Tag Archives: YA

Writing for different age groups

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Crafting stories for children, YA, and adult audiences

Writing for different age groups is a challenging task that requires a different approach for each target audience. Children, young adults (YA), and adult audiences all have different interests, reading levels, and attention spans. This blog post explores the different elements that go into crafting stories when writing for different age groups.

writing for different age groups

Writing for Children

When writing for children, it’s important to keep in mind that their attention span is shorter and their reading level is lower. The story should be simple and easy to understand, with plenty of illustrations and colorful imagery. The language should be simple and the sentences should be short. The story should also have a clear and easy-to-follow plot, with a clear moral or lesson at the end.

It’s also important to remember that children are still learning and developing their understanding of the world, so stories should include positive messages to help children learn about their surroundings, themselves, and others. Characters should be relatable and easy for children to understand and identify with.

Writing for Young Adults

Young adults have a more developed attention span and reading level, but they still have different interests and concerns than adults. When writing for YA, it’s important to remember that these readers are going through a lot of changes and are trying to figure out who they are and where they fit into the world.

The story should be more complex than for children, with a more intricate plot and more complex characters. The language should be more advanced, and the themes should be more mature. YA readers are looking for stories that reflect their own experiences and struggles, so it’s important to create relatable and realistic characters and situations.

Writing for Adults

When writing for adults, the attention span and reading level are no longer an issue. Adult readers are looking for stories that challenge them and make them think. The plot should be more complex and the themes should be more mature. The characters should be well-developed and their motivations should be clear.

Adult readers are also looking for stories that reflect the real world, so it’s important to create realistic and relatable characters and situations. Adult readers look for stories that make them feel something, whether it’s happiness, sadness, or fear.

In conclusion…

Writing for different age groups requires a different approach for each target audience. Each group has different interests, reading levels, and attention spans. By understanding these differences and tailoring your story to your audience, you can create a story that will resonate with readers of all ages.

New Book Release!

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Announcing the release of Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo by Elise Abram!

Imagine a world where the creatures of nightmare are real. This becomes fifteen-year-old Braelynn Hanlon’s world once she inherits her birthright in the form of her grandmother’s ring and is tricked into putting it on. You see, the women in her family have been cursed, doomed to defend humanity from things that go bump in the night. On the upside, the ring comes with super-healing powers, but it also makes her a magnet for all things supernatural. Her mother has had years to come to terms with her fate, but Braelynn’s about to get a crash course on how to be a hunter of all things paranormal.

Her boyfriend, Seth, turns out to be a vampire. When Braelynn vanquishes him, the leader of Seth’s gang sends a bugbear to seek revenge. If that’s not bad enough, her best friend, Shannon, is a werewolf, and Shannon’s girl crush is enchanted. To make matters worse, the school’s activist, Winona, is an Ojibwe shaman in training, hot on the trail of a wendigo disguised as a local businessman who is threatening to destroy the local watershed. Braelynn and her friends agree to help Winona vanquish the wendigo, but will her ring and her new-found powers be enough to keep her safe?

COMING SOON: Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 2: Fallen Angel by Elise Abram

The sequel to Book 1: Wendigo, Fallen Angel joins in the action a few years after Book 1. Braelynn has parlayed her abilities into a full time job. But when she receives the ominous message “They are coming” from three different supernatural entities, what lies ahead cannot be good.

This book borrows from Abram’s other books, Phase Shift, The Revenant, and Revamped to weave a shared tapestry. If you are a fan of Supernatural, Nancy Drew (current TV series), True Blood/The Sookie Stackhouse stories, Midnight, Texas (TV series), and Legacies (Vampire Diaries TV spin-off), then this book is for you!.

Why you should be writing YA

I have a confession to make: I write YA.

When I set out of my writing odyssey, never once did I consider writing young adult fiction (or YA). But the more I taught teens, and the more I spoke with colleagues teaching English and in the library at school, the more curious I became about it.

And after writing two YA novels and finishing up a third, I have to admit, writing YA feels like coming home.

If you’ve never considered writing YA, here are three reasons why you should give the genre a try.

1. Everyone relates

Every single adult on the face of this earth was a young adult at one point in time. And while I may never have had to compete for my life in a game, or never attended wizard school, I can nevertheless relate. Writing YA forces me to think outside of my comfort zone, to a time when bullies scared me,  and I had to fight my parents for my independence, and I wanted to die after getting a huge, red and white zit on the tip of my nose. Writing YA brings me back to a time when even the smallest failure felt like a catastrophe. Now imagine being at a tender age and a part of a real catastrophe. Facing a major event you don’t understand from a heightened, hormonal point of view can’t help but make for an interesting story.

2. Shy away from nothing

Remember Judy Blume? She was popular in the seventies and eighties because she wrote about sexual awakening, acceptance in the family unit, and questioning your religion. Times have changed drastically since then. War continues to be a threat for some and a reality for so many. Terrorism, cyber-bullying, sexual predators, drugs and date rape are also reality in too many social spheres. YA fiction depicts teens coping in the modern world with issues that might send any sane adult into the corner to weep.  Seeing someone cope with their problems and emerge victorious can’t be anything but empowering for readers of all ages.

3. Writing YA is hard challenging

YA fiction is not a watered down version of its adult counterpart, and writing it is hard. Narratives have to be smart with endearing, quick-witted characters. Worlds have to be immersive. Storylines must be believable. If you take YA on as a challenge, you will go down in the annals of literature with the likes of JK Rowling, Veronica Roth, Jodi Picoult, Johm Green, and James Dashner—no small feat….if you are up to it.

What genre do you write in? Is your manuscript complete? Whether you write for middle-grade (8 – 12), young adults (12 – 18), new adults (18+) or just plain adults, EMSA Publishing wants to hear from you.