Class Description
Have you been working on a story for young readers? Whether your story takes the form of a picture book, middle grade or young adult novel, in this class, we’ll delve deeply into what it means to write for young readers.
Over the course of six weeks, we’ll explore various formats of writing for young people, including picture books, middle grade, and young adult. We’ll talk about what stories work for each format and explore what resonates with young readers. We’ll cover current trends in the world of Kid Lit, how the industry is handling book bans and other issues around diversity and representation.
Each week you’ll be assigned about 10 pages of reading before class from authors like Sabaa Tahir, Stacy Lee, Ruta Sepetys, Nova Ren Suma, Jason Reynolds, Erin Entrada Kelly, Lauren Wolk, Kwame Alexander, and more. We’ll discuss the styles and techniques used by each writer and what engages the young reader.
Each week, we’ll do targeted writing exercises, discuss key craft topics in the context of our readings, including characterization, the protagonist’s desire and agency, point of view, and voice. During class, we will also workshop short scenes from each other’s work. Feedback will focus on what’s taking shape, what’s resonating, and how to sustain momentum, all within a framework that respects the unique challenges of writing a story for young readers.
Between classes, you will either draft 5 new pages of work or revise 10 existing pages in preparation for workshop. Participants will submit workshop pages the week before class and come prepared to class having read both the assigned readings and the workshop submissions for that week. At the conclusion of class, you will be invited to submit up to ten pages for critique and an editorial letter from the instructor.
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.