Erika McGann, author of Chasing the Shy Town, on the challenges of writing for multiple age groups . . .
I usually have a few books on the go at once. At the moment I’m working on a middle grade fantasy, I’ve just submitted a new picture book text to a publisher, and there’s a YA horror glaring at me from its folder on the screen because I’ve been dipping in and out of it and it would prefer my full attention. Writing for different age levels has its challenges, but it certainly has its benefits too.
Picture books, for example, have to be as neat and concise as you can make them. Each and every word matters because you have so few to spare. For me this takes time. I write a draft, leave it for as long as possible, rewrite it, leave it again, and on and on until I’m sure there are no superfluous words taking up room.
On the upside, picture books are enjoyed in ways that other books are not. They are made to be read aloud – to be shared between two or more people – and they are often read many times. (If you’re lucky, your book becomes a beloved favourite; dog-eared, scribbled on, disintegrating at the spine and covered in jammy fingerprints.) Writing text to be read aloud is fun. You get to play with rhythm and rhyme and repetition. And knowing that it will be read numerous times means you can add moments that a child may not pick up on during the first or second read, but may do on the third or fourth or even later. You’re writing a book to which a child may form a long attachment, and that’s a lovely feeling.
But it’s not just the reader you have to consider when writing a picture book. It’s a collaboration between you and an illustrator, so you need the text to serve as inspiration, as a jumping off point for someone else’s work. If I know the book’s likely format, I’ll break up the text by page. This allows me to imagine each spread as an individual thing. I try to ensure they vary, that each one has its own moments, and that the illustrator is not having to create distinction between scenes that are too similar.
By the time the illustrator begins, my work is done and dusted, and getting to watch the artwork come in is one of the great joys of working on children’s books.
With books for older kids, illustration is not something I think about as I write. Though I have some input, it is the editor and designer who usually make the final decision on which scenes will be illustrated, so I don’t need to worry about it during the writing process.
Compared to picture books, chapter books offer a lot more room to manoeuvre in terms of word count, but the reading level is a big consideration. It took a long time before I felt confident moving up and down in reading level, but I’ve gotten used to it and can usually spot when I’m drifting too high or too low. I rarely drift when I’m well into a story, but it happens occasionally so I have to keep an eye on it.
The ideas and subject matter have to suit the age level too. My new book, Chasing the Shy Town, is for 6-8 years, but I’d initially meant it to be for middle grade readers. I knew something wasn’t right when I couldn’t get going on the text. I rewrote the opening chapters so many times, but it wasn’t working well and I wasn’t enjoying it. So I threw a little tantrum and cast the book aside for a while (throwing tantrums can work wonders sometimes), and when I came back to the story with fresh eyes I decided it was better suited for younger readers. The book seemed to write itself after that, and I had a ball working on it.
At middle grade level you have even more room to wander, and I love this. I don’t plot or make notes as a writer, and when working on anything older than a picture book I usually do only one draft, which I inch my way through, editing and rewriting as I go. The biggest challenge for me at this level is too much wandering. I indulge in too many tangents and subplots, and then I end up with a dense tangle of threads that can’t be tied up within a reasonable length for a middle grade book. Though word limits can sometimes feel terribly restrictive when writing for children, I’ve recently found the benefits of setting myself an arbitrarily small word limit when starting a new book. It forces me to be brutal in cutting text that isn’t absolutely necessary, and stops me wandering too far. Instead of trying to reach a particular word count each day, I’ve almost gone in the opposite direction – lamenting how much precious space today’s work has taken up. It may not be something I stick to, but for the moment I’m finding it very helpful.
I haven’t had as much experience writing for young adult readers, but that is something I’ll get deeper into when I finally give the glaring YA horror manuscript my full attention. And that’s the best part about writing for multiple age groups. The books are so vastly different to each other, and even if I’ve just written the final words of a middle grade novel, I can immediately open a new file and feel a little thrill, because the picture book part of my brain is fresh and ready to go. It keeps me on my toes, and keeps the work endlessly exciting.
(c) Erika McGann
About Chasing the Shy Town by Erika McGann:
A fun and engaging story about the impossibility of perfection.
An exciting new adventure from the critically-acclaimed Erika McGann.
Senan doesn’t care for adventure. He’d rather watch the world go by from his bedroom window.
But when he spots the Shy Town – a hilltop town that vanishes and reappears along the horizon – he is fascinated.
Along with his fearless and fun-loving neighbour and his no-nonsense grandmother, Senan sets out to find the Shy Town. On their epic adventure they encounter wild storms, a boy made of paper, a nervous, beetle-like creature with remarkable abilities – and a mysterious town with an incredible secret.
Illustrated by Toni Galmés
Order your copy online here.
