Intermediate Writing for Young Readers

student sits in library with laptop on lap

Deepen your skills with core craft elements across all formats from picture books to young adult novels. Workshop and revise your projects and learn from industry professionals through live, interactive sessions.

Designed With You in Mind

This intermediate certificate program provides hands-on training in writing for children and young adults. Through writing workshops, focused craft lessons, and conversations with industry professionals, you'll develop your own projects while building essential skills in voice, character, structure, pacing, and revision.

For Emerging Writers: Perfect for writers who have completed foundational training or drafted stories for young readers and want to revise to create stronger, more compelling work.

Workshop Your Projects: Receive constructive feedback on your work-in-progress through peer critique sessions and develop your revision skills in a supportive community.

Industry Insights: Learn from guest presentations by professionals who share practical insights into today's publishing landscape.

All Formats Covered: Explore a range of formats from picture books to young adult fiction, understanding the unique craft requirements of each age category.

MFA Preparation: Build a firmer foundation in craft if you're considering an MFA program. This certificate is housed in USF's MFA in Writing for Young Readers.

Live, Interactive Learning: Engage in synchronous online sessions with real-time discussions, immediate feedback, and dynamic peer interactions.

Industry Growth: The children's and young-reader publishing sector is one of the fastest-growing segments of the book industry, with projected market size increasing from over $11 billion in 2024 to nearly $19 billion by 2032.

Source: Future Market Report

Course Information

  • Schedule: 10 weeks, one session per week
  • Format: Online, synchronous (live sessions)
  • Time Commitment: Weekly sessions plus reading and writing assignments
  • Prerequisites: Completion of Foundations course or one-page writing sample + details about previous instruction
  • CEUs: 2 continuing education units
  • Tuition: $1,195, $795 for USF alumni, $425 for USF students
Jolie Stekly

Meet Your Instructor

Jolie Stekly is a veteran instructor of writing for young readers at the University of Washington and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Her short story "Ghosts Around These Parts" appears in the anthology 50 Haunted States. Jolie is also a freelance editor, writing coach, and public speaker with extensive experience guiding emerging writers in the craft of storytelling for young audiences.

What You'll Accomplish

When you earn the Certificate in Intermediate Writing for Young Readers, you will:

  • Create compelling, age-appropriate characters using techniques such as authentic dialogue, relatable motivations, and distinctive voice that resonate with young audiences.
  • Construct engaging narratives that incorporate essential story elements — including conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution — tailored to the conventions and expectations of children's and young adult literature.
  • Analyze published works across children's and YA genres (picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels) to identify effective craft techniques and apply these insights to your own works-in-progress.
  • Participate effectively in peer workshops by providing thoughtful, constructive feedback and applying critique to strengthen your own revision practices.
  • Revise a creative work consisting of either one or more complete picture book manuscripts or one or more chapters of a middle grade or young adult novel.

Course Components

Building and Revealing Character

Explore the craft of characterization through action, dialogue, and specific detail rather than exposition. Practice creating characters with distinct motivations, authentic voices, and age-appropriate complexity. Learn to reveal character through scenes and analyze how accomplished authors layer backstory and manage character arcs across different formats.

Plot Architecture and Pacing

Develop skills in constructing plots that balance external events with internal character transformation. Learn to identify inciting incidents, build rising tension appropriate to audience age, create meaningful midpoints, and deliver satisfying resolutions. Master pacing techniques specific to children's literature across all formats.

Developing Distinctive Voice

Investigate voice — the elusive quality agents and editors cite as essential. Through close reading we will examine how word choice, sentence rhythm, point-of-view, interiority, and narrative distance combine to create a narrator's unique perspective. Practice writing in multiple voices while maintaining authenticity.

 

10-Week Curriculum Overview

    • Peer critique training and protocol
    • Close reading of A Visitor for Bear
    • Character journal reflection assignment

    • Compelling characters: agency, authenticity, emotional complexity

    • Character development and transformation

    • Age-appropriate characterization across middle grade (MG) vs. young adult (YA)

    • Analysis of Ghost

    • Point of view choices and their impact

    • Revealing character through action, thought, and speech

    • Creating purposeful dialogue

    • Peer critique of character scenes

    • Scene vs. summary

    • Scene structure: goal, conflict, disaster / reaction, dilemma, decision

    • Building narrative momentum through cause-and-effect chains

    • Analysis of The Hunger Games

    • Three-act structure and story spine frameworks

    • Key plot points: inciting incident, midpoint, crisis, climax

    • Pacing strategies and managing page turns

    • Beat sheet creation

    • Internal vs. external stakes

    • Escalation and raising the stakes

    • Parallels of action line (plot) and heart line (emotional arc)

    • Stakes differences across age categories

    • Setting as character

    • Setting as reflection of emotional journey

    • Worldbuilding across genres

    • Analysis of Charlotte's Web

    • Voice components: syntax, diction, rhythm, POV, attitude
    • Voice across age categories
    • Authenticity vs. stereotype
    • Analysis of The Yellow Áo Dài

    • What makes opening pages work: hook, voice, world orientation

    • Common pitfalls and revision strategies

    • Workshop: First-five-pages critique

    • Student readings of revised creative work

    • Course reflection and revision planning

    • Resources for ongoing learning and publishing pathways

Required Reading

  • A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker
  • The Yellow Áo Dài by Hanh Bui
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  • Ghost by Jason Reynolds
  • Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Application Process

Automatic Admission: Students who have completed the Foundations in Writing for Young Readers certificate.

Other Applicants Submit:

  • One-page writing sample
  • Details about previous instruction in writing for young readers

Ready to Get Started?

Enroll Now

Earn an MFA at USF

  • Write books for young readers in a two-year, low-residency program. Study any form and genre, from picture books to young adult novels, nonfiction, graphic novels, and poetry.

    Learn More

  • Join our community. Raise your voice. Write with your heart. Write for justice.

    Learn More

Explore Professional Certificates

Writing for Young Readers, MFA

Martha Brockenbrough, Program Director