As you work through this course, you'll analyse current trends and successful children's books, develop one or more stories, and workshop existing material.
This course is excellent for aspiring writers seeking to build confidence in their
abilities, or improve their fundamentals. It will also help more experienced writers develop a deeper understanding of genre, modes,
and writing types, or an introduction to the theoretical underpinnings
of creative writing.
You will study:
- short stories
- non-fiction for children
- picture books
- revision processes
"I never considered children’s writing very stimulating, until now". — Janine
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
New opportunities every day
Children's writing is about more than books: web content, game content, educational content, and apps for children all require understanding of this specialised audience.
Educational texts published as ebooks are increasingly used by schools as they move to children using readers and computers.
Children research their school work online; and read all sorts of things online today.
Writing for children is easier for some people than others. It requires not only an ability to write; but also an understanding of children; and how the needs, interests and abilities of children vary at different ages.
Opportunities to write for printed books have diminished. At the same time, other opportunities have emerged though. Children are reading more than ever; and this means that opportunities to write for children are greater than ever. The trick is to find where the new opportunities are; and carve out an income from those opportunities.
In the past, children's writers began their career by submitting manuscripts to publishers; and persisting with that approach; until they finally got something published and started to build a reputation.
That approach may still occasionally work; but for most there are other ways which are more likely to bring dividends.
Editors are receiving so many manuscripts from would-be children’s writers that many are strictly limiting what they will accept. Many publishers will no longer accept submissions for picture books. With so much to choose from, and so many publishers, the children’s book market is highly competitive and editors can afford to demand high quality and uniqueness.
Some editors will only consider books that they know will sell well. Some publishers might accept an exceptional book or one that is different on the chance that it becomes a new best-seller, but most have exacting requirements, and the writer must do the research needed to know what the publisher wants. On the other hand, publishing is a changing business, reflecting the sometimes rapid changes in readers’ tastes and expectations and reading levels.
Before starting out as a children’s writer it is important that you clearly identify the age group and genre you wish to write for.
TIPS FOR STARTING TO IMPROVE YOUR CHILDREN'S WRITING
- Learn to better understand children.
- Focus on the message. It is essential to have a clear focus on the information that you want to convey. When writing is verbose (too wordy), the reader will find it more difficult to focus on the key facts. Therefore, an important skill is to reduce wordiness.
- Be self critical. Learn to step outside your own natural perspective to look at your work as others might. Imagine who might read your work, and consider how you might target different people in your audience. When writing for popular newspapers and magazines, you will write for a great range of people, from uneducated unemployed people, to highly qualified academics. Your content can remain complex, but if you want all these readers to understand you, the delivery must be as simple and uncomplicated as possible.
- If you have a choice, use simpler words with fewer letters and fewer syllables. Use words that are most familiar to the receiver. If you use a word in a way that is not familiar to the reader, you can help the reader understand what you want to get across by using the word in a context that clarifies the meaning. If the word itself might not be familiar, explain the word within the text (in fictional writing), or use a footnote (in non-fictional writing) to explain the meaning. Some ways to avoid misunderstanding are described in the following section.
- If you have a choice, write shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs. This is particularly relevant to non-fiction writing where the message must be very clear and concise. In fictional writing, however, and also in some non-fiction such as essays, brevity is not always appropriate or desirable. Sometimes, wordiness and complexity can add an important dimension to the atmosphere, tone and meaning of a text, and are needed to reflect a particular personality, perspective or historical period. If wordiness and complexity are not key elements of the story or text, it is best to avoid them, especially if you are a beginning writer.
- Where possible, present complex factual information in tables, charts, graphs or in point form to allow it to be grasped more readily.