Is it for a chance to entertain? To educate? Is it the pure enjoyment of the creative act?
One of my critique partners commented on a recent chapter of my young adult novel, You’re really going
to make kids think, aren’t you?
Yes, I certainly hope so.
If there is a common thread in all my books, and even my blog, it is that I enjoy making people think. Since it’s a voluntary thing, I figure you’re only here if you enjoy it as well. 🙂 For the kids, I hope that they will be drawn in by the story, drama, and characters, but leave with new thoughts, fresh perspectives, and an itch to discuss the newfound ideas that snuck into their brains.
Yes, I’m sneaky that way.
Any writer that can make me think, or even better, to make me feel while I think, has won me over. This was true even when I was a kid myself, so I think it can hold for some children, if not all.
If you write for children (middle grade or young adult), what drives you? If you write for adults, do you think your purpose is the same or different?
Oh definitely same purpose. Who want to read a book that doesn't make them think? I, for one, would get bored.
Oh, no! You're going to make me think. 😉
I would like to believe my books cause teens to think about the situations my mcs land themselves in, and how they would deal with it.
Great post, Susan!
@Jessica Exactly! Transporting fantasies are awesome too, but you need to engage my brain to keep me around.
@Stina LOL I think teens (esp those that read) are hungry for things that make them think, too.
I started my first children's book by accident. When my first son was three, he was tootin' something fierce one day and I asked him, "Who are you, Rudy Toot-Toot?"
"Who's that?" he asked.
I really hadn't expected a Socratic response to my rhetorical question, so I had to think fast. "He's a little boy who was born on a bean farm," seemed a rational explanation.
Later, I wrote a 500-word picture book manuscript about the rude little boy who farts a lot. The character name and frame work was enough to attract an agent's attention, and she offered suggestions to either revise the picture book manuscript, or develop it into a chapter book. I took the latter option, and over the course of eight months and several revisions the 500-word manuscript grew to 4,000, then 12,000, then 17,000 words.
I do embed several lessons in the story…not just on manners (the primary theme is "there is a right time and place for everything"), but also in math, agriculture, and economics. The real challenge is to make the lessons relevant to the story, and to keep them entertaining so the young readers don't even realize they are learning something.
I hope I'm able to make readers think, but I'm still early on the first MS so I can't say one way or the other. I love that you're sneaky though! 😉
I love it when children's authors put in surprising twists, interesting info and big words. Kids are smarter than we think. They're whole purpose in life altho we think it's to have fun, is actually to learn. Everything they do they're learning, even reading. They'll get bored with a book that's predictable, transparent or too easy.
I hope to take teen readers for an emotional ride that will get them thinking more deeply about family relationships, and perhaps even begin to think differently about how they see and understand their own family members.
As an adult reader, I like to see this in books–experiencing another's emotions so that I reflect differently on my own life.
hi miss susan! i think i could like to read one of your books. im mostly writing middle grade stuff cause im a middle grader. for my writing i hope im making it exciting so you could want to keep reading. i alway put stuff in it about believing in your self and not being scared to be just who you are. i hope some of what i write gets people thinking.
…hugs from lenny
@Rick What a great story! And I think it shows how our purposes can evolve as we go along this journey …
@DL I find I don't really know what a story's about until I finish the first draft. I'm curious to see what yours ends up being! 🙂
@KarenG Yay for big words! And kids are totally smarter than we think.
@Laurel The emotional heart of a story well-told is so appealing to me – and I'm a scientist! But I think it's a part of who were are as emotional, connected beings.
@Lenny Hi! Keeping stories exciting is SO important. Otherwise, why will the reader stick around? I think it's great that you're writing about believing in yourself. I'm sure your writing will make people think! 🙂
B/C I am passionate about history, I think I write to help me understand what it means to be human. And my personal pet peeve is when people ask me what I want readers to take away from my stories. I am not responsible for what my readers take away — they are responsible for that. Which is why I love writing for kids/YA so much!
I read to escape my life as a child…it took me to a safe happy place, often full of adventure and creativity. I hope that my writing will someday bring that to some child who needs an escape.
Oh yes – I love learning things from books, whether fiction or non-fiction and would hope that I too would inspire someone to further research or at least to say 'I never thought of that before…'
@Kirby I love when people (kids included) find things in my writing that I didn't even know was there. Which is one reason I love this new accessibility between writers and readers.
@Sharon I read for escape (as well as learning about the world) as a kid too! I would get lost for hours in a book.
@Deniz "I never thought of that …" Some of my favorite words! 🙂
I got into writing for children because an editor at conference pointed out that unicorns (the subject of my book geared toward adults! 🙂 were only saleable for middle grade. I'm still blushing from that encounter, years later.
But once I made the transition – I love writing MG! It occurred to me at some point that almost ALL my favorite books were MG and they had a HUGE influence on me in my formative years. HUGE. It's absolutely thrilling to think that maybe someday, even if it's just a few kids that really click with what I write, my stories might have a similar affect.
I write for both adult and YA, but my true passion is writing for YA. Here are some reasons that drive me: 1. I'm a kid at a heart who never truly grew up 2. I have a 7-year old son and want to write stories he'll like to read when he gets a little older 3. I tend to relate to kids better than adults 4. My writing voice, as a fellow critiquer informed me early in my writing career, is geared for young adults 5. They are our future
Great post! 🙂
Carrie
@Margo It is a thrill to have kids read your work, isn't it? Even the few kid-beta-readers I had were awesome. 🙂
@Carrie I like all your reason, but I think I like #5 the best. 🙂