If you write middle grade fiction, and have submitted manuscripts to agents or editors for consideration, chances are you’ve been rejected because the voice of your main character just ‘doesn’t seem right’. Maybe it feels too adult, or too immature, or too teenager. Maybe the voice is too didactic, or shallow, or uninteresting.
Voice in middle grade is one of the trickiest writing elements to master, and one of the most subjective. When a writer can learn to nail the middle grade voice, everything else will fall into place.
Voice is more than just what your protagonist says in dialogue. It’s also their thoughts and actions, and the way they narrate the story. It’s how they respond to situations both planned and unplanned. Like regular humans, they react physically, mentally, and verbally. Voice is who your character IS.
When I first started writing, eons ago, I thought when people talked about ‘voice’ they were specifically referring to dialogue. I was often confused, and struggled to make my dialogue shine. When I finally learned that dialogue is only one tiny piece of voice, and started branching out to work on all the other pieces too, I discovered that dialogue itself just fell into place. Voice is what matters.
Connecting with your middle grade readers is the goal. Having a strong, consistent voice is a huge step toward that connection. This can be one of the most elusive concepts for writers to grasp. Voice is so much more than just how your main character talks, or the vocabulary you use in the story. Voice is in thoughts, conversations, descriptions, responses, and actions. As your main character tells their story – no matter what point of view you are writing – voice is HOW they tell that story. And it has to be true to a middle grade age.
So how can you master middle grade voice?
The typical advice is good. Read lots of current middle grade books. Eavesdrop on middle grade conversation. Read your story aloud to middle grade kids and see how they respond. Try to think like a kid.
But beyond all that, what can you do?
I made a short video that explains voice in more detail. In this video you’ll learn:
- How voice is represented through thoughts, words, and actions
- How recognizing the patterns in voice will strengthen your character
- Why creating consistency of voice throughout the whole story is vital
Click here to access the video Patterns of Voice.
I also created a tool you can use to analyze each of the scenes in your story. It’s a checklist that will help you identify patterns and then map them as the story progresses. It will also help you check for consistency from several angles of voice.
Access the PDF Voice Consistency Checklist here.
Crafting a strong middle grade voice is challenging. It usually doesn’t just happen automatically for any writer. But we all can cite our favorite middle grade books where the author nailed it.
One of the best things you can do to improve your character’s voice is to read and think about how other authors have successfully done it. Here is a list of some of my favorite middle grade stories with outstanding examples of voice:
- Some Kind of Courage by Dan Gemeinhart
- Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
- Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
- Scumble by Ingrid Law
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Intentionally building the elements of consistent voice takes focus, analysis, and mapping. If you put the time into it, the rewards will be great.