Please welcome N.R. Wick to Chapter Break as part of the Blogger Book Fair!
Guest Post: Writing Middle Grade fiction and Young Adult fiction by N. R. Wick
Hi everyone! It’s a pleasure to be here. One of the things I get asked a lot my family and friends is if I approach young adult fiction differently than middle grade fiction. The funny thing is that I don’t really do anything differently. My process is pretty much the same, and so is my writing style.
Even though I don’t put too much thought in how I differentiate between the two, they do inevitably become different. For middle grade, I can’t get away with swearing too much or describing gore or mentioning sex. Not the same way I can with young adult. In a way, YA can be almost as graphic as adult books. I don’t necessarily write them that way, mostly because I don’t separate my YA and MG pen names, but if sometimes bad is going to happen in the middle grade book, I’ll still write it… just with less of the adult or YA content.
It’s not something I consciously do, though. Maybe it’s because the type of stories and the characters or voice of my middle grade work is much less dark than my young adult work. MG readers go through changes and hardships the same way as any YA reader would, but those events will be a bit different. I’ll admit, though, that I’m more involved in my YA stories and have only just begun my MG journey.
When I was a child, I only read books higher than my age, so that could contribute to the fact that I don’t approach them differently. One of my favourite MG book series is the Fablehaven series, and it just seems that the overall themes and story is a bit more lighthearted than a YA. Eventually, my approach may change as I write more, but I think good MG isn’t afraid to touch on deeper issues, even if it’s done in a slightly more lighthearted why.
Thanks for the guest post Nicole! Now, check out her novels below 🙂
Land of No Angels
The Ascension marked a demon apocalypse that decimated the human race and forced survivors into hiding. Sixteen year old Rebecca Ashford and her younger sister, Errol, have spent the last year hidden in their family’s tornado bunker. When the sound of a screaming baby wakes them in the middle of the night, they attempt to save the infant and Errol is poisoned by a demon.
With only a week until the poison consumes her, Rebecca must trust a mysterious survivor named Fox to help her find a cure. Together, they confront demons and other monsters while Rebecca struggles to learn magic that will help them locate the ingredients needed to save her sister.
Land of No Mortals
Seventeen year old Rebecca Ashford and her younger sister Errol have finally found safe refuge at Crown Haven, a witch-led survivor colony. Rebecca should be thrilled by the secure place to live and the human contact after spending a year hiding in their family tornado bunker, but ever since her friend Fox left she’s been plagued by guilt strong enough to mess with her newfound witch powers.
When demons destroy Crown Haven, Rebecca uses her power to locate the only person who may know how to fight back. Instead, she discovers that Fox is in danger. She and Errol must rescue him and enlist his help in their quest to learn what caused the demon apocalypse and find a way to take back their world. As Rebecca struggles with her feelings for Fox and with controlling her power, she fights to stay alive and defy the demonic oppressors to protect the people she loves.
Land of No Demons
Having embraced her role as a High Witch in the post-apocalyptic Midwest, Rebecca uses her magical powers to locate imprisoned or hidden survivors. She and her comrades trek through snow and bitter wind to battle demons in order to rescue the dwindling human population. Even though developing her power has become effortless, her relationship with Fox is more complicated than ever.
After a demon informant reveals a plan to summon the creator of all demons, known as The First, Rebecca and the other High Witches must use their powers to heal the dimensional weak points and send him back to his tomb. If they fail, the human race will never recover. Join Rebecca, Fox, and the other survivors of the Ascension as they fight their final battle against evil in the third book of the Dark Ascension series.
About the Author:
N.R. Wick writes fiction for young adults and children. She loves everything magical, fantastical, and supernatural, especially if it’s dark. N.R. Wick has a Bachelor of Arts in Pictorial Arts from San Jose State University, where she studied Illustration and Digital Media, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. She currently teaches college level writing and lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Andrew.
Thanks for the information on MG vs YA. It’s often hard to decide what is appropriate and what isn’t for an age group but I think you made some very valid points on sex (obviously), level of gore, and swearing.
That’s a great example, Sophie. I also think of it like the Chronicles of Narnia movies. They are technically rated PG, but the subject matter is quite dark. I mean, there’s even a battle, and we see characters pierced with swords, but no blood. No gore, or anything.
Interesting take. I don’t write MG (yet), I am considering it, but I understand your point about bad things still happening in MG, but without the darkness that YA can bring. I think an example may be comparing the end of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, which was very much, yay, we won, we’re patched up and we fought the big bad, wasn’t it exciting, which is classic MG, to the depth of heartache in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was much more YA in its approach.
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