7 Steps To Writing Children's Books

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As a published author I enjoy writing all kinds of material for business and pleasure

and pass on to you the skills I have learned over the years.

"7 Steps To Writing Children's Fiction" is based on my experience writing

"The Rainchild Trilogy...", "The Theft Of The Purple Plug," "Carnival To The Aquadome" and "Return Of The Rainchild."

Step 1: Keep A Notebook or Digital Recorder

There are stories floating around us all the time, they just need capturing. Once an idea, character, location, plot, headline... grabs you, make sure you record it immediately. Sometimes the best ideas and most innovative story lines have been lost because the observer quite literally 'lost the plot'

Step 2: Use Your Imagination

My own area of interest in writing for children is fantasy fiction. You do need a rather weird imagination to create Cosywags, Clawhammers, Slickwingers, Stringfods, Flutterbodies, Gloads, a Jellybot and the Evil Megagrit! And all those creatures just dropped into my mind one evening without any prompting from me! Yes, it does happen like that sometimes and you don't have to be mad! Just ready!

Step 3: Live The Story

My own style of writing is to begin at the beginning. I know this sounds rather obvious, but what I mean is this: a story grows, emerges and takes on a life of its own if you are brave enough to live it. It's sometimes helpful to have a storyboard, a framework, even a mind map, so you can visualise the story from a bird's eye view. That way you know where you are going, you just need to figure out how you are going to get there. My own style however is to start writing and let the story grow itself. This might sound exceptionally strange, but that's how it works for me.

Step 4: Write Something Every Day

Creative muscles need developing. A paperback would be around 50 to 60,000 words and you should aim to be writing around 2000 words a day. This is very achievable, even if you have a full time job. You will have to enlist the support of your family and friends but if you can accomplish this, your book will be written in a month.

Step 5: Have Your Own Creative Space

Life is very hectic for most people these days. Not many writers have the luxury of sitting in a study overlooking the Cornish coast with enough solitude and time-out to create without interruption. But we can all create some time and space even in a busy schedule. Your family and friends will need to be patient with you when you are in creative mood. When the book is finished, don't forget to give them all a treat!

Step 6: Be Descriptive

You don't need to be too obvious when writing for children - they have an imagination of their own. And that's the key to being a successful children's book author. Create pictures with words that trigger the imagination.

Step 7: Be Ambitious But Not Unrealistic.

Once written, you need to get your book out there. Certainly send your manuscript (1.5 spacing on single sided numbered A4 paper) to publishers. But before you do so, make sure you send it correctly - no unsolicited manuscripts. A publication like, "The Writers And Artists Yearbook" is very helpful in giving the right kind of guidance to new writers. Ideally you will need an Agent to represent you. The Yearbook is packed with information about how to go about this. However, you may want to "self publish" - you can do this by creating your own website, turning your book into digital format (PDF - Portable Document File) and selling it through "Clickbank" who specialise in collecting payment for digital products.

There is so much more I could say!

Trust you have found this helpful

by: Steve Flashman

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