Writing Children's Books - How to Write a Successful Novel For Kids By Valerie Khoo
When it comes to writing books for children, there's more to it than simply typing out the stories you tell to your kids before they go to bed. A children's book has to be well structured and provide a compelling story and characters that will keep children truly engaged.
Australian children's book author Craig Silvey was only 19 when he finished his first award-winning novel, Rhubarb, which was published two years later. His second novel was released in 2009 and is called Jasper Jones.
Making sense of the world
"I'm not sure if I ever expected to be an author," says Craig. "It's just something that I have always done and sort of how that I personally try to make sense of things. When I'm writing it's the place where I feel best about myself... though it sort of strips me down and almost kills me. I'm genuinely happiest when I'm working on a novel or doing something creative."
Honing the craft of writing
Craig believes you need to practice the craft and read as much and as broadly as possible. "[You need to] imbibe as much information as your body can handle and reading as broadly as you possibly can," he says. "And that is going filter into something unique, hopefully, if you practice the craft enough."
Compared to literary greats
Critics have compare Craig to Australian author Tim Winton and Jasper Jones has been likened to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. There is a lot for the young author to live up to. "Look, it's slightly insane. First of all it's very, very flattering - well less so for Harper and Tim," says Craig. "But I think that I tend to be fairly grounded about that sort of thing especially since we tend to live in a kind of hysterical media culture where things need to be instantly acclaimed as the 'next something' or the 'best since'. It's a way for people to identify with a piece of art that they know nothing about.
Writing for a young audience
Many children's books are written for young people but can have fairly adult or complex themes. Craig says he's never had the luxury of thinking about an audience. "I think that sort of thing never really occurred to me during its inception and its development," he says. "It's always just really about the story and about fleshing out the characters and working out why I wanted it to be told... I don't think that I'm at the stage where I can be really fussy about which group of people reacts to it the best. I just sort of hope that it reaches everybody and I don't want it to be exclusive of any group."
Craig describes Jasper Jones as "a coming of age/regional mystery southern Gothic love story" and a "mongrel of genres". "The best way for me to describe it is to give the opening where we start with Charlie, who is our book's narrator and he is 13 years old. He's sort of waif-ish and bookish and tall and very thin. He lives in a country town called Corrigan.
He's ostracized in this town for being this intelligent, sensitive boy who loves books and wants to be a writer. So we open the book late one night, he's reading in his sleep-out and there is knock his window and it's Jasper Jones.
"Jasper Jones is sort of the antithesis of Charlie. He's more or less an orphan. His mother has passed away and his father is next to no good, so he's a very rebellious, independent spirit in the town."
Advice for aspiring writers and novelists
Craig's is modest about providing advice to aspiring writers. "All I've done is read and practice the craft and I think maybe that is the best advice that I could offer anybody," he says. "I'm under no illusions about my intelligence or talent or anything of the sort. I think it's just the fact that I'm willing to sequester myself in a hovel of my own making for a year or so to write something which may or may not be read by anyone rather than well-meaning friends and relatives.
"I think that it is rare for a young person to have that kind of impulse. But I think as an author you have got to be prepared to have that kind of sustained focus. It's not something that you can do part-time. It's more than obsessive.
Write honestly and remove your ego
"But other than that I think that you have got to write honestly and maybe you have got to try and remove your ego from the story and be brutal with yourself. You have got to be your best barometer and try and write the book that you yourself would like to read and that means that you have got to have faith in your instincts and your intuition because when you are staring at a blank page it is really all you have.
"I'm not sure that it is my calling but it's certainly my compulsion. I feel absolutely blessed that I have been able to do it for this long. I feel so grateful that I'm in a place that affords me the opportunity to indulgently spend all this time working on something that I want to work on. It's so rare in the world I think. If I can do this for the rest of my life I will be the luckiest little man that ever picked up a pen."
About the author: Valerie Khoo is director of the Sydney Writers' Centre - one of the world's leading centres for writing training. You can learn in person or online here: [http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au/]http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au/.
To find out more on how you can learn about how to write children's books through our online courses, visit here: [http://www.writingchildrensbooks.com.au/]http://www.writingchildrensbooks.com.au/.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Writing-Childrens-Books---How-to-Write-a-Successful-Novel-For-Kids&id=3522113] Writing Children's Books - How to Write a Successful Novel For Kids
Many writers write for the experience. Others dream of having a number one best seller. Both are wonderful reasons for writing. What many fail to realize is that these two do not have to be mutually exclusive. With a little research, you can enjoy writing incredible stories and see to it that they generate a profit.
The first thing that is needed is a business like attitude toward the process. From day one you must:
1) Know your niche.
Research which books are popular in your genre. Go to bookstores and start reading popular authors in your field. Also pick up writing magazines and see what publishers are looking for today.
2) Know your audience. If you are writing for children, for example, know the developmental stage that a child reading your book needs to be and cater to them.
Ex. A five year old would not be a good candidate for a chapter book.
You can also talk to your future readers and find out what really sparks their interest.
Ex. If you are a sci-fi writer, you can go into sci-fi chat rooms and ask what books are the most popular and why. Also ask what they feel is missing in this field. Do they want a return to some of the earlier styles of sci-fi books are an even more futuristic approach?
3) Write from this knowledge.
Once you know what your audience wants, create your story and characters around that theme. Give them what they want, what they crave and you have a better chance of creating a book that they and publishers will love.
4) Pre - market. If you are self-publishing, you can give away a free chapter of your book on hundreds of sites to spark an interest and get feedback. You can also send out press releases right before your book is about to be releases. Prweb.com is a great place to send out free press releases.
5) Network - Contact the webmasters of writing sites online. Submit your book for pre-review. Go to writing chat rooms and offer to answer other writer's questions about your book or writing in general. Do book readings at your local library or bookstore. The more people that are exposed to you and your book, the better the chance of it being a success.
Those are just a few examples of pre - marketing. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other free ways to gather interest and get feed back.
The more information that you have before you write, before you market and before you go to press, will determine your chances of creating an enjoyable and profitable book. Remember you can be creative and profitable. Just start from a place of knowledge and the rest will follow.
About The Author
Caterina Christakos is the author of How to Write a Childrens Book in 30 Days or Less. For more writing tips and articles go to: http://www.howtowriteachildrensbook.com
Writing Children's Books - What's Hot Now By Ursula Lang
Get excited about writing children's books! Write bestselling books for kids! Writing for kids can be rewarding: discover how to write bestselling kids' books by knowing what your target readers want.
Writing Children's Books for a Target Audience
First, choose your target readers: babies, toddlers, preschoolers, beginners or preteens. A story that's a potential bestseller with one age group may fall flat with another.
It's important to decide on the age level before you start writing: this will determine the kind of book you write, the length and complexity of your story, and the number, ages and treatment of your characters.
Studies in childhood development show that as kids grow from babyhood to the preteen years, they look for different kinds of books.
Writing Children's Books for the Earliest Years: Toddler and Baby Books
Babies and toddlers love to listen to simple tales revolving round the familiar world of home, family and friends. Also popular are adventures of mischievous children, talking animals or toys that come alive.
Babies love to hear about the doings of other babies (especially naughty ones) and baby animals. Learn from bestselling baby books like Welcome, Little Baby by Aliki and Spot the Puppy by Eric Hill.
Toddlers enjoy stories with lots of repetition, catchy words and rhymes. Take a cue from favorite children's books like Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Jamberry by Bruce Degen. Toddlers also love to hear about the escapades of other kids and talking animals, as in the Alfie stories by Shirley Hughes and the Little Crittur series by Mercer Mayer.
Writing Children's Books for Preschoolers
Although some preschoolers may have started to read by themselves, most will still have adults reading to them. How your story sounds is therefore very important; read it aloud -- does it flow smoothly? Does the story hold your attention?
Books about family and school life are popular with preschoolers, especially if they're funny stories with children or animals as the principal characters. Get a taste of kid humor from bestselling children's books like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff.
Writing Children's Books for Grade School Kids: Beginner Readers and Chapter Books
Beginner books -- also called easy-to-reads -- are for kids just starting to read by themselves. The writer's aim is to make the reading experience a pleasurable one for the child, who can then claim to have read the book "all by myself". This happy result comes about when the vocabulary and sentences are kept simple and concrete. Most beginner books run to only about 1,000 to 1,500 words, or between 40 and 64 pages.
Chapter books are for more advanced readers, and may range from 1,500 words to 10,000 words, or between 40 and 80 pages. They are usually divided into chapters of 3 to 4 pages each.
Grade school kids enjoy funny stories, and fast-paced adventure and fantasy stories revolving round family, school and friends. To understand what appeals to kids, look at popular children's books like Kids of the Polk Street School series by Patricia Reilly Giff, the Babysitters Club series by Ann M Martin, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and sequels by Judy Blume.
Writing for Preteens
Preteens want their stories to zip along at a fast pace, with plenty of action, adventure and humor. They prefer protagonists who are their own age or slightly older: active, intelligent, resourceful characters capable of solving problems by themselves.
Preteens look for stories that address relationship and growing-up issues in a way they can identify with: books such as The Divorce Express and Can You Sue Your Parents for Malpractice?, both by Paula Danziger and Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume.
For more tips and ideas on writing children's books, visit Creative Writing Ideas to help you write the best books for kids.
The author, Ursula Lang, is an avid reader, writer and editor of children's books. She runs a publishing business and website, http://creativejuicesbooks.com/ where you'll find lots of free creative writing tips, story writing ideas and other writers' resources to help you write your best book.
Learning to Write For Children - It's More Than Just A, B, C By Karen Cioffi
I have been writing since childhood, poems, short stories, even songs. I never thought of publishing my work or making it a career until two years ago. Not knowing any better, I thought it would be easy. I felt comfortable writing and always seemed to be able to think of something to write about. Then I started the process of actually writing children's books with the intent of having them published. This opened another world, one filled with road blocks and rejection letters and a lot of hard work.
While I did take several English and writing classes in college it was many years ago and it is not the background specifically needed in writing for children. To write for children you need to know techniques such as the Core of Threes and having the protagonist solve the problem, not the parent or grandparent. You have to know showing is a must, but telling must be limited. You need to have the right sentence structure along with good grammar and punctuation. Your dialogue must be age appropriate and you must watch out for blind spots in your writing. You need to understand and utilize words such as tighten, good voice, focus, point of view, hook...it goes on and on and on.
How do you learn all the information needed to write for children, especially if you don't want to get a degree in children's literature or are unable to enroll in a school specifically geared toward this subject? The answer is the internet. Sounds easy, right? Well, think again. I have taken a few college courses long distance/online and I can tell you that learning a subject in a classroom is much easier than learning through long distance. And, learning on your own, using the internet is even more difficult and very time consuming.
First, there are hundreds, if not thousands of sites and blogs that have information you need. Also, information from one site may be conflicting with another (this is primarily in regard to query letters and submissions). The time expended searching this needed information is so great it can very easily keep you from actually writing. So, what can you do to ease into this?
Your first order of business is to join a writer's group such as Children's Writers where there are new and seasoned people in the business of writing who are willing and able to help. You also need to join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and a critique group. If you are able, you should make it a priority to attend a writer's conference. There is a great online conference called the the Muse Online Conference, and it's free. There are also a number of sites that offer free teleseminars and teleconferences such as Author Marketing Experts; take advantage of as many as you can. There is also the Children's Writer's Coaching Club, a wonderful writing program from Suzanne Lieurance. For a miniscule amount per month, you are afforded critiquing, coaching, teleconferences and so much more. Another great site for very helpful information is Margot Finke's World of Books for Children. There are also a couple of helpful books such as The Little, Brown Essential Handbook, and the Children's Writer's Word Book.
This world of writing for children can feel overwhelming, but it is also very rewarding. Remember to pace yourself. Create a time management plan and prioritize. With hard work and perseverance you can obtain your goal.
Karen and Robyn - Writing for Children offers helpful tips about writing, marketing, self-publishing, and much more. We also offer children's health tips from Dr. Heny Lee (President of the American Acupuncturist Assn.) Karen is a freelance writer and co-author of the bedtime picture book, Day's End Lullaby. For more information visit: http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com
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