Chapter 1

Exploring the Basics of Writing Children’s Books

IN THIS CHAPTER

Defining the children’s book world

Diving into the writing process

Creating a powerful story for children and tweaking until it’s perfect

Publishing your book and spreading the word

For many, dreams of writing or illustrating a children’s book remain just that — dreams — because they soon find out that writing a really good children’s book is hard. Not only that, but actually getting a children’s book published is even harder. If you don’t know the conventions and styles, if you don’t speak the lingo, if you don’t have someone to advocate for your work, or if you or your manuscript don’t come across as professional, you’ll be hard pressed to get your manuscript read and considered, much less published.

Consider this chapter your sneak peek into the world of children’s publishing. We fill you in on the basics of children’s book formats, creating a productive writing zone, employing key storytelling techniques, revising your manuscript, and getting your story into the hands of publishers who sell to the exact children’s audience you’re targeting.

Every bestselling children’s book author started from the beginning: with a story idea — just like you. Also, many of today’s most successful writers were rejected time after time until they finally found someone who liked what they read or saw, and decided to take a chance. Follow your dreams. Feed your passion. Never give up. The day your children’s book is published, we’ll be cheering for you.

Knowing Your Format, Genre, and Audience

Before you do anything else, figure out what kind of children’s book you’re writing (or want to write).

Manuscripts are published in several tried-and-true formats, with new ones developed every year. Formats involve the physical characteristics of a book: page count; trim size (width and height); whether it has color or is in black and white, has lots of pictures or lots of words, is hardcover or softcover, comes as an e-book or an app — or both. Chapter 2 gives a thorough explanation of what’s what in formats.

Also, your book may (or may not) fall into a lot of different genres. Genres are broad subjects, like mystery or adventure or romance. So figuring out your format and genre can help you determine exactly how to write and present your book. Chapter 3 has a lot of examples of genres that can help guide you in your writing journey.

You need to ask yourself: Who is my audience? Believe it or not, children isn’t the correct answer. Children of a particular age bracket — say infant to age 2, or ages 3 to 8 — may come closer to defining the target age you’re trying to reach. But are they really the ones who buy your book? Because books are ushered through the process by grown-ups — signed up by agents, acquired and edited by editors, categorized by publishers, pushed by sales reps, shelved and sold by booksellers, and most often purchased by parents, librarians, and other adults — your audience is more complicated than you may think. In Chapter 4, we tell you all about the different people you need to impress before you get your book in the hands of children.

Getting into a Good Writing Zone

If you think you can just grab a pen and paper or handy-dandy laptop and jump right into writing, you’re right! But you may also want to consider what might happen when your life starts to intrude on your writing time. How do you work around the children needing to be fed and your desk being buried under mounds of bills and old homework? How do you figure out the best time to write? In Chapter 5, we talk about the importance of making a writing schedule and sticking to it. We also emphasize finding a space of your own for writing and making that space conducive to productivity and creativity.

After you figure out how to get to work, you have to decide what you’re going to write about. Coming up with an interesting idea for a story isn’t necessarily as easy as you may think, which is why we provide a lot of ways to boot up your idea factory in Chapter 6. We also have ways to get you unstuck if you find yourself with an annoying case of writer’s block.

As soon as you have your good idea, you need to get out there and research to make sure the idea fits your target audience. We cover the hows and whys of researching your audience, figuring out what children like and what they see as important in their lives, and then researching the topic itself in Chapter 7.

Transforming Yourself into a Storyteller

By making sure your fiction story features these key elements, you can get yourself one step closer to publishing success:

• Memorable characters: Whether it’s a child who can fly, a really hungry wolf, a boy and a slave floating down the Mississippi River, or a smelly green ogre, characters are the heart and soul of children’s books. So how can you create characters who jump off the page and into your readers’ hearts? Chapter 8 reveals how to build and flesh out great characters and how to avoid stereotyping and other common pitfalls.
• An engaging plot: What exactly is a plot, and how do you figure out what constitutes a beginning, a middle, and an ending? We answer that question in Chapter 9, as well as defining conflict, climax, and resolution.
• Realistic dialogue: Kids can tell when dialogue doesn’t sound right. Chapter 10 features tips and step-by-step advice for writing realistic, age-appropriate dialogue for each of your characters. We also look at ways to make sure your characters sound different from one another.
• Interesting settings: One way to engage young readers is to set your story in places that intrigue them. In Chapter 11, we give you some pointers on how to create interesting settings and build worlds that ground your story in a particular context and draw in your reader.

Of course, you also need to consider your author voice or tone. Do you want to sound playful by incorporating word play, rhyming, and rhythm (the music inherent in words well matched)? Or do you want to make youngsters giggle uncontrollably? We give you the tools you need to create your character’s voice in Chapter 12. And if you’re struggling with sticking to a consistent point of view, Chapter 12 can help you out there, too.

Interested in writing nonfiction? Then turn to Chapter 13. It’s chock-full of good advice on jump-starting your nonfiction project by choosing a kid-friendly topic, organizing your ideas into a comprehensive outline or plan, and fleshing out your ideas with all the right research.

Polishing Your Gem and Getting It Ready to Send

After you write your first (or tenth) draft, you may be ready for the revising or editing process. Revising and editing aren’t just exercises to go through step by step; they are processes in which you, the writer, get to know your story inside and out. You flesh out characters, hone and sharpen the story, fine-tune the pacing, and buff and polish the writing. In Chapter 14, we guide you through the steps of revising and editing, addressing in detail how to fix everything from dialogue issues to awkward writing, advising when to adhere to the rules of grammar (and when it’s okay not to), and giving you a few simple questions to ask yourself to make the process much smoother and less complicated.

And what about illustrations? Should you illustrate your book yourself, or should you partner with or hire an illustrator to create the pictures you envision to complement and enhance your manuscript? For writers wondering about whether art should be included with their manuscript, we give you the pros and cons of partnering with an illustrator. For those with artistic talent to pair with their writing skills, Chapter 15 also provides step-by-step examples of what illustrating a picture book really looks like.

In the process of rewriting and editing your story, you may find that you have some serious questions about your manuscript, such as, “Is this really final, or does it need work?” or “Is this supporting character turning into more of a distraction than anything else?” Seek out feedback from others to help you find answers to any and all questions you may be asking. You can join (or start) a local writer’s group, attend book conferences or writing workshops, or participate in writing groups online. For the full scoop on all things feedback-related, see Chapter 16.

In the publishing world, first impressions carry a lot of weight. Your thoroughly revised, well-written, and engaging manuscript may fail to wow editors if it looks unprofessional. Trust us: Proper formatting goes a long way toward making your submission look as professional and enticing as possible. (Flip to Chapter 14 for some formatting tips.)

Selling Your Story

After you have a well-written, carefully edited, perfectly formatted manuscript in your hands, you’re ready to launch it on its first (or 20th) journey out into the big, bad world of publishing. Chapter 17 explains

• the difference between the big,...