What middle grade readers expect
Middle grade protagonists are usually around ten to thirteen, slightly older than the youngest readers, and the story is solved by the kids, not the adults. Readers expect adventure, humour, mystery or magic, and emotional honesty about things that matter at that age: friendships changing, families under strain, feeling different.
The difference from YA is perspective. Middle grade looks outward at the world and the protagonist's place in it, romance is usually absent or very light, and difficult subjects are handled with hope. The language is clear without being simplistic.
Length and structure
Many middle grade novels run somewhere around 30,000 to 55,000 words, with fantasy often longer. The Standard preset (30,000 words over 12 chapters) is a strong default; raise the word count for a fantasy adventure.
Short chapters ending on a hook are a convention of the age group. A common shape: a hero with a problem at home or school, a discovery that pulls them into an adventure, friends gathered along the way, a midpoint setback, a moment when the hero has to be brave alone, and an ending that resolves the adventure and the problem at home.
How Inkora writes middle grade
Choose Children's, Middle Grade and a tone such as Witty & humorous. Each chapter is planned as two to four story moments and written with simple, lively language, dialogue and the rhythm of a story read alone or aloud.
The book bible gives each character a look, a want, a flaw and an arc, and the continuity pass records details like the dog's name, which friend knows the secret and where the map was hidden, so later chapters don't contradict earlier ones.
What to put in your brief
The brief is the “Your book idea & instructions” box in the new-book wizard. The more specific it is, the less generic the book. Here is an example, with the settings that go with it:
Middle grade adventure for ages 8 to 12. Zara Mensah, 11, spends the summer with her great-aunt in a seaside town in Ghana where the old lighthouse has been dark for fifty years. She finds a set of tide-tables written by her grandfather with strange notes in the margins, and with two new friends (Kofi, a joke-teller who's scared of heights, and Ama, who knows every boat in the harbour) follows the clues to a hidden sea-cave and the reason the light went out. Funny, brave, warm; an adventure with a gentle family secret at its heart. Close third on Zara, short chapters ending on a hook.
Other wizard settings
- Genre
- Middle Grade (8–12)
- Audience
- Readers aged 8–12
- Tone
- Witty & humorous
- Point of view
- Third person limited
- Length
- Standard (30,000 words)
Example outline: Zara and the Dark Lighthouse
A brief like the one above gives a plan along these lines. You can rename, reorder, add or delete chapters before any writing starts.
- 1
A Summer Nobody Asked For
Zara arrives at her great-aunt's house, sure it'll be the most boring summer ever.
- 2
The Lighthouse That Doesn't Light
Everyone in town has a different story about why it went dark.
- 3
Grandpa's Tide-Tables
In a trunk, Zara finds his notebooks and a margin note: “Ask the turtle.”
- 4
Kofi and Ama
Two new friends, one joke too many and a boat they're not supposed to borrow.
- 5
The Turtle Stone
A rock shaped like a turtle points out to sea at low tide.
- 6
Low Water
The tide drops and a cave mouth appears for an hour.
- 7
Trapped
The tide comes back early and the friends are stuck until morning.
- 8
What Kofi Is Scared Of
Kofi has to climb to get help, and does.
- 9
Auntie's Secret
Zara's great-aunt admits she knows why the light went out.
- 10
The Night of the Storm
Fifty years ago, a choice between two boats.
- 11
Lighting It
The three friends repair the old lamp for the town's festival.
- 12
The Light Comes On
The lighthouse shines, and Zara doesn't want summer to end.
Common mistakes
- Adults solving the problem for the kids.
- Vocabulary and sentences pitched at adults or at toddlers instead of eight-to-twelves.
- Long chapters with no hook at the end.
- A YA voice: middle grade is less inward and less romantic.
- Heavy themes handled without hope.