Who knew that writing was not for wallflowers?

It seems like the ultimate role for someone who prefers not to be in the limelight.

A writer sits behind a computer writing about other people and their foibles.

No spotlight on the writer whatsoever.

UNTIL…

The writer types “the end.”

Then the spotlights bang on, and the writer holds up their arms to protect their eyes while they crawl out from the cave they’ve been writing in.

That manuscript isn’t going to sell itself.

The writer has to present it…to PEOPLE.

First is a bit of dipping your toe in the waters.

You send the manuscript to your writers’ groups or beta readers or your husband for critiquing.

Then, once you’ve healed from those wounds, you have to stand in the lights again, and send the manuscript to agents or editors.

More critiquing.

Good, bad, silent.

None of this is for the faint-of-heart wallflower.

But there’s another sort of shyness that some writers wear like a cozy sherpa snuggie, and that happens in the writing of the manuscript itself.

By definition, if a person is shy, they don’t want to take up too much space.

Big public emotions?

Forget about it.

Bleeding in public?

No, thank you.

However, a writer doesn’t have the luxury of being shy.

They can’t shy away from big, audacious events or emotions in their stories.

Those middle grade readers don’t want to read about small, everyday things.

They want over-the-top.

They want hyperbole.

Biggest!

Best!

Most!

Worst!

It can feel weird to write about BIG things, like we’re some cringey Drama Queen.

But we have to do it!

A writer can’t retreat into smallness.

Play up to the hyperbole.

What is the absolute worst thing that can happen to your character?

It can’t simply be a fine or a time out or a withholding of their allowance.

These are okay everyday stakes in real life.

But not in middle grade fiction.

Go BIG!

Take up space!

The worst thing that can happen?

Death, of course.

That’s why so many plots involve life and death.

But there are other worst things.

Flip through some middle grade books.

You’ll find homelessness, purgatory, being stuck in the literal past in a time-travel story.

Characters face abandonment by their family, loss of everything they hold dear.

These are the BIG things.

It’s important to remember that your actual character can be shy.

But their shyness should make them the worst character to be put into the most troublesome plot to see how they’ll fare.

Make the stakes ginormous.

Remember: Biggest!

Most!

Worst!

Awfullest!

So go ahead.

Don’t be shy.

Be a Drama Queen.

That hangnail your character has?

It’s going to kill them in the end if they don’t change things.

Let it all out.

It’s good to be queen.

Enjoy your week.

~Gail

(Tick tock)

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