Questions Writers Get
So, when is your book going to be published? That’s the one, right? That annoying one that unpublished writers get all the time. (Especially, as it turns out, unpublished agented writers. Who’d a thunk it?) My stock answer is both philosophical and Southern: How long is a piece of string?
But recently, someone very near and dear asked me a different question: Why did you choose to write Middle Grade?
My first impulse was to defend Middle Grade literature itself, followed swiftly by a less defensive, but even more woo-woo explanation: I didn’t choose it, it choose me. I ended up explaining how I quit my day job to write romances, but found myself sitting down every day with a head full of stories for Middle Grade kids, and that’s what came out (in fits and starts, accompanied by scads of essays and some truly horrible poetry).
But that question got me wondering — why do you, Writer Friends, write what you write? Whether you write angsty YA novels in verse, or Sci Fi tomes, or naughty limericks (Side note: I memorized all the words to “There once was a man from Nantucket” this week. ‘Cause a girl needs to have a few masterworks of the poetic canon at hand when she gets snarky questions about what kind of poety she writes.), there must be some reason that you feel drawn to that subject matter.
Anyone feel compelled to share? I’ll hum Kum Ba Yah over in my corner of the Internet while you comment if you like.
I remember sitting in workshop after workshop in grad school, listening to people tear apart my writing, wondering why I didn’t care all that much. (Okay, sometimes I cared.) I felt just that divorced from the text — from my own work. I had to write fiction, of a certain length and style — it was in the course description. Literary, no bones about it. And it wasn’t what I felt drawn to write. But at the time, I didn’t feel drawn to much of anything. I remember admitting to my mentor that I felt like I hadn’t lived long enough to write the stories I had to tell.
Can you believe I was that wise at twenty?
So, why did I choose Middle Grade? Because I’ve finally lived long enough to write it. I have two kids of my own who provide me with endless material, and a couple of decades of working with children of all ages. For what it’s worth, I think writing Middle Grade is at least as hard as writing literary fiction, maybe harder. But it’s the type of story I have to tell right now, so I work at it, every day.
But also, truthfully? I didn’t choose it, it chose me.
Pablo Neruda said it about poetry, and said it best, but it’s the same for anyone who has found her genre, I think.
Happy Writing, Friends.
01/20/2010 at 2:39 pm
I wrote my first novel, an adult, angsty sort of thing when my son was very small. During this time, I was reading books out loud to him, books like Dinotopia that many people would think were way beyond a preschooler’s comprehension, but he loved them. After we read a chapter, he would get out his toy dinosaurs and we would reenact what we had just read. Then he would “rewrite” the story and we’d play it out the way he would have liked for the story to go. Then it was my turn. It kind of stuck. So maybe that’s one reason I write Middle Grade.
01/21/2010 at 2:12 am
Vonna, that is such a cute picture, you and your kid acting out Dinotopia. So you’re a grade-A mom as well as a great writer? How cool.
01/20/2010 at 3:27 pm
I write Ya because I’ve hung out with teenagers going on 6 years now. They make me laugh and I feel like I have stories to tell that I hope will make them think, enjoy an occasional laugh, and provide them with an escape or emotional outlet. The first novel I wrote was MG and it was painstaking for me to write. I’ll probably go back at some point and revise it, but a YA voice/narrative is definitely more my speed. 🙂
01/21/2010 at 2:14 am
Huh. Didn’t know you had written a MG. Invite me over and read me pages;-)
I love that feeling of writing something that makes you laugh… now if I could just get it out there so lots more laughter can take place.
01/20/2010 at 4:53 pm
Oh, no! I’m to explain why I write YA and picture books? Because some days I regress back to teendom to avoid being an adult and other days are so horrific they send me screaming all the way back to toddlerhood? MINE! WHY? WHY? WHY?
Seriously, I really do LOVE those two stages of life. I like the middle-schoolers, but they don’t get as excited over my super-duper PB&J Flying Saucers as the picture book crowd and you can’t watch rated R movies with them (No, you really can’t people! Stop it already!)so I guess my comfort level with that age group is more guarded overall than with toddlers, young elementary geniuses, and teens and that would probably be obvious in my writing. So, why don’t I write for adults? They’re the ones I’m trying to avoid on a daily basis, remember? 🙂
Wow, Nikki. Pretty introspective post for a Wednesday. But don’t forget the number 2 most dreaded question:
Do you know any publishers I can send my children’s story to? (um, yeah, I have a few of their home numbers on speed dial, but you’ll have to buy me lunch first…)
01/21/2010 at 2:16 am
LOL Yeah, I know a publisher called Lulu who will do any books you care to send…
It was a bit moody for me, huh? Well, you know how the week’s been. I’ll try to be peppy next post… hey wait, next post will be about the Awesome Austin conference! Yeah, that will cheer us all up.
01/20/2010 at 5:55 pm
I absolutely love your “how long is a piece of string?” answer!
I wrote a YA having no idea what a YA was; the story just came out (you can imagine how badly it ended). After reading a bunch of YA, I loved the genre. I’ve toyed with the idea that I like YA because I didn’t outgrow my self-centered outlook on life, but I hope that’s not it. 🙂
Also, I’m not so wise as you to KNOW I’m in the right genre. I’m trying a middle grade to uncertain effect- pretty sure MC will have to age up. Like Shelli said, I’m drawn to the teen stage of life. But I’m also drawn to the new mom stage. The bulk of my short stories are about women adjusting to change.
01/21/2010 at 2:18 am
Come on now, I never said I was certain I was in the “right genre.” The right one for right now, okay. I wonder if, when my boys get older, I’ll start writing older stuff…
Will you PLEASE let me be the judge on how your MG is going? 🙂
01/21/2010 at 1:46 am
Ha! I’ve never heard anyone outside my family use that ‘How long is a piece of string?’ saying! The first three novels I wrote (that would be the first three after the very first two, which will never see daylight) were epic fantasy. I’ve got a fourth in the series partway written. I adore the characters, I will continue reworking the books, and one day hopefully they’ll be published.
But I have discovered that my passion is in YA. The book I’m currently peddling to prospective agents simply showed up in my head and poured out of me onto the paper. It’s a story I want out there because it’s a story I want kids to read and be affected by. I want to write things that will touch kids at that elusive moment when coming to understand something about themselves might well alter the rest of their life. Too many times that fraction of a second when the way they think might be changed is lost, and they grow up swallowed by the constraints of society and expectation, never knowing that it doesn’t have to be that way. That’s why I think YA caught me by the throat, because I grew up (fortunately) with parents who told me anything was possible and to make your own path rather than follow everyone else’s, who kept me wild and unfettered by the standard perceptions of how one ‘ought to act’ and ‘ought to think’.
Enough soap-boxing. But that’s my story (high drama and all) of why I write what I write, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂
01/21/2010 at 2:20 am
We love drama here! Also, sounds like you had great parents.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Come back and visit again soon!
01/23/2010 at 9:03 am
Wanted to let you know, you won an award over at my blog.
01/24/2010 at 1:42 pm
OMGosh! Jenni, you are so awesome! Sorry I haven’t replied, I’ve been coping with a rattlesnake-bit dog. Very scary. He’s all right, though. Sort of.
I’ll post my list of 10 things that make me happy soon — but you’re definitely on it!
01/24/2010 at 3:32 am
I write fantasy and paranormal because I love it–those are the genres I lean toward when reading. As far as adult v YA. I started with adult, then shifted to YA. My voice came out better that way. I’m not giving up on the adult stuff, so hopefully I’ll be able to continue writing for both.
I’m also just starting up my blog on what writing means to me and about psychiatry. (My two “careers.”)
How long is a piece of string? It’s as long as it wants to be. 🙂
01/24/2010 at 1:41 pm
Laura! Hi, and thanks for stopping by! You have a great website. Since you write YA, your pieces of string are longer than mine, BTW. Good luck getting to the end of one and selling it soon!
01/24/2010 at 2:53 pm
Yay, someone who understands why I write middle grade! This post resonated with me, Nikki. Every time I sit down to write it is the same. Recently I co-wrote YA with my sister. It was a stretch!
01/24/2010 at 3:28 pm
Suzette — Hi! So glad to “meet” ya! I can’t imagine co-writing with my sister. Or anyone. I would probably make someone else crazy. With my mad skillz and amazing work ethic, naturally. Snerk!
So glad you’re with Suzie! She’s the best.