WRITING CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Children are the wonder of the human species - always cheerful, imaginative and positive about life and circumstances. They teach adults how simple life can be. A writer with a heart for children and an inspiration for a child’s book can make a life-changing story for any child. Just look how Joanna Cole did it with her science adventures! Like Joanna teaches us, and children everywhere, it’s not a negative thing to seek help on your work and improve or confirm your ideas. Here are some helpful tips to keep in the spirit and mind of a child while writing:
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1. Write to teach - One wonder of a child is they are always eager to learn. Making a life or academic lesson come alive for them on pages of a book will help them in their future.
2. Stay on their level - Don’t try to teach hard-core anatomy with all those fancy words and technical terms to a Kindergartner. I can guarantee, unless they are exceptionally intelligent beyond their years, they will not understand it. Keep the topic interesting and fun for the age you are writing toward.
3. Illustrations are golden - Whether you draw them yourself or pay/partner with someone else to do them, illustrations give children the visuals. It not only extends your readership to possible parents who read to their children, but it keeps the children engaged in the story. But if your pictures aren’t as heavily relied upon as the words, that’s okay, too!
4. Find your reason - Everyone has a reason for their stories - especially people wanting to reach the future generations. Shifting through all the other reasons writers write for other genres, in many ways, children’s and young adult writers are possible the most influential. Those stories stick with a young heart much more effectively than an older soul. So, the reason for your book should be kept at the forefront of your mind during the writing process.
5. Make your story relatable - Keep your audience in mind. Are you focusing more on a introverted child? A child struggling with divorcing parents? A youngest sibling? A child coping with a new puppy or kitten - or baby - in the household? These types of scenarios help your young readers relate to what you’re saying and it will make a bigger impact.
6. Find the right publisher - Duh, right? This is an easier mistake to make than you may realize. Read what different publishers put out. Make sure they publish similar content as your topic. Do your homework. Please - oh, please - don’t go to someplace that is big on “pushing boundaries” in the adult genre and ask them to publish your book on teaching a child to use the potty correctly...That's not what they mean, and they should turn you down.

Even though these are just a few simple reminders to keep your thinking on track, never forget the most boring thing for a kid is to keep them - and your story - in a box. That has the opposite effect. Blow their minds. Help them reach just a little further than they thought they could. Teach them life lessons they may never learn at home. Keep them expecting, hoping, excited and growing.

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