GenresFiction
Middle Grade
Wonder, friendship, and a world still being learned.
Middle grade is for children who are old enough to handle a proper plot and young enough that the book shouldn't assume an adult's cynicism. Friendship, fairness, bravery, family trouble, and the discovery that the world is larger and less reliable than it looked last year are the usual ground. The hero is a child, and the story should be one a child can act in.
You can be funny, frightening, or sad. Children are not as fragile as anxious adults sometimes wish, but they do deserve a book that isn't using them to make a clever point over their heads. Peril is fine if it resolves in a way that feels fair, which is not the same as feeling soft. Keep the cast clear, the stakes visible, and the jokes kind enough that the reader isn't the one being laughed at.
The kinds of book inside it
Adventure
The child leaves familiar ground and has to be resourceful, and the journey should be exciting without needing an adult to finish it.
Fantasy
Magic and invented worlds are welcome, so long as a young reader can follow the rules without a chart.
School story
School is a whole society, with its own power and humiliations, and it is plenty of setting for a book.
Mystery
The puzzle should be solvable by a careful reader, and the crime should be scaled to the audience without becoming silly.
Animal
Animals can be companions or protagonists, and they work best when their nature is respected rather than turned into a costume for a human joke.
When you want a first sketch, Storywell can draft a story summary in this vein. You are still the one who writes the book. Compose an idea.