Читать книгу Writing Children's Books For Dummies - Peter Economy - Страница 44

When you write middle-grade books, you can’t rely on a lot of photographs or illustrations to help tell your story. Most children become aware of this distinguishing factor while they master this format: These books have few or no interior illustrations. If the book includes illustrations at all, they’re often limited to black-and-white sketches at chapter breaks.

Want to break into writing for this age group? What makes good middle-grade fiction also makes good YA novels (not to mention good grown-up books):

 Characters: Strong, interesting, uniquely drawn characters who have a burning need or desire that drives them to action throughout the book.

 Riveting stories: They grab you from the get-go and don’t let you go until you’ve turned the last page.

 Language: Writing that uses language to paint pictures in the mind — writing that has style (which we delve into in detail in Part 3).

 Voice: A truly unique, standout voice. We talk about voice in Chapter 12.

 Cliffhangers: Make every chapter ending leave them begging for more.

 Audience: A clear grasp of the audience and their concerns.

 Perspective: An ability to go back in space and time and put yourself into the shoes of a protagonist of that age without ever sounding like an adult or a younger child — a balancing act of the highest order.