Learn to Write for Children Before You Write for Children

Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares writers’ resources on her award-winning blog Sharing with Writers

 Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children’s Writer

I write for young children, and I’ve also written a lot of content on marketing and health topics. Writing in multiple genres, I can tell you that writing for children can be much more challenging.

When writing for children, there are guidelines to follow to help your story avoid the editor’s trash pile.

Okay, I can hear some of you mumbling that you’re self-publishing.

That’s great, but…

You SHOULD still create a story that adheres to traditional book publishing standards.

Wondering why?

There are so many reasons:
1. You want to create and publish a quality book, one that you’ll be proud to be the author of.
2. You want to be perceived as a professional writer.
3. You want a story that grabs the reader.
4. You want a story that engages the reader and motivates them to keep turning the pages.
5. You want to have an ending that leaves the reader satisfied and hopefully offers a take-away value.
6. You want your story to be age and word appropriate.
7. You need to edit and proof your story before publishing.
8. You want to write a story that, once read, will motivate the reader to read other books you’ve written.
 
So, how do you write a slam-dunk children’s book?

For starters, you should know about writing for children. I’m not saying you need to get an MFA in Writing for Children. I’m suggesting you take some online or offline courses and READ A LOT.

Read traditionally published books in all children’s genres, but specifically in the genre you want to write. You can also check out your local library and look for recently published books.
You’ll also want to read books on the writing process and structure.

What are some of the things you should know when writing for young children?

- There should be only ONE main character. It is from this character’s point of view that the story will be told.  
- The story’s time frame should be short.
- You need to pay attention to adverbs and adjectives, and you should limit them.
- You can write in different tenses, but once you choose one for a particular story, you must stick to it throughout the story.
- You should use proper grammar and punctuation.
- You need a story arc and a character arc.
- All stories must have conflict unless you’re writing a children’s concept book.
- You should use appropriate words and an appropriate storyline.
- If you want to be called an author, you have an obligation to other self-published authors to produce a quality book. If you don’t, your book will lessen the value and professionalism of all self-published books.

These are just some of the things you should know about. So, are you familiar with adverbs and adjectives? Do you know what tense is? Do you know what a story arc is? Do you know what point of view is?

If you know all these things and those not mentioned here, jump in and start writing your story.
 
But if you don’t know how to write for children, take a step back and at least learn the basics.

To help you on your journey, you can find a list of writing resources by clicking the link within this sentence.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, rewriter, editor, and coach with clients worldwide. If you need help with your children’s story, please visit Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.

 
Karen also offers HOW TO WRITE A CHILDREN’S FICTION BOOK, a 250+ page book covering A-Z of writing for children.

And for those children’s authors who are self-publishing, Karen provides WRITERS ON THE MOVE PRESS.

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A feature in the right column of this blog lets you subscribe to #SharingwithWriters so you don’t miss any of Karen’s posts on writing for children.  

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including “The Frugal Book Promoter” (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and “The Frugal Editor” both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are “How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically,” and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, “Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers” (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and “Great First Impression Book Proposals” (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. “The Frugal Editor “(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is “A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques” (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing–grammar, formatting and more–at “The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor” (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.