Writing for Kids

If you're writing for kids, think about the age of the audience constantly. A big rule for writing middle-grade horror is that they have to know it’s a fantasy. The real world can’t interfere. There’s no divorce, no guns, no one ever dies. Once you’ve established that, you can go pretty far with the scares. Writing for teens is kind of the opposite. It has to be very real. They have to believe this is happening.

R.L. STINE