel free to add any titles in the comments section that you feel belong on this list. Thanks!) 

We recently had a #MGLitChat on the topic of subtext. I signed up to co-host and was scared to death of this chat. My concern was embedded in the fact I felt I didn’t know enough about subtext and figured I needed to do a lot of research to be able to hold my own. Lo and behold, I harkened back to my own middle school days and didn’t study. Fortunately, I was able to play the comic relief to the intellect of my co-host for the night, Lee Gjertsen Malone. When the chat was over, not only did I feel a whole heckuva lot smarter, but I had a whole new appreciation for subtext, especially in middle-grade literature.

What exactly is subtext? The important part that is not there is what subtext is. The stuff which exists in space between what we perceive and is there without being told or shown it is there. I came across a cool quote from Ernest Hemingway about subtext:

“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of the movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.”

With the iceberg image painted firmly in our reader and writer mind, we get a solid idea of what subtext is. The words we read in a story are the part floating above the water. The tips of the story icebergs act as the guideposts, while the space in between the guideposts, Hemingway’s 7/8ths, becomes the meaning and character and flavor existing below the surface which makes for a richer narrative. Subtext gives us stories that are more than they appear to be on the surface. Subtext gives us satisfying stories with more of everything.

The four basic types of subtext.

  • Privilege – The reader has information the characters don’t.
  • Revelation – Reveals a certain truth over time.
  • Promise – The story goes the way a story supposed to go and the way the reader expects it to go.
  • Question – As a story advances, the reader begins to ask questions about where the story is going.

K.M. Weiland did a recent Helping Writers Become Authors post and podcast about subtext. It is an excellent resource to assist the writer or the reader through the literary dark forest that is subtext. She presents five steps to work subtext into your writing.  

(1) Story subtext arises from the space between to known, fixed points. The writer builds a framework of dots and lets the reader connect the dots as they read. When the reader connects all the dots, a rich and full story picture emerges. The writer should tell the reader what they need to know, not tell them everything single thing. That’s not very entertaining.

(2) Story subtext must exist below the surface and (3) remain existing under the surface. The writer needs to know the whole iceberg in order to design the tip that paints the picture of the whole iceberg in the reader’s mind with telling every single detail.

(4) Story subtext is created by the dichotomy between the interior and exterior behavior. Once something rises to the exterior, it can no longer be considered subtext. In practice, it’s simply, as K.M Weiland says,  “avoid presenting characters and situations for exactly what they are”.

(5) Subtext exists in the silent spaces. Use your character’s silence to leave out things in order to make sure they don’t tell each other every single thing.

Maybe the most important thing we can do when working on the skill of subtext is to trust the reader. The reader will be able to put together the shape and scope of the submerged story information iceberg. The reader will be able to connect the dots and then put these connections together to reveal the story picture to themselves. Even a middle-grade reader is deserving of this trust and can rock at the art of subtext, as long as the subtext relates to the reader while remaining appropriate for the characters and the story.

Experiment with subtext in your writing. Learn how to spot it being used in your reading. Most of all, learn to trust your reader to connect the dots you place and see the pictures you intended them to see.

That is reading and writing magic.

CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=730855

CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=730855

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Do You Think the World is Ready?

By on July 20, 2016   /   Book Lists, Diversity, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

I don’t shock easily, but two recent incidents had me reeling.

The first happened during a creative writing workshop I ran for kids in Grades 4-6. At the start of the workshop, several kids mentioned which of my books they’d read. Then one girl raised her hand and shyly announced that she wanted to read my books, but her mom wouldn’t allow her. “She says they have bad words,” the girl reported.

I tried to seem blase. “Has your mom read any of my books?” I asked her.

“No,” the girl admitted.  “But she’s seen the covers.”

I assured her that I was always careful not to use “bad words”–and that it wasn’t fair to judge a book by its cover. But how a parent viewed any of my covers and decided the text contained inappropriate language  was a mystery to me. And the sad thing was, this girl was an enthusiastic writer who clearly craved access to all sorts of books.

The other incident occurred at the start of an elementary school’s Read Aloud Day. Because my books fall into the  upper elementary/ middle school category, I was assigned a fourth grade class, as was the local middle school principal.  As the two of us chatted before the program, he asked what books I had on the horizon.

I told him about my upcoming middle grade novels:  TRUTH OR DARE (Aladdin, S&S/Sept. 20, 2016), which is about a mom-less girl’s experience of puberty, and STAR-CROSSED (Aladdin/S&S, March 2017), which is about a girl who has a crush on the girl playing Juliet in the middle school production of Shakespeare’s play.

The principal’s face turned pink. He laughed nervously. “Oh,” he said. “Do you think the world is ready?”

I explained that all my books were wholesome, completely appropriate for tweens. I hoped he’d express enthusiasm, maybe even extend an invitation to the middle school, or say he’d mention the books to the school librarian.  But he didn’t do either. Instead, he changed the subject.

I’ve been thinking about  both of these incidents  a lot lately, in light of Kate Messner’s recent dis-invitation from a school uncomfortable with her newest MG, THE SEVENTH WISH. That book, which I deeply admire, is about a girl whose older sister has a heroin addiction– a topic the school decided was inappropriate for its students .

What scares me is not so much outright book-banning, because that happens in the bright light of day, and often leads to heightened interest in the banned book, anyway.  What I find even more troubling is “quiet censorship,” the sort of thing that happens when an adult decides the world, or a school, or a classroom, or a particular kid “isn’t ready” to read about certain topics. And so he doesn’t extend the invitation, or order the book–not because the book isn’t good, or isn’t written at the right level, but because the subject makes him nervous. It’s a type of book-banning–but because it happens under the radar, it’s difficult to detect.

When Kate Messner was disinvited from a school, she had an overt act, the revoked invitation, to react to, and she did so eloquently and effectively, both on her blog and behind a podium at ALA 2016. But many authors who tackle challenging subjects just won’t get the initial invitation, or their book simply won’t get ordered by the library.  So how do they even know they’ve been “quietly censored”? And how can they–or their readers–protest? After all, schools and libraries are free to make their own choices, as they should be.  If they choose not to order a certain book, who’s to say the choice was motivated by the book’s challenging or controversial subject, and not by the author’s writing style?

I keep coming back to the realization that kids are older than we think they are, older than we were when we were their age.  Girls are menstruating at younger ages, getting eating disorders at younger ages (this is the subject of my upcoming eighth novel STUFF I KNOW ABOUT YOU (Aladdin/S&S Sept. 2017).  The internet has exposed all of our kids to a cruel, violent, judgmental world. If we don’t allow kids to read MG novels that reflect the world they live in, one of two things will happen. Either kids will turn off reading realistic fiction altogether (and with the internet constantly beckoning, that’s a real concern)– or they will crash the gate, choosing, and perhaps sneaking, YAs that are too explicit and dark for their years.  As any parent of a teen knows, once a kid starts reading YA fiction, he/she seldom wants to discuss the edgier content with an adult. Isn’t it better to allow access to books specifically geared toward a MG sensibility–the way  THE SEVENTH WISH is?  And shouldn’t we as adults want to stay in the conversation–even when (or especially when) the conversation makes us nervous?

We can’t be in favor of diversity in kidlit without welcoming books that include all sorts of previously ignored characters: kids of color, LGBT kids, kids in nontraditional families, kids coping with a family member’s addiction, kids coping with mental illness (like Dunkin in Donna Gephart’s  beautiful LILY AND DUNKIN).  There’s nothing inherently “wrong” or “inappropriate” about these characters–they’re just kids on the basketball team, kids on the school bus, kids in the play. And they deserve to be represented, read about, identified with, empathized with.

The world is ready.

Barbara Dee’s next book, TRUTH OR DARE, will be published on September 20, 2016.

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