Tween the Weekends is a monthly feature hosted right here on Emblazon. This is an opportunity for everybody to promote tween literature, that age bracket squashed between middle grade and young adult. You can review a great tween book, post about writing for kids, connect with others who love the genre, support and encourage one another, relate news, share links, or just about anything else tween related. Let’s celebrate tween literature!
Like every other writer, I go through several rounds of edits to bring a manuscript to completion. However, fiction for young people is peculiar in that apart from the other red flags that come up, language is extremely important.
I've been working with a particular manuscript over several months and although I've kept the focus on word choices in the back of my mind, at this point I have my eagle eyes on that aspect, plus dialogue. Having written this book some time ago, I've been forced to give it more than a fine tooth treatment. Each word has to be examined to see that it's exactly the right one for a book of this kind and for a child the age of my protagonist. In short, since it's his story, his voice has to be accurate.
I don't want him to come across as being too old and at the same time I'm making sure the conversations sound natural. Of course, there will always be doubts because while I wonder if a 12 year old would say this or that thing, I have a son that age who amazes me with the span of his vocabulary and the depth of his intelligence.
Children don't appreciate being written down to and will spot a fake inside of a minute, so it is with this in mind that I'm wading through this book, determined to hit just the right note. It would be ideal if I had young readers to bounce the book off, but alas, with technology being what it is, I know of very few children who will sit still long enough to read a book.
I'm encouraged though because the few times I've lured my son into reading parts of the book to get his view on the language and such, he's given me good feedback. Now if I could tie him down for a few more pages...
That said, I believe that when writing for the tween set, a bit more is required for putting out a book that will resonate with readers.
What say you?
See the list of other writers who are participating here.