Thoughts on a Middle School Story?

I’ve seen a lot of high school and college stories, but I haven’t seen many stories specifically aimed towards younger teens, which is why I’ve been considering taking a break from writing my current story (again) to write a middle-school-based story. Now, I know the cover guidelines say that characters under the age of 16 can’t be the focus of a cover, which is why I’ve been wondering if this is even allowed. This story will, appropriately, contain little romance, and will be much more about finding friendship than love, although the MC might be crushing on someone here and there. Is anyone interested in reading something like this?

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YESS!!

Sorry…

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If you’re feeling unsure, I would recommend filing a ticket or asking @Melani3 or someone on the Episode team if having a story centering around that age range would be acceptable on the platform :slight_smile:

That being said, you could always adjust the ages of the characters! For example, being in your 20s comes with a lot of uncertainty in general. You could take the theme of finding/forming friendships post-college/post-high school (something that can be tough for twenty-somethings because we go from seeing the same people every day to rarely seeing them).

We grow as individuals, and sometimes the people we were friends with back in high school or college no longer suit us. That can be a tough reality to adjust to!

Furthermore, you can also expand your plot to include finding yourself career-wise. Maybe the MC has a degree in one thing but has found that they really don’t like their job.

This is all just an opinion, obviously! Take it with a grain of salt! I just wanted to give a suggestion, in case you love the theme (which I definitely find to be interesting!) but are concerned with the age. I hope this helps/makes sense!

Best of luck!

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I wrote a story called Diary of a Middle School Teacher. Now, obviously the main character of the story was a 24-year-old teacher, and the love interest was the older brother of one of her students (but they knew each other before his sister was her student). However, the 7th graders all had important scenes dealing with friendship, fitting in, and crushes. You could do something similar, such as having the main characters be teachers, camp counselors, siblings of the middle schoolers, or parents, and then have the middle schoolers have their own plot.

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I have a story with multiple mains, one of which is only 9. The support team told me that having a main character her age is totally fine, she just can’t be the focus of the cover.

Here’s a snippet of their FAQ:

Can my story have characters under 16?
Yes! While characters under 16 can’t be the focus of a story cover, they can be in your story.

Based on that, I’d say it’s alright to have a story with younger mains and I’d very much be open to giving such a story a try. (:
It’s definitely different and interesting.

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Moved to Share Feedback since this is about story ideas. Make sure to check out our Forum Tutorial for more info about creating topics, and feel free to PM me if you’ve got questions. :smiley:

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would definitely give it a read! :orange_heart:

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Thank you!

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