But first, what is middle grade? It’s not a name you hear often outside of the publishing world, and if you peruse your indie bookstore or local Barnes & Noble, you won’t find the section with these books titled that. 

Instead, you might see them broken up into graphic novels, books by series, or young readers.  And dang, you should check out all the amazing cover art for these books. I could go on and on about how talented the illustrators designing middle grade covers are. 

But, let’s go ahead and dive right in.

An Overview

Middle grade is the name given to books for 8–12-year-olds. It fills the gap between chapter books and young adult novels and offers young readers with budding tastes and advancing reading skills a broad range of beautiful stories from contemporary, to fantasy, to spooky, to verse novels full of poetry. Middle grade books typically feature characters the same age as the reader (that 8 to 12 range with the occasional 13-year-old in upper middle grade) and deal with subjects relevant to those readers. 

Often, middle grade themes might explore a young character finding their place in the world as they grow up. Family and friendship might feature prominently. Middle grade is also becoming beautifully diverse with a wonderful rise in books about kids of color and their experiences and adventures. All in all, middle grade contains a wide array of adventures to enjoy. I’ve included a few of my favorites below, but please check out your local library and bookstore for yourself. You never know, you might find a new favorite!

Examples: Voyage of the Frostheart by Jamie littler, Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera, The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, Red White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca, New from Here by Kelly Yang, Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston, The Warriors Series by Erin Hunter, Witchling by Claribel A. Ortega.

Word Count in Middle Grade

Word count for middle grade has a pretty wide range depending on the story you are trying to tell. As a general rule according to the Writer’s Digest and the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for 2022, the typical word count for middle grade is between 22K and 55K. And while some recommend 35K as being the ideal word count, your word count comes down to whether you are writing upper middle grade or lower middle grade and whether your story is contemporary or fantasy/sci-fi. You see, there are nuances to these things that often go unspoken. 

While all books are pitched to agents under the general category of middle grade, there are differences in books meant for 8-year-olds versus 12-year-olds, even though both an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old might enjoy the same book. A book geared mainly for an 8-year-old might be closer to that 20K to 35K range while one geared to a 12-year-old with a more complex plot would most likely hit closer to the 45K to 55K range. 

Most contemporary books don’t require the extensive world-building that fantasy and Sci-fi stories require, so you should really stick to keeping the story under the recommended 55K. However, for fantasy and Sci-fi, you have more wiggle room in your word count and can stretch closer to 60K (70K at the highest). 

Now, these word counts are the general guidelines for manuscripts. This may look different for final books since they have gone through extensive revisions and edits, so don’t go comparing your middle grade to the large tomes sitting on the shelves of your local indie bookstore. 

Graphic Novels

I’m no expert on graphic novels, so I’m going to keep this section short. But I absolutely can’t leave this article without mentioning the beautiful rise of graphic novels for a middle grade audience. While some are headed by author-illustrators, others have a separate author and illustrator. Graphic novels are brilliant because they open up a whole new world of visual storytelling for young readers, especially those that might be more reluctant. 

Here are a few of my favorites that I’ve read. This is only a small selection, and I highly recommend hitting up your local bookstore or library and checking out all of the brilliant graphic novels available there.

Graphic novel examples: Roll with It by Lee Durfey-Lavoie and Veronica Agarwal, Lightfall: The Girl and the Galdurian (Book 1) by Tim Probert, Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, Sheets by Brenna Thummler. 

Good Resources for Middle Grade Writers

So, where can you go to learn more about middle grade and refine your craft? Here are a few great places to get you started!

The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B. Klein

Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. This book, while not directly related to middle grade writing, is a fantastic resource for plotting and revising your novel! I would also highly recommend checking out the resources on Jessica Brody’s website.

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). This international organization provides so many resources for both new and experienced children’s book writers and illustrators. From virtual conferences, regional critique sessions, and The Book (a book created by the society full of agents, query suggestions, and manuscript formatting guides).

Reading lots of middle grade books. There is honestly no better way to learn about middle grade books than by reading them! Read in different genres. Just read. I can guarantee it’s one of the quicker and more enjoyable ways to improve your craft.

Phew! We’ve made it through all the kid lit I will be covering in this series. Hopefully, this gives you a jumping-off point if you are new to middle grade or new resources if you are already working away on a novel! Thanks for reading and be on the lookout for the next article packed with more kid lit tips and lessons.

Olivia Fisher is a children’s lit writer and freelance editor with an English degree from BYU-Idaho. When she isn’t dreaming about living in a treehouse or chasing down her two young boys, she enjoys curling up with a book, watching Star Wars, writing her next adventure, and trying to live in the state of child-like wonder that we all secretly, or not so secretly, miss. Follow her adventures on Twitter or Instagram, or hire her for your next editing escapade on Fiverr.

The post All about Middle Grade appeared first on DIY MFA.

Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for March is Magic, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Gillian McDunn and I discuss:

• How she created a dynamic depiction of neurodiversity in a novel for middle grade readers.
• What children can learn from cooking and how it applies to other life skills.
• Why middle school is an intense time for learning about adult dynamics.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Gillian McDunn

Gillian McDunn is the author of These Unlucky Stars, The Queen Bee and Me, and Caterpillar Summer, which received two starred reviews and was selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List, and Kirkus Reviews and Parents magazine Best Books of the Year lists. When she isn’t reading or writing, she is probably cooking, traveling, or spending time with her family. She lives near Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and children, and a very silly dog named Friday.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Goodreads.

Honestly Elliott

Sometimes finding yourself can be a little messy … 

Elliott has been struggling since starting middle school, when his ADHD spiraled and his best friend moved away. He’s not too sure where he fits into his own family either, especially since his newly remarried dad and stepmom are expecting a baby. Especially when he already feels like his dad just doesn’t get him–or the fact that Elliott is happiest when he’s cooking. The kitchen’s scents and sizzles always ignite his creativity. There, it’s actually a good thing to have a brain that goes in six directions at once. 

When he’s paired with the super smart and popular Maribel for a school-wide project, Elliott worries they won’t see eye to eye. But Maribel is also looking for a new way to show others her true self and this project could be the chance they’ve both been waiting for.

Sometimes the least likely friends help you see a new side to things . . . and sometimes you have to make a few mistakes before you figure out what’s right.

Highly-acclaimed author of Caterpillar Summer, Gillian McDunn explores boyhood in a funny and big-hearted story about a kid trying to find the best way to be his best self. 

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 399

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 399: Neurodiversity, Family Dynamics, and Cooking: Adventures in Contemporary Middle Grade Fiction – Interview with Gillian McDunn appeared first on DIY MFA.

Anna has been writing children’s books for 10 years now; her first book came out in 2011, and her most recent book, Double Clique: A Wish Novel, came out in December of 2021. She was born in Poland and moved to the US when she was five. Stories have always been a part of her life and have given her a voice. Anna has published picture books, chapter books, and middle grade books, a few of which I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

I had the opportunity to interview her and talk all about her books and her journey as a children’s book writer! I wish I had the space to share all of our fantastic interview, but Anna has some beautiful insights for you into the world of being a children’s book writer.  

Interview with Anna Staniszewski

What made you want to write for kids?

Anna Staniszewski: I knew pretty early on that I wanted to be a writer. Eventually, I started writing plays, and I went to college for playwriting, actually. After I graduated, I loved theater, but I didn’t love it enough to do it in such a tough industry, not that writing books is that much easier. 

So I started working on short stories instead, and I thought I was writing for adults. But I got some feedback from a critique partner who said, “You know, all your characters sound 13.” And I thought, “Hmm. That’s interesting.” Then I kind of thought back to all the books that had really meant something to me in my life and so many of them were books I had read when I was young. 

Right around that time, I wound up getting a job at the Eric Carle Museum in Western Massachusetts. I started working there, and I was surrounded by people who loved children’s books. I thought, “Maybe this is a sign. This is what I am supposed to be doing.” So I went back to grad school to learn how to write children’s books.

Olivia Fisher: That’s amazing! And that must have been such an experience working at the Eric Carle Museum!

What was the first book you published?

AS: So this was actually the fourth book that I wrote and the first one that got published. It was my book My Very UnFairy Tale Life, and it came out from Sourcebooks. This book basically took all the things that I loved when I was a kid and put them into one book. It’s like a funny fantasy that’s rooted in fairy tales, especially the darker ones. 

I had been trying to get published with like a couple darker stories. It had taken me like a year to find an agent, and I was querying multiple projects. Then it took us [my agent and I] a year to sell something. This was right around when dystopian was really big. 

So I had like some darker manuscripts that almost got picked up but didn’t, and while I was kind of struggling through all that I was really writing this book just to make myself giggled. It’s so often true for writers that we start down one path thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to do this thing.” And then all of a sudden, we find ourselves doing what we love and being able to publish.

OF: Did those other books ever end up getting picked up, or are they still on the shelves?

AS: They’re on the shelf, but I feel like I learned so much. I feel like you learn so much from every book that you write, and I always feel like you take little tidbits from books you put aside, and some element of those projects might work itself into another book. It was never a waste of time to write those books. It was the time I needed to really get better at my craft.

What was the publishing process like for your first book?

AS: I had queried a couple other books and got some really nice rejections, but they didn’t go anywhere. I was working on something new and that actually wound up winning the Pen New England Discovery Award. So while I was at the reception for that award, this agent came up to me and was like, “I’m a new agent. I’m looking for new clients. If you’re looking for an agent…” and I was like, “Oh!’ I’d been querying for like a year,” and so I wound up connecting with Amy Jill Packett who is still my agent now, and she signed me for a different project. That one came really close to selling, but it didn’t. Luckily, I was working on this other book, and that’s the one that sold. We sold it as a stand alone with series potential.

How has the publishing process changed for you? Did that process change after you published your first book?

AS: The publishing process has changed so much for me because my first book, My Very UnFairy Tale Life, I was writing for fun, so I had no plan. There was no outline. I would just work on it when I felt like it. And then to go from selling that book to suddenly having to write two sequels with a deadline, I had to learn so much about plotting and getting unstuck. 

That first book from the time I started it to the time that it was on shelves was probably about four years. And since then, I’ve gotten to be much more organized about my writing process. I’m still not an outliner necessarily, but I’ve gotten really into writing a synopsis of the whole story. 

I’ve also found that I work best when I have deadlines and have multiple projects going at the same time. If I’m working on one thing and I get stuck, then I need something else to work on while this other thing’s sitting for a while. I can’t afford to get stuck. I can’t afford to give up on something, especially if I have a deadline. So I feel like I’ve found different ways to stay motivated and focused.

Where did you get your inspiration for your latest book?

AS: So with the Clique series, Clique Here and Double Clique, they’re both kind of inspired by my middle school woes. I was not exactly popular in middle school, and I remember wishing there was some kind of magic, like a popularity formula, that I could use. 

Then, about three or four years ago, I was thinking about that again and trying to come up with a new idea for a story. I went back to that idea, but I want to try writing it as a realistic novel rather than something that was magical because that would have been too similar to the project I had just finished. 

I thought what if it wasn’t magic that this character was using to try to become popular? What if it was science? So basically, she uses science in the first book to try and hack popularity because she was being bullied at her old school, and now she’s starting over at a new school. She thinks if she could just be in the popular crowd then she’ll be safe from bullies. So she uses science to try to get in with the popular crowd, and of course, hijinks ensue. 

In the second book, Double Clique, she tries to use science to help her patch things up with her friend. So they were very fun to write.

OF: That’s fantastic! I know those are definitely issues that lots of kids can relate to in their middle school experience.

What’s next on your author journey?

AS: I always like trying new things. That’s how I went from writing middle grade to writing picture books to writing chapter books. I love writing all sorts of things in different genres and different formats for different audiences. 

Right now, I’ve been working on a work for hire series, which I’ve never done before, and it’s actually under a pen name. It’s the Simon Seahorse Series and they’re written under my pen name, Cora Reef, which is adorable.

OF: That’s so cute!

AS: The first three books of this series actually just came out last month, and I have a few of those in the works, which has been really fun to do. And then, speaking of trying new things, I’ve been working on graphic novels, middle grade ones. And I am actually using a lot of my playwriting skills that I’ve sort of dusted off because writing a graphic novel script is very similar to playwriting in a lot of ways. And then I’m just always playing around with new ideas on the side. I want to always keep learning and trying new things by challenging myself to write for a new genre, or format, or audience.

OF: Oh man, that is so cool, and the world of kids graphic novels has become so vibrant recently.

Anna, thank you for taking the time to share all of your incredible author journey with us, and congratulations on your latest book Double Clique! To read Anna’s books or follow along with her writing journey, feel free to visit her website.

Tell us in the comments: Have you ever read anything by Anna Staniszewski?

Olivia Fisher is a children’s lit writer and freelance editor with an English degree from BYU-Idaho. When she isn’t dreaming about living in a treehouse or chasing down her two young boys, she enjoys curling up with a book, watching Star Wars, writing her next adventure, and trying to live in the state of child-like wonder that we all secretly, or not so secretly, miss. Follow her adventures on Twitter or Instagram, or hire her for your next editing escapade on Fiverr.

The post Kid Lit Craft: Interview with Anna Staniszewski appeared first on DIY MFA.

Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for February is romance, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Ryan Dalton and I discuss:

• Why he wrote This Last Adventure as a middle grade story, as opposed to YA.
• How he created a sense of hope when his amorphous antagonist was undefeatable. 
• Writing group scenes and what to include and what to leave out to make each character distinct.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About Ryan Dalton

Ryan Dalton spends his time thinking up stories when he’s not wearing a cape and fighting crime. He’s a singer, a voiceover artist, a pretty decent amateur chef, and a lover of all things geek. Ryan lives in an invisible spaceship that’s currently hovering over St. Louis, Missouri. Please don’t tell anyone he’s Batman–it’s a secret.

You can find him on his website or follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads.

This Last Adventure 

Archie’s grandpa has always been his hero. But after Grandpa is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the confident and adventurous man Archie’s known all his life starts disappearing. He’s not just losing his memory. He’s losing pieces of himself.

Archie desperately wants to slow the progression of Grandpa’s memory loss. Using Grandpa’s old journal entries as inspiration, he creates shared role-playing fantasies with epic quests for them to tackle together–helping Grandpa to live in the present while staying in touch with his fading memories.

But there’s a limit to the power of the fantasies. And not all the memories recorded in the journal entries are happy. When Archie learns a painful secret about Grandpa’s past, he questions everything he thought he knew about his hero.

As Grandpa’s condition worsens, Archie has to come to terms with the reality of what he’s losing and decide what it truly means to live a life worth remembering.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 396

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 396: When Fantasy and Reality Intersect: Writing Contemporary Middle Grade Fiction – Interview with Ryan Dalton appeared first on DIY MFA.

Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Brandy spent a few years living in Chicago before relocating permanently to Los Angeles. She is very active on social media and also works as a copy editor for magazines and books. She is also on faculty at Hamline University’s MFA program in writing for children.

In this episode Brandy and I discuss:

• The inspiration behind The Revolution of Birdie Randolph
• Exploring black friendships and experience in The Only Black Girls in Town
• How books can functions as both mirrors and windows
• Exploring the theme of family over multiple books
• Grappling with race in the context of a contemporary story
• Moving into middle grade after writing YA

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Brandy Colbert 

Brandy Colbert is the critically acclaimed author of the novels POINTE,  Stonewall Award winner LITTLE & LION, FINDING YVONNE, THE REVOLUTION OF BIRDIE RANDOLPH, and the 2020 releases, THE ONLY BLACK GIRLS IN TOWN (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) and THE VOTING BOOTH (Disney-Hyperion). Her short fiction and essays have also been published in several critically acclaimed anthologies for young people. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Colbert spent a few years living in Chicago before relocating permanently to Los Angeles. She is very active on social media and also works as a copy editor for magazines and books. Visit her website, and connect with her on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. 

The Only Black Girls in Town

Currently promoting two books! The first is Brandy’s middle grade debut, THE ONLY BLACK GIRLS IN TOWN (in stores March 24, 2020), about the only two black girls in town who discover a collection of hidden journals revealing shocking secrets of the past. Beach loving surfer Alberta has been the only black girl in town for years. Alberta’s best friend Laramie is the closest thing she has to a sister, but there are some things even she can’t understand. When the Bed and Breakfast next door finally finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the new family is black, and they have a 12-year old daughter just like her.

Alberta is positive she and the new girl, Edie, will be fast friends. But her dads are quick to warn her, “all skinfolk ain’t kinfolk”. While Alberta is an upbeat sporty beach lover, Edie is a moody Wednesday Addams come to life. She wears black dresses and lipstick, and doesn’t get any of Alberta’s jokes. 

When the girls discover a collection of secret journals in Edie’s attic, their curiosity gets the best of them and they put their differences aside. Soon they discover shocking and painful secrets, and the role the unrelenting violence of racism played in it.

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph

Dove “Birdie” Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and carry out the path that her parents have laid out for her–drop the sport she loves, keep her head in her books, and finish high school at the top of her class. But Birdie can’t help falling in love with a sweet and handsome boy, despite his troubled past, and it’s getting harder and harder to obey her parent’s every wish and command. 

When her estranged aunt Carlene, who has been in and out of a drug rehab facility for years moves in, the tone in her home begins to shift. Birdie finds a confidant and ally in her aunt. But as Birdie gets closer to Carlene, buried secrets come out, and everything she’s ever known to be true is suddenly turned upside down.

If you decide to check out the books, we hope you’ll do so via the above Amazon affiliate links, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 298: Character-Driven YA and Middle Grade – Interview with Brandy Colbert appeared first on DIY MFA.

This much-debated topic has no easy answer. First, an overview of the debate, then we’ll discuss how the dynamics shift when your target audience skews younger, and how to make your references work if you do decide to use them. 

The Changing of the Old MFA Guard

According to Electric Literature, the question picked up steam in the 1980s at MFA workshops. The professors had grown up in a world largely devoid of corporate branding slapped onto every aspect of their lives, but their students had come up surrounded by brand name cereals, trademarked products, and a wider common culture made possible by the spread of national TV and radio. To the young writers it was normal to say Kleenex or Hoover, instead of tissue or vacuum: the brand was the item. 

Their teachers objected, essentially claiming that all these brands and pop culture touchstones were ephemera, that they were fads that would fade as easily as they had come. After all, there was no MTV when they were kids! These professors said literature should seek to be “timeless” rather than products of their era. 

That’s the theory, anyway. 

What actually happened is that while specific pop icons like Davy Jones and Bananarama faded from popular consciousness, a lot of things haven’t. Coca-Cola is a prime example, a brand that’s been around since 1886 and keeps reinventing itself to stay relevant. Their product is so ubiquitous that many people don’t say “I’ll have a soda” or “pop,” they say, “Gimme a Coke.” Brands are absolutely everywhere (we’re all encouraged to even have personal brands to compete). The Internet has been divided up between Facebook, Google, Amazon, and other massive conglomerates. “To google” is now a verb. We now communicate through pop culture using GIFs taken from popular shows and movies. The zeitgeist has zeitgeisted itself. It’s all very meta. 

All that to say: this is how we live now.  So, can contemporary fiction that doesn’t incorporate or refer to the ubiquity of pop culture and big brands really call itself realistic fiction? 

What Readers and Other Writers Think

Both readers and writers are split, but they tend to have strong feelings about their preference. Discussions on Reddit are illuminating, from both the writers’ perspective and the readers’. Here are some highlights.

Don’t use references when they’re… cheesy, overdone, exist ‘just to appeal to readers’, are used as a prop, can be ‘distracting filler’, look like showing off, or come over like Steve Buscemi’s “How do you do, fellow kids?” when not used correctly.

Do use references when you want to… flesh out worldbuilding, anchor your story firmly in time and/or place, add in-jokes and layers of additional meaning, or quickly communicate something about a character through the references used. 

Most readers agree that if it’s done well, it can work. We’ll get into how to use pop culture references well in a moment. 

Pop Culture 4 Kidz

The same Do’s and Don’ts provided above still apply to writing for kids. However, age does make a difference when it comes to how specific and far-reaching your references can be. 

When writing kidlit, your first responsibility is always, always, to the intended audience: young readers. You want to depict a reality (be it historical, fantasy, or the future) that current young readers can understand and relate to. That means that when you’re writing about right now, you have to reckon with the influence of pop culture on our everyday lives. 

You also want to be careful about seeming to promote or endorse something you have no control over (people and brands can make mistakes!), and looking like you’re selling to kids. The opposite won’t save you–if you’re too harsh, you might have to deal with a legal team alleging that your work is insulting and damaging. 

In works for younger readers (picture books through some Middle Grade), it’s safest to steer clear of specifics. Generic terms can still get the point across, like tablet instead of iPad. (Besides which, iPad implies the money to acquire one, that the family uses Macs vs. PCs, and so on. Word choice matters!) Because younger kids have less experience, their frame of reference is limited. Today’s ten year olds were born when the 6th Harry Potter movie debuted, so Harry Potter means something different to them, if it means anything at all. 

Older readers (some Middle Grade and Young Adult) are more likely to be aware of pop culture and history, but they’re also extremely discerning. They can tell when an author is dropping names and slang they’re not comfortable with. You can use specific references for this age group so long as you don’t overdo it. 

How To Make References That Work

Provide context

Think of pop culture or historical references like uncommon or “fancy” words: the reader should be able to get the gist from the surrounding text. The Writer magazine has a great piece on how to make references, and the linked New Yorker piece has a lot of examples. 

The Writer provides this example:

[In his essay “Frame of Reference” in the New Yorker, John] McPhee cites a reference in the book Captured by Aliens [by Joel Achenbach], in which a professor supposedly looks like Gene Wilder, with “some of the same manic energy.” Readers who are familiar with Wilder are immediately treated to a vision of blond curls and bright blue eyes; readers who aren’t are still clued into the key reason for the comparison (the “manic energy”).

Try to anticipate frame of reference

…but don’t drive yourself to distraction. You can’t anticipate what every reader will or won’t be familiar with, but you can make assumptions based on their cohort. 

Every year since 1998, Beloit College circulates the “Mindset List” which “reflect[s] the world view of 18 year-old entering college students each fall”. For instance, the class of 2022, born around 2001, has “always been able to refer to Wikipedia” and “Oprah has always been a magazine.” College professors need to keep their references current if they want to reach students, but we as kidlit writers can glean important insights from them, too. Historical writers can refer to the book The Mindset Lists of American History: From Typewriters to Text Messages, What Ten Generations of Americans Think Is Normal.

Aim for popular or universal references, where possible

…but remember that you can’t cover every frame of reference. 

Keep in mind that with the Internet all knowledge can be searched for (and usually found), so if a reader really wants to know they can find it. But no one knows everything, and we increasingly occupy siloed communities which have their own subcultures. A political wonk will know things that a K-POP fan has never heard of, and vice versa. (Don’t forget the person who follows both! Crossovers happen because people contain multitudes.)

Try to use enduring references

There’s a conversation to be had about historical works that make pop culture references. They do! Some we recognize, some we don’t. Electric Lit points out that these are often considered references to “high art”, which means the item is still recognized because it’s become an enduring “classic”. Often we confuse “enduring” with “superior”. Just because the Odyssey has survived to the present doesn’t mean a play written in the same year was a worse play. 

It’s impossible to say in 2019 whose legacy will endure (BTS, Adele, or Beyonce?), so we just have to use what will be meaningful to current readers, and our best guess for future readers.

If you really want to play it safe, stick to references that are safely in the past. THE HATE U GIVE’s title refers to Tupac Shakur lyrics, and it works because time has passed since his death and his legacy is now relatively stable. The same book also references current pop stars, prompting a reddit user to say:

Some of the references already aren’t aging well, like the am I Beyonce or Taylor Swift today reference since now T Swift is seen as a problematic white pseudo-feminist that causes drama instead of a broken hearted girl anthem queen. Even Beyonce’s image, while still positive, now has changed to a woman who stayed strong through a betrayal. So the reference has a completely different meaning already which confused me (Did Chris cheat? Is that why she’s Beyonce?) etc. 

Make your reference serve more than one purpose

Why are you using a given reference? Does a character’s favorite TV show say something about their taste, and what we can expect of them later in the book? Will naming the band playing at prom flesh out the worldbuilding? If the reference adds something to your story, it’s often worth leaving in. 

Next time you pick up a new book, ask yourself what hallmarks of the era are included, and what’s left out. 

There is so much more I could say about this topic. (Thank you to Rachel for suggesting it!) Ultimately, using pop culture references is a choice for each writer and each project. Hopefully these tips and resources will help you make that call. 

Bronwen Fleetwood writes fiction for young adults, and nonfiction for writers. Bronwen studied creative writing at Eugene Lang,The New School for Liberal Arts, has acted as leader of the Princeton Writing Group, and as a Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month. Bronwen currently lives on the Whale Coast of South Africa, between the mountains, the sea, and a lake. You can connect with her at bronwenfleetwood.com.

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