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This extract is part of an online interview which was undertaken with members of the Writers Retreat at the Institute of Children's Literature in September 2008. For more than thirty five years, the Institute has offered the premier writing course for adults interested in learning how to write and be published for children and teens. Q: How do you decide if a novel is young adult or middle grade? In my work in progress, my critique group has suggested it 'sounds' middle grade but there are a number of battle scenes that are fairly bloody which seems too harsh for the younger kids. Do you know what the 'rules' are for middle grade or young adult? A: It's hard to say without actually reading the story or at least some of the battle scenes in question. I have some degree of violence, real or implied, in my novels, along with many scary episodes, but they are at about the right level for the eight to twelve age group that my books are aimed at. My first novel was a little too gory at first in places and I toned it down in the revision process, but that was because I wasn't yet practiced in the art, I guess. I feel a certain amount of danger and excitement, even if it involves blood, is important in any kind of adventure, in order to hold the reader's interest and keep them turning the pages. The characters have to be in some degree of danger at various points in the story, even if the middle grade reader suspects that the protagonists will survive at the end.However, if your critique group thinks that it sounds middle grade, and it appears as if you do as well, the story it probably is for that age range. A publisher is unlikely to read the story and think, 'this is a good middle grade story' and then get to a battle scene and say to themselves, 'wait a minute, maybe its YA', if the entire tone and feel of the preceding chapters is obviously for eight to twelve's. They may ask you to tone down the violence, but might also simply keep things just as they are, if the scene is in keeping with the genre and justified, in that it fits in with the storyline. After all, a battle is always a dangerous place to be and making it seem anything less than that will affect your story's credibility. Two of my novels are set in the medieval period when life is known to have been undeniably harsh and often violent, despite efforts to sugar coat this era in many books and movies - where the armour was gleaming, the ladies were elegant and of course, the cities and castles were spotless and appear to have had modern plumbing, even if the bathrooms are never seen. Personally, I avoid any references to, or implications of, romantic relationships between the young characters in my novels for readers aged eight to twelve and usually depict the main characters as around twelve or thirteen. Children prefer to read about a character their own age or slightly older, so if your character is twelve or thirteen the story is middle grade. If they are older, it is most likely going to be classed as YA. dissertation writing
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