Ann:
It was my pleasure! Thanks for inviting me.
Debby: I wanted to talk about
writing the middle grade novel. To
capture the minds and hearts of middle grade students, you have to find
subjects that will interest them. How do
you find that perfect balance to touch the ten year old reader with your story?
Ann:
I try to write for the
ten-year-old that I was. I was and still
am such a voracious reader. If I really
loved a book when I was young, I would read it more than once. My mom took my brothers and me to the library
every week. I’m sure I could still go
straight to the places where my favorite books were shelved with my eyes
closed! My dream is to write the book
that will have that same effect on one of my readers.
Debby: I love the image of you searching for your
favorite books in the library. And I
know you have already touched readers with your beautiful books. What do you think about heavy subjects, such
as homelessness and loss. Do you think
these have a place in MG books?
Ann:
I think that MG readers can handle
a lot more than we sometimes think they can.
Homelessness and loss are very real issues that are happening right now
around them and quite often to them. Reading about those kinds of heavy subjects
can help kids make sense of things in their own lives.
Ann:
I think it can definitely be a
delicate balance! MG readers love the
hint of romance, but if you get too deeply into it, you run the risk of turning
them off, especially those on the lower end of the age range. I’m an elementary teacher, and I’ve noticed
this with my students. They love to
tease each other and hint around that someone might “like” someone else; this
information is often delivered second and third hand! But if you get too much into the actual
physical details, I think you are moving into YA territory.
Debby: I wanted to talk about boy books vs. girl
books. With YA there isn’t the same
pressure to be able to appeal to boys and girls at the same time. Do you feel the pressure to write a book that
can be appreciated by both boys and girls?
Ann:
I know that there seems to be a
big market right now for “boy” books in MG.
I am often pleasantly surprised to see to whom my books appeal. My main characters tend to be girls, because
that is what my voice leans toward … but I like to have other major and minor
boy characters to create a nice balance (if they belong in the story and move
it forward in a natural way). The most
important thing, I think, is for a writer to have strong, positive characters,
boy or girl, with which the readers can identify.
Debby: Can you give other writers some good advice
about reacting to trends in middle grade publishing? Right now, we are seeing so much fantasy—how
can writers stay true to their own voices?
Ann:
This may sound a little like a
cliché, but I believe it completely: write
the book that’s in your heart. When you
try to write for a trend, and it’s not coming out of your “writer self” in an
organic way, it shows. It can come
across as awkward and one-dimensional.
Debby: I am hanging that sentence on my wall for
inspiration, Ann. Thank you! Can you give writers one good tip for writing
middle grade fiction? My tip is to read
your pages aloud and listen to your words.
Then imagine you are ten. Would
you want to hear more? What’s your tip?
Ann:
Write the book that you wish you
had discovered when you were a MG reader.
Ask yourself what drew you to your favorite books, and what made you
keep going back to those treasured stories.
Thank you, Ann, for inspiring me and
everyone else today.
Ann: Thank
you, Debby!
For more about Ann, visit her website, http://www.annhaywoodleal.com, blog http://www.annhaywoodleal.blogspot.com
Or follow her on twitter http://www.twitter.com/AnnHaywoodLeal
D.L.
