When I do in-person or virtual school visits, I frequently meet aspiring young authors. Sometimes these creative young people have hit a roadblock in their writing and don’t know how to keep moving forward. As a published author of several middle grade novels, I’d like to offer some tips that have helped me complete my own manuscripts over the years.
- Don’t Worry about Grammar. I know what you’re thinking. If I tell my young writer not to care about commas, capitalization, or spelling, chaos will ensue! I’m not saying to forget about all of that forever. But there’s a time and a place to focus on the details, and that time isn’t usually when you’re drafting a story. The parts of our brain that are good at details, order, and tidiness aren’t necessarily the same ones that excel at creativity. When building a new world, interesting plots, and fresh characters, we need our imaginations unharnessed. Professional authors have rounds of revisions that focus on different story elements. We don’t try to fix everything at once and neither should young writers. There will be a time for fixing commas and spelling later. I promise.
- Balance World Building with Story Creation. I’ve talked to lots of writers over the years, and they generally fall into two camps––Pantsters or Plotters. Pantsters like to fly by the seat of their pants and write their stories as quickly as the ideas come into their heads. Plotters prefer to outline everything––from detailed character bios, setting maps, to beat sheets and lore. Neither method is wrong, but I find it helpful to know which tendency you lean toward. If a young writer loves to spend time mapping out details, it might be helpful for them to take a step back from world-building and focus on adding a new chapter or a few pages every now and then. That way they don’t spend all their time planning without gaining momentum in the story itself. On the other hand, if a young writer loves jumping right in without any planning, they can sometimes find that they’ve written a lot of words but none of it is really coming together to form an actual story. For that writer, I recommend dedicating some time to thinking about how their characters and plot work together in the larger story.
- Read the Genre You Write. Every genre has its tropes—these are the things readers expect to have happen in the story. For example, if someone wrote a mystery but there was no detective and in the end the case wasn’t solved, readers would likely be disappointed. Reading the types of stories you’d like to write helps you meet reader expectations. It also helps polish a writer’s language skills, gets creative juices flowing, and offers a good idea of what kinds of stories are popular with readers.
- Tell Your Inner Critic to Get Lost. If we’re not careful we can be so critical of our ideas and work that we end up not writing at all. That’s why it’s important for young writers to not let their inner critic take over. There’s a common sentiment among professional authors: all first drafts stink. So feel free to stink it up. You’re in good company. Revision is the time to perfect your story. Don’t let that nagging voice in your head bring you down. Keep going. You’ll never know what your story might become if you quit. If you still don’t love your project when you’re finished, no big deal. It wasn’t a waste. It was good practice for whatever you create next.
- Enjoy the Process. I’ve talked to young writers who feel stressed about their stories and the pressure to create. They worry that they’re not talented enough or that they’re too young to succeed. All these fears take away from what should be a joyful outlet. It’s easy to get hung up on the what ifs and the game of comparing ourselves to others. But what if we took a step back and remembered why we wanted to write in the first place? Isn’t it about the thrill of creating new characters and worlds? Creativity isn’t a competition or a race. We can all win. Let’s focus on the joy our stories bring us and our readers, and keep on writing!
Summer Rachel Short 