The middle grade market is blowing up and authors are scrambling to get their share of the pie. It’s a big pie that seems to have room for everyone. As authors we draw a fine line between what kids deem fashionable reading and adults find cultivating, but how do you the author authentically write in middle grade voice?

Of all the manuscripts submitted, only a few will shine enough to merit the prestigious favor of publishers, editors and agents. A major part of the appeal seems to be the ability to genuinely cross over to young readers.

Most of my titles are middle grade, and when I speak at Writers’ Conferences, schools, libraries and Comic Cons, I will read an excerpt of a title. Many of the time I’m asked “How did you capture that voice? It sounds like a kid. How do you do that?”

There’s no secret to this, but I guess as adults, we tend to forget the jargon, the feel – the voice of youth. Writing for kids can easily turn into a grown-up preaching, or talking down, and that is the last thing a young reader wants. They won’t get past page two before they drop the book and move on to the next.

My first published book birthed out of a challenge from my sixth-grade son. While watching the “Goonies” on TV, he said, “You should write a story like that about me and my friends.” At the time, I was only penning adult horror and speculative short stories, but I took the challenge. By completion, it became a full novel – something I never thought I would have the patience to write. Upon sending out queries, it was quickly snatched up by a publisher.

Doing the author visit circuit among schools, kids ate it up, and the teachers and school librarians were pleased (so was I). But I’d get the same question when I was on panels and even speaking with the school staff, “How did you get that voice? The kids love it.”

Answer? I cheated. Ok, maybe that isn’t the right choice of word, but when my son was in school, I was that goofy parent that attended the field trips. I was an officer in the band association, and, in fact, I used to pick up the four kids in the book and take them places: the beach, stores, amusement parks, drives in the car. Of course, they had no idea I was studying them. Sitting in the back, one of the girls would say something like “did you see what Amy did to her hair for the school pictures? O-M-G!” And I’m sitting up front with a pad, scribbling it all down.

I did many a school visit and sat in on library kids’ programs. I would let the librarian know, “I’m an author, I need material, I won’t make a noise – act like I’m invisible.”

Of course, in this day and age, the last thing you want to do is sit at a playground or elementary school cafeteria staring at kids– kind of creepy if you ask me. But you can chaperone a field trip, or volunteer in a library summer reading program, or even stand at the toy aisle at Walmart like you’re looking for something for your child. Ideas will come, trust me.

Capturing that voice will inevitably shine through if you study, take notes, and tell yourself, “When I was a fifth grader, how did I communicate with my buddies?”

Articles on authentic voice are all over the net and you can always go to a writers’ conference that highlights a class on the subject, but real life is full of tutorials. Don’t worry – the voices will come.

BIO:
Attracted to words at an early age, Rod Martinez’s first book was created in grade school, his teacher used it to encourage creativity in her students. His high school English teacher told him to try short story writing, he listened, and the rest – as they say, is history.