One of the most common and simple reasons that I end up passing on submissions is that while the writer may pitch their project as YA or MG, the voice and/or perspective in the sample pages feels very grown-up. There’s a time and a place for books that are primarily intended to teach or send a message, where it’s okay to speak to young readers from an adult perspective. But instead, today, I want to talk about fiction and narrative nonfiction where the goal is to tell a good story for young readers, with any educational or moral takeaway being incidental to the entertainment. If this is your aim, whether you’re narrating in first or third person, you need to write from a young
Writing from a young perspective
Writing from a young perspective
Writing from a young perspective
One of the most common and simple reasons that I end up passing on submissions is that while the writer may pitch their project as YA or MG, the voice and/or perspective in the sample pages feels very grown-up. There’s a time and a place for books that are primarily intended to teach or send a message, where it’s okay to speak to young readers from an adult perspective. But instead, today, I want to talk about fiction and narrative nonfiction where the goal is to tell a good story for young readers, with any educational or moral takeaway being incidental to the entertainment. If this is your aim, whether you’re narrating in first or third person, you need to write from a young