guest post by J.E. Thomas

Not much upends a tween’s life more than the loss of a good friendship—so as you’re looking to add drama to a middle grade story, it’s tempting to challenge or end one of the most important relationships in your young protagonist’s life. But…what if you don’t?

why let friendships work?

I sold my debut middle grade novel, Control Freaks, in 2021. Developmental edits began that same year. Developmental edits are like scraping the insides out of a Pop Tart, mixing them in a bowl with a better, smoother, tastier filling, then somehow, someway, squeezing that new, gooier, yummier stuffing back into the pastry.

I worked with the incomparable editor Nick Thomas (no relation) at Levine Querido, and we discussed every aspect of the manuscript during the revision process. A lot evolved—but one thing that didn’t change was the strong relationship between main character Frederick Douglass “Doug” Zezzmer and his best friend since second grade, Huey Linkmeyer.

On the surface, they don’t have a lot in common: Doug is confident, great in STEM, determined to win his school’s inaugural STEAMS (STEAM + sports) prize even though he’s lousy at sports, and intent on becoming the world’s greatest inventor. Huey isn’t a STEM fan. He has no idea what he wants to be when he grows up, and he has serious—sometimes paralyzing—social anxiety.

Still, I didn’t want Doug’s pursuit of the STEAMS prize and Huey’s difficulties in most of the key STEAMS challenges to be a major obstacle. 

Why? Because as I researched issues facing tweens, I learned that three of the top sources of depression and anxiety were loneliness, feelings of isolation and a lack of connection. I also learned that increased screen time combined with separation during the pandemic made it harder for kids to know how to interact with others in person.

That cemented my decision to show how friendships can hold together even when interests change. It’s not always easy. It often takes work. Sometimes difficult choices must be made. But the benefits to both parties are huge.

maintaining tension when friends aren’t fighting

If you decide that a working friendship is a cornerstone of your manuscript, how do you maintain tension? That’s an important question. A book without conflict is essentially: Character A wanted something. Character A set out to get it. Character A got it. The end.

That’s kind of…boring.

One way to maintain tension is to throw obstacles in your character’s path during the quest to achieve that big goal—and to have the friends want something different or have different strengths, yet also want the best for each other. What happens when one has to sacrifice something important? What happens when the dynamics of the friendship change? How do they—with a middle-schooler’s emotional sensibilities—manage to cross the proverbial finish line together?

2 questions to ask about the friendships in your book

• What type of relationship will illustrate your character’s growth the most? Main characters don’t end a book in the same emotional place they were at the beginning. We couldn’t talk about character arc if they were! Some aspect of their perspective on their circumstances or their beliefs, their hopes and dreams, society, maybe even on the world as a whole changed as they experienced life during the course of 30,000-50,000 words.

  If your main character has a close friend at the beginning of your manuscript, what type of friendship will best support your character’s evolution during the course of your book?

• Just because a friendship isn’t challenged or damaged in your narrative doesn’t mean it doesn’t change. If your characters’ friendship remains solid, how does it evolve as your characters grow? What happens if/when there are additions to the friend circle?

There’s no hard and set rule about how to depict friendships in middle grade books, so feel comfortable choosing the approach that works for you.

J. E. Thomas loves good books, great food, fun-loving pets and friendly people. She writes middle grade and YA books featuring those who have a lot to say—but don't often take center stage. 

CONTROL FREAKS is her first book. She's working on middle grade book #2 and her debut YA novel. Fun fact: She includes the name of at least one of her dogs in every story.