Making the Case for Feel-Good Fiction

Divorce, death, blended families, food insecurity, fear, anger, frustration—these are heady issues that many kids deal with today. So how do you address them if you’ve decided to write a feel-good novel for younger readers?

Decide what “feel-good” means to you.

When I was writing my contemporary middle-grade novel, Control Freaks, I decided that feel-good meant that readers would leave the book with a renewed or reinforced belief in humanity. Control Freaks’ characters were flawed, to be sure. There were plenty of bad decisions to go around—by kids and adults, by the way. But the characters weren’t cruel and the stakes—while significant from an innovative STEAMS (the second “s” is for sports) contest from a middle school perspective, weren’t ripped from the headlines.

Knowing that guided every choice I made, from characters’ backstories, to their school, family and societal challenges, to their wants and needs, to their dreams for the future.

My definition of feel-good didn’t require shying away from things like the pandemic or bullying, but it did make me look for ways to weave those issues into the story without stressing out kids (or adults) who had lived experiences in those areas.

Of course, my definition of feel-good won’t be yours. So here are a few ways to begin to define feel-good for yourself:

Make a mind map. Write the words “feel-good” in the center of a page then, for five minutes (or 10 if you’re really into it), write everything those words bring to mind. Does feel-good make you think of words like happy, safe, loved, laughter, or friends? Write those down. How about family, pets or vacations? Because you’re brainstorming, there are no wrong answers. The key is to push beyond what you think the answer should be or what the themes of the latest best-selling feel-good books were and unearth what really resonates for you.Make an antonym mind map. This exercise was a game-changer for me. When I made a list of words that were the opposite of feel-good, I could feel the impact of those words physically. My breath became shallow and rapid…or I found myself holding my breath and barely breathing at all. My hands clenched. My neck stiffened. I learned that these were not only not the emotions I wanted my readers to have—they weren’t the emotions I wanted to live with while writing my book. As a result, I learned when to pull back when writing antagonists. There are definitely some challenging characters in Control Freaks (Elliott Zezzmer and Ritchie ‘The Enforcer’ Nichols, to name two) but there’s a line they don’t cross.

Embrace Your Inner Child (Or Listen to Other Children’s Concerns)

A novel isn’t a novel without conflict, and conflict is often based on real world issues that are incredibly difficult, even for adults.

So if you’re writing a feel-good book, you need to decide on the emotional throughline that best fits your work. (Think of your book’s emotional throughline as the buoyant lane markers in a public pool. When you’re learning to swim and the distance from one end of the pool to the other seems unconquerable, a lane marker provides assurance that you’ll have something to hold onto if you get tired.)

Hope is Control Freaks’ throughline. Hope in humanity. Hope in family. Hope in friends. Hope in self.

Check out J.E. Thomas’ Control Freaks here:

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Once you select your emotional throughline, consider delving into research on how readers are impacted by that concept. For instance, as I researched hope, I was surprised to learn about a staggering increase in tween/teen anxiety and depression. Whether driven by peer pressure, social media, current events, or something else, many kids were losing hope.

Priscilla Scobie, the driving force behind the Scobie Institute for Wellness at Kent Denver School in Englewood, Colorado, provided insight that was hugely helpful to me.

“We also know that downtime with a book is important for kids’ general health and well-being,” Scobie said. “At a time when kids are bombarded with distorted, inaccurate and oftentimes negative images and messaging on social media and elsewhere, it’s never been more important to give them opportunities to experience literature that is hopeful, honest and supportive of their inherent optimism.”

Again, hope was my throughline. Here are a few ways to select your emotional throughline:

Make a list of emotions. Sounds simple, right? But it’s funny how, under pressure, your mind can go blank. If you need a starter, The Emotion Thesaurus, by Ackerman and Puglisi, is a great resource. Once you have your list, circle the emotions that stir something inside you. If an emotion sparks a reaction for you, you may have an easier time writing arcs that generate that same emotion in others. And don’t worry about being sappy or not edgy enough! The goal is to create your lane marker, not someone else’s.Lean into humor. Feel-good books don’t have to be laugh-out-funny, but an undercurrent of humor can ease the edges of even the most difficult subjects. If you’re writing kid lit, slipping into adolescent humor is a delightful exercise!

Lastly, I encourage you to put your finished manuscript away for a few days or weeks. Start something new. Take on a reading challenge. Make a huge dent in your To Be Read list. Basically, do anything possible to clear your mind of your recently completed work.

After some time has passed, read your manuscript again—then make notes in a journal. How do you feel? How did your manuscript impact your view of the world? Did you root for your protagonist?

And most importantly, do you feel good after reading it?

If the answer is yes (and I hope it is!), you’re ready to deal with all of the other elements of editing. Character arcs, dialogue, plot points, and narrative consistency are important, but if your book strikes the emotional chord you hoped for, those elements are icing on the cake.

Happy writing!

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