The Busy Writer's Tips on Writing for Children: The Busy Writer

By M. R. McAlister

Writing for children is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things you can do.

 

If you put your heart and soul into it and focus on writing a good book that will appeal to your target readership, you have a good chance of establishing a satisfying career.

But first... you need to have a good understanding of the basics: how to create a fast-paced plot that will hold the attention of your young readers, or how to write a picture book that will have small children spellbound with joy.

You need to know how to create vivid, memorable characters, and how to write dialogue that sounds real and moves your story along so that your readers can't wait to turn the page.

The Busy Writer's Tips on Writing for Children gives you an overview of the different categories of children's books, and shows you how to decide which one would be the 'best fit' for you.

What You'll Discover:

• 10 Tips on writing for children
• An overview of children's book categories
• How to write picture books (including "10 Common Mistakes in Plotting Picture Books", and tips on how to think in pictures, fine-tuning your text and pictures, and writing in rhyme)
• How to create stories for children 6-12 (short books and chapter books for emergent readers; middle-range story books for 6-10 years and longer story books for 9-12 years)
• How to build stories for young adults (including 3 important tips on writing YA fiction and ideas about what to write for this market)
• Tips on writing non-fiction for Children (including tips on finding non-fiction ideas and fine-tuning your ideas)
• Tips on plotting (including the basics of a workable children's book and a handy plot outline)
• Tips on creating characters (how to make your characters seem real; how to create a story from a character; where to find good story characters; a look at stereotyped characters and tips on how to introduce your characters)
• Tips on writing dialogue (what you should include; how to set out dialogue; setting conversational goals; speech tags and action tags and a dialogue troubleshooter, with tips on fixing dialogue that doesn't sound right)

"Tips on Writing for Children" is another winner in the 'Busy Writer' series!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blue Gem Publishing
• Release date: Nov 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9798201474973

Book preview

Introduction

When I sat down to write this introduction, I thought about everything I could say about writing for children. The very first thing that came to mind was, It’s fun. I’ve always found it fun, I think partly because I always loved to read as a child, and whenever I started writing a children’s story, I imagined the child who would be opening my book. Would they immediately get hooked on the story? I hoped so… I remember so well that wonderful sense of anticipation when you read the first page and think: This is going to be a great story! 

Would they get to the end and wish the story hadn’t ended? I hoped for that, too. 

So Number One: it’s fun. (Yes, despite the occasional bout of writer’s block, the need sometimes to fix a plot that isn’t working, and the tedium of editing!) 

What else can I tell you about writing for children? Well, you should know that it’s such a wide-open field that you’re pretty much guaranteed to find a niche that you’ll enjoy. If you have a talent for ‘seeing’ how the text will work with pictures, and you can write with a sense of rhythm and pacing, then picture books could be perfect for you. If you relate well to teenagers and can write the kind of fiction that young adults enjoy, there’s a large and hungry market waiting. 

And… there’s everything in between: books for emergent readers; first ‘chapter books’ for independent readers; books for 8-12 year olds; books for 10-13 year olds. And don’t discount non-fiction. There is always a demand for well-written, interesting non-fiction. 

For years, I was a tutor for writers who enrolled in a distance education course on writing for children. When I got to know my students, I always asked what prompted them to try writing children’s books. The reasons included: 

I love children. (Hmm, okay, not a particularly good reason–you can love children a lot and still hate writing! That being said: if you like children and relate well to them, then you tend to have a good understanding of what makes them tick.) 

I can’t find the right kind of book for my children, so I decided to write one myself. (Once upon a time, you had no guarantee of getting a book published even if there was nothing like it on the market. Sometimes, you couldn’t find anything on the topic because it addressed a very small readership, and it was not economically viable for a publisher to do a print run. The publishing world has changed a lot. Now, you can write the book you’re searching for and know that it will be published because you can do it yourself on Kindle, Kobo, Draft2Digital, PublishDrive, Google Play, Smashwords, and other sites. Just a few short years ago, this wasn’t the case–most writers experienced a lot of rejection letters before they got a contract.) 

I want to put my children into a book then read it to them. (Well, you can certainly do that. See my response to the last point. If you want the fun of giving your kids a book featuring them, there’s nothing to stop you–and if the story is well-written, you will probably sell copies to lots of other people.) 

Kids’ books are short and easy to write OR, I thought I’d practice on children’s books first and then do what I really want to do, which is writing for adults. (This attitude seems to imply that you don’t have to put as much effort into writing a children’s book. WRONG. A well-written children’s book is no easier to write than a book for adults. It can be harder if you can’t write in the right tone and voice.) 

Overall, writing for children is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things you can do. Put your heart and soul into it; focus on writing a good book that will appeal to your target readership, and you have a good chance of establishing a satisfying career. 

About My Children’s Books

I have been the author of all kinds of stories for children, from short fiction and picture books to mysteries and adventures for older children. I’ve written a whole lot of non-fiction as well. 

I was lucky enough, early in my career, to hear about a new series that an educational publisher was putting out. They were seeking submissions, and since I had a teaching background and had a good sense of what would fit in with the curriculum, I sent through a proposal. That led to many more published books: at the last count, it stands at over 70 published titles for publishers such as Rigby, Jacaranda Wiley, Reed, Thomson, Black Dog Books, Pearson, and Cengage.

I have also added to my writer’s income by visiting schools to run writing workshops and do author talks–a great ‘perk’ for authors of children’s books! 

Now, thanks to the burgeoning market for e-books and the growth of self-publishing options, I’m delighted to know that anyone can see their work published. I hope this book will help you to make your children’s story a huge success. 

Marg

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10 Tips on Writing for Children

1. Choose the Best Category for You

When you’re trying to decide on a category of children’s books to target, think carefully about your strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Don’t try writing a picture book just because you are a parent of toddlers if you’d much rather be writing an adventure story for 9-year-olds. Your children will grow up fast, and they’ll enjoy reading your books for older kids. 

On the other hand, it could be that you are the perfect person to write picture books. Maybe you find yourself constantly adapting picture books when you read them aloud because the flow of words isn’t rhythmic enough. That’s a good sign that you understand what is needed. 

How can you decide which category is best for you? Here are some questions to help you decide: 

Do you relate better to one age group than another? (Do you enjoy the company of teenagers? Or are you amused by the innocence and funny sayings of, say, four-year-olds?) 

Do you prefer reading books for a specific age range or category? (Picture books, simple storybooks, books for 8-12 year olds, teen fiction…?) 

What are your personal reading preferences? (Mysteries?