Writing Characters for Middle-Grade Fiction

Want to write compelling characters?

Join award-winning children's author Mitch Johnson as he guides you through the techniques and art of creating characters that will appeal to middle-grade readers.

Drawing on his own experience writing Kick and Pop!, Mitch covers everything you need to know to bring your characters to life:

How to reconnect with your childhood
What's in a name?
How to introduce characters
How to reveal information to readers
How to write dialogue
How to use humour
How to use perspective and voice
Crafting memorable villains and compelling support characters

Study online at your own pace

This course takes place online. You can study it from home (or anywhere else) and take Mitch's lessons at your own pace.

Your progress is remembered, so you can easily pick up from where you left off - even on another device.

By the author of Kick and Pop!

“Kick is a brilliant debut." John Boyne

“Fast-paced, funny and involving. Mitch Johnson is a brilliant writer.” Anajali Joseph

"I loved the voice in this impressive début.” The Bookseller

Learn from the best

The National Centre for Writing has been providing creative writing tuition for over fifteen years. Based in the UK, we now offer our courses online for the global writing community.

We work with only the best writers and tutors to deliver practical courses which will help you to improve your writing.

Introducing Mitch Johnson

Mitch Johnson is an award-winning writer of children's books. His debut novel, Kick, was endorsed by Amnesty International UK for its portrayal of children's rights and has been translated into multiple languages. In 2018, Kick won the Branford Boase Award, a prize given to the most promising children's book by a debut author. Mitch's second novel, Pop!, was published in February 2021 by Orion. Mitch lives in Norwich with his family.