Archive | How to write a Young Adult novel by Sarah Sumpolec RSS feed for this section

Take a trip to your local bookstore and browse the shelves of this category – usually called “independent reader”. Among the books here you’ll find practically every genre represented. There are action novels, fantasy novels, boy books, girl books, classics and contemporary. It is a place where little boys can ride to faraway lands or a twelve year old can deal with their parent’s divorce. It’s where a young boy or girl gets to live vicariously through the story. Writing for the 8-12 age range goes by many names, “independent reader” being only one. Sometimes you’ll hear it referred to as “juvenile”, “tween” or even just labeled as “9-12”. That’s why your main character is probably the single most important part of a middle-grade novel. The hero or heroine of […]

It seems like everyone I meet wants to write a picture book. Especially moms and teachers. They tend to read these a lot and probably are thinking, “Hey! I could do this!” Trouble is, everyone thinks that. I think picture books are probably the toughest kind of writing for children. They are short, which means every word must count. The language of picture books is subtle. Not to mention, picture books are extremely expensive to produce. Therefore, they are a bigger investment on the part of the publisher. That means stories that are bought for picture books must stand out from the crowd – they must have “heart, smarts and sparkle”. What does “heart, smarts and sparkle” mean? Just like with most writing, it’s a bit indefinable and also a […]

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be here! As the YA specialist around these parts, I get to share with you more about my favorite area of writing – Writing for Kids. If you have questions about this particular area of writing that you’d like me to cover, please leave a comment! I want to make sure we cover as much as you’re aching to know. First, a little about me. I have five YA novels with Moody Publishers (Becoming Beka) but I also have an education background and spent several years teaching in public schools. Oh, and I am passionate about children’s literature. So why the quotes around “children”? Well that’s because writing for children includes baby board books straight up through Young Adult. And if you’ve […]

So….about a year ago I started seeing an increase in requests for storycrafting and editing help for books falling in the Young Adult market.  Probably had something to do with a little phenom called, um…Twilight?  But more and more authors are looking at this still growing market and wondering….how do I write for the children and teenagers out there?  Good question.  So, I turned to my good friend and multi-published Young Adult author, Sarah Sumpolec.  Sarah loves kidsof all ages!  She’s fun, and smart and knows how to connect with the hearts and minds of this audience.  She’s the author of the Becoming Bekka YA series (published by Moody Press)  and has been up for the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year three times, as well as been a writing teacher and […]