Would reading a middle grade novel,

JustSarah

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From around the 1980's to 1990's vary in applicability to what is currently being accepted in today's markets?

Or possibly better put, would reading a book from such time give one a better feeling about how the size of paragraphs and the lengths of sentences to find the overall pace of the book?

That's one thing that keeps stumping me. It's not as much of an issue these days as I use larger paragraphs. But I always had the problem of having smaller more dialogue-driven paragraphs. Which makes it hard to really transition properly to novel type paragraphs.

I'm just thinking about what I'm going to do. I focused on teen and new adult short fiction, that I'm not really sure how to transition into full length middle grade fantasy novels.

The books I have in mind at the moment are: Harry Potter, The Fairy Rebel, Mary Poppins, Matilda. Some of these I know are older books, so I might end up checking out Lightning Thief.
 

Katrina S. Forest

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Lightning Thief isn't that much newer than Harry Potter (and, in fact, when it came out, was accused in reviews of being a Harry Potter rip-off.) Also, the first two or three Harry Potter books are typically considered MG, but the later ones skewed more towards YA.

IMHO, read what sounds interesting. You've got some brilliant books on that list and certainly some great examples of what middle grade can be. Don't leave modern MG off your list, but don't avoid the classics thinking they don't have anything to teach.
 

JustSarah

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Yea I was curious whether I should leave off classics. I might try to balance them both.

That's always been something that confused me.

Interesting about Lightning Thief, didn't know that.XD
 

Cyia

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Try a more modern novel, like The School for Good and Evil. It's still fantasy, but you'll see something more in tune with the current market standards. And, it's a great book.
 

DanielaTorre

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Lightning Thief isn't that much newer than Harry Potter (and, in fact, when it came out, was accused in reviews of being a Harry Potter rip-off.) Also, the first two or three Harry Potter books are typically considered MG, but the later ones skewed more towards YA.

[ramble] This always bothered me. PJ couldn't possibly be more different than HP!!! People continue to confuse common tropes with knock-offs. Ughhhhhhhh!!!! [/ramble]

In response to OP, reading something from 20 years ago is perfectly fine. The topics back then are similar to the topics today. The biggest difference between them might be in more technical aspects such as prose, style, and maybe voice. You'll learn equally from a book written 100 years ago and a book written today. So don't skimp on either. Read broadly. There's a reason certain books are timeless. :)
 

JustSarah

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Oh totally, never reject the modern books.:p

Whenever I have Summer reading it's usually a one person book club comparing a classic to a modern in a similar genre, and seeing how the prose has changed over the years. Not to judge it, but more to see how style has changed.

One thing particularly I noticed, between say Lord Of The Rings and Mistborn for example, is how Mistborn doesn't really seem to dump a whole lot of that back story on you. I'm not sure how long Lord Of The Rings was written though.
 

Jamesaritchie

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You should read the classics in any genre you want to write. You should also read a large number of current books in that genre. If you want to write it well, you need to read a lot of it, and from every era.

For that matter, I write a lot of MG, and I've earned more from reading Mark Twain than from reading anything current. Harry Potter is a close second. Robert Heinlein is a close, close third.
 

JustSarah

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I'm thinking mainly to compare how styles change. Even comparing something like Hans Christian Anderson and Years Best SF (in hindsight I should have gotten years best fantasy) I notice there is more merging physical description into the narrative itself.

I wanted to check out Treasure Island and Beast Quest, but if you can believe it the library didn't have the former.

I'm glad I learned this, as my old problem was always to dump character details, then lop off the details upon revision, without really thinking about whether it might be more efficient to have them trip on their shoes on the stairs, instead of telling the reader they wore big boots with thick wool socks.
 
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melanieconklin

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Yes! "A merging of physical description into the narrative itself."

There's definitely a "modern" style to middle grade lit. However, you see that most often in contemporary stories (which is what I primarily write). Fantasy stories still have the leeway to build their worlds by stepping into descriptive sequences, although they can't "go on" for too long or readers check out.

In some ways, I love the snappier pace and tighter narratives of modern MG, but it does put a lot of pressure on the author to contrive situational exchanges of information that would have just been told rather than shown in classic narratives.