This past
weekend I had my three young boys over to stay with me – ages 13, 11, and 7.
And while they’re active and get outside to play, they are, like the majority of
today’s children, addicted to technology. If it were up to them, they’d stay on
the couch, eyes glued to a screen (iPod, iPhone, Xbox, etc). But they read,
they most definitely read (their dad’s a
writer, they’d better read), and when they come over they know they’re not
watching television. I don’t even own
a television, but I do own books…shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books.
But watching them on the couch, all pushing buttons and wrapped up in their
game thing-a-ma-jigs, I got to wondering, how do we inspire this same hunger
for reading? How to we get middle-grade boys eager to turn the page? How do we
get boys reading as voraciously as they are when playing video games?
Peter Langella,
in his 2013 Vermont College of Fine Arts graduate lecture “Boys and Literacy:
As writers of middle-grade fiction,
how can we meet the needs, and challenge the cognitive and critical
development, of the present day middle-grade boy reader?
Through progressive revelation,
shorter chapter construction, and powerful, chapter-ending beats, middle-grade
fiction can compel boy readers to keep turning pages, despite the lure of the
multitude of electronic sirens.
On the “Guys Read” website, a
web-based literacy program founded by the award-winning children’s writer and
first National Ambassador of Young People’s literature, Jon Scieszka, several
reasons are offered as to why boys may not read as much as their female
counterparts. One such reason is their “action-oriented, competitive learning
style.”
In the same sense that video games
provide “achievement” awards for completing segments of a scene, accomplishing
a task, or acquiring necessary information, books can award their readers with
satisfying information or pivotal answers to clues.
In The Art of War for Writers, James Scott Bell states, “progressive
revelation keeps readers turning pages.” Bell instructs the writer to drop
clues like bread crumbs, drawing the reader forward with “unanswered questions.” Bell further explains that mystery and hints,
introduced in stages, makes the reader wonder what is happening and,
ultimately, discovering the plot in controlled, incremental doses.
This method of pulling the reader
forward through the desire to see questions answered and secrets revealed acts
in a similar manner to video game rewards for in-story accomplishments. In
short, satisfying curiosity and providing a path towards logical storyline
completion is the achievement children are used to getting.
Charles Gilman does a wonderful job
of progressive revelation in his “Tales From Lovecraft Middle School” series.
As each book in the series is conceptually designed as a self-contained
mystery, with links to an overall arc built on intrigue and suspense, the
reader is fed a steady diet of clues, questions, and answers; just enough to
sate their appetite and evoke deeper interest.
Another method to get boys turning
pages and eager to read more than they currently do, is in the design and
construction of the story itself. Shorter chapter lengths provide a different
sense of accomplishment than the aforementioned concept.
Shorter chapters serve to compel
increased page turns for two reasons. On a deeper level, containing a scene in
a smaller vessel (i.e. a shorter chapter) allows the generally distracted
reader to more easily grasp the story they are offered. Parceling plot in
smaller chunks allows the reader to digest it quicker, easier and more
satisfyingly.
Secondly, there is an inherent
feeling of satisfaction in finishing a chapter. I believe that this holds true
for both children and adults. Humans like completing things. If a young reader
is able to read a chapter rather quickly, they may feel as if they have
accomplished something. If the story has captured their interest and if the
questions demand answers, they are more likely to turn that page and dive into
the next chapter (especially if they expect that next chapter to be
manageable).
Another element for
compelling middle-grade boy readers is using chapter ending beats.
Robert McKee, in his book, Story, defines beat as “an exchange of
behavior in action/reaction” that “shape[s] the turning of a scene.” That last
beat, he explains, is the “Turning Point.”
While McKee intends his use of
turning point in the traditional sense of story structure, I refer to it in the
literal sense of a page turning
point. Referring to the “Guys Read” contention that boys are more inclined
towards “action-oriented” and “competitive learning” styles, the idea of
fashioning powerful, cliffhanger endings is certainly a good way to get them
turning pages.
Leaving a reader in the midst of
action, or introducing a potential obstacle or challenge, may be enough to
trigger the arguably innate desire for young male readers to turn that page.
While these are in no way intended
to be gimmicks or ploys to trick an audience, they are concepts intended to meet the current mindset of a majority
middle-grade boy readers.
The numbers of male readers within
the middle-grade and young adult genre are depressingly low. Through
understanding, accepting, and challenging the cognitive and critical thinking
skills of middle-grade readers, as well as recognizing the needs existing in
their own learning and reading processes, we may be best able to keep them
turning pages and picking up more books.
To quote Jon Scieszka’s online
literacy program: “Guys Read.”
Now, let’s get them reading more.
