Writing the Middle Grade Novel: From Start to Finish – Part Three
May 14, 2010 by Working Writers Coach
Filed under Writing Tips
Many writers who start a middle grade novel get halfway through the story and then give up on the project. That doesn’t have to be the case for you. Here are a few tips to help you FINISH your manuscript.
1. Don’t ask for feedback too soon. Any criticism too early can confuse you or make you stop working on your story altogether. Wait until you’re at least 6 chapters into your story before you ask for feedback. Better yet, have a story synopsis to show your critique group, along with your first chapter, so they can see where you are wanting the story to go.
2. If you get stuck on a particular chapter, skip it for the time being and move on to the next chapter or even move several chapters ahead. This will keep you writing, and sometimes you figure out WHY you just couldn’t get a particular earlier chapter to work and you’ll be able to go back and write it once you have a later chapter in place.
3. Don’t worry too much about having all the details for every chapter at first. The first thing you must do is just get the entire first draft on paper. This is the MOST important thing, so just keep writing.
4. Avoid enlessly rewriting the first chapter or the first couple of chapters instead of moving ahead to new chapters. Generally, writers are excited to write the first chapter or two. And the writing flows easily. After that, it starts to become more difficult and we think if we go back and rewrite those first few chapters, we’ll be able to write the next ones just as easily as we wrote the first ones. But that’s a trap that keeps you from moving ahead.
5. If you get so stuck that you just can’t seem to figure out anything for any new chapters, stop and move away from the chapters. Get a pad of paper and start interviewing your main character–or the character who doesn’t seem to be doing what he/she needs to do to move the action forward. You’re probably stuck because you just don’t know your characters well enough.
6. Go back and write another chapter. Keep following steps 2-5 until you finish the entire manuscript.
Happy writing!
Writing the Middle Grade Novel – From Start to Finish: Part Two
May 11, 2010 by Working Writers Coach
Filed under Writing Tips
Note: If you missed Part One of this article, read it here first!
In Part Two of Writing the Middle Grade Novel: From Start to Finish, I’ll give some tips for plotting and writing your novel. Every writer works a bit differently, but these are techniques that I’ve found work for me. Maybe they will work for you, too.
Tips and Tricks for Plotting and Writing Your Novel
1. Start from the ending and work your way back to the beginning. Where do you want your main character to end up at the end of the story? What will he/she have accomplished and how will this character have changed by the end of the story?
Think of some big culminating event for your novel and create a “ticking clock” so your main character must solve the overall story problem before time runs out (things must happen quickly so you can sustain the dramatic tension throughout the story).
2. Write the jacket flap copy for your book–just one or two paragraphs that let the reader know what the story will be about. By summarizing this, YOU will get a better idea of EXACTLY what your story is about, too.
3. Next, figure out all the steps it will take for your main character to get to the ending. First, where does your character start out? What does he/she want more than anything? What happens next to change things a bit and make it a bit more difficult for your main character to get what he/she wants?
For example, in my middle grade novel, The Lucky Baseball, Harry (the main character) wanted to play baseball more than anything else in life so he could become a professional baseball player someday. But Mario (the resident bully) and his friends wouldn’t play baseball with Harry because he was a Japanese-American. Harry thought life in his hometown was bad, but then Harry had to move to an internment camp in the middle of the desert. Things became more complicated for him there. I wanted readers to wonder if Harry would have to give up his dream of becoming a baseball player once he moved to the camp. But then I made baseball the way he was able to survive in the camp and grow and develop so he could handle life better back home. But first, Harry had to overcome all sorts of challenges while he was in the camp.
4. Turn your plot into an outline of chapters. Generally, I start with a 12 chapter outline, although my story may end up being longer than 12 chapters. But 12 chapters keeps it manageable at the start. It also helps me create the story in 3 acts of 4 chapters each.
5. As you’re creating your outline, keep the plot triangle in mind. Introduce your characters and setting at the bottom left side of the triangle (see the illustration at the top of this page). Then, create rising action as you develop problems for your main character (your story starts moving up the triangle this way). These problems all lead to the climax of your story (which is at the top of the triangle). Generally, I plan the climax for chapter 10 or 11 of the story, then I can resolve everything in the final chapter or so.
6. For each chapter, think of what MUST happen in order for your main character to move closer to the climax and the ending of the story. You’ll think of more complications brought about by the antagonist or other outside events as you do, so don’t worry about having all of this in place from the start.
7. As you’re outlining, think in terms of scenes you can create for each chapter. Plan for 1 to 3 different scenes per chapter, for the most part. Consider your main character. Based on what he or she is like, how can you use other characters to create an interesting subplot? In middle grade, you don’t want too many subplots and they need to be fairly simple. In The Lucky Baseball, one of the subplots was Harry’s relationship with Mary, the little sister of Harry’s best friend. Another subplot involved Harry’s relationship with his father and his grandparents.
Follow these tips to create a compelling plot for your story to avoid the sagging middle! Then, check back here in a few days for Part Three of Writing the Middle Grade Novel- From Start to Finish with tips for finishing your manuscript!
Happy writing!
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