You've Got to Know What You're Doing

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

 Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children’s Writer

As with anything you attempt to do, it’s essential to know what you’re doing.

My father was a contractor—he built homes.

How structurally sound do you think those homes would have been if he didn’t know what he was doing or didn’t know how to read blueprints?

Or what about a musician who didn’t learn how to play an instrument. Or one who knew the basics but never practiced. Would you attend a concert that this musician was giving?

Well, the same thing applies to writing for children.

It’s true that a self-published author can publish a poorly written book; no one will stop him. But do you think that’s fair to the reader and those authors who produce quality books?

The answer is NO on both accounts.

A common problem I see with new children’s authors is that they’re not familiar with the different genres.

I’ll see 2,000-word picture book drafts or 9,000-word middle-grade drafts.

I’ll also see things like an intended middle-grade draft with inappropriate content for the age group.

This also applies to the words you use in your story. Everything must be age-appropriate when writing for children.

And there must be a main character (protagonist).

A story I recently reviewed didn’t have a main character. It didn’t have a story arc, either.

This is common for some new authors. They have a message they want to convey but don’t realize it needs to be within the boundaries of a good fiction story.

Another biggie I notice is middle-grade stories with multiple points of view (POV), even going so far as to change POVs within a chapter. That’s usually not a good thing no matter the genre. However, if it’s upper middle grade, you can get away with more than one POV, just not within the same chapter. It’s best to keep things simple.

I realize that many people think writing for children is easy.

How hard can it be, right?

Well, it’s actually a tricky genre to write in.

When writing for children, you must adhere to the industry’s standard guidelines. In other words, you need to know what you’re doing … you need to play by the rules.

Some elements that pertain to playing by the rules are:
1.    Word count
2.    Sentence and chapter length
3.    Story length
4.    Age-appropriate content
5.    Point of view
6.    Protagonist
7.    Character and story arcs

So, before you jump into a children’s story, read a many, many books in the genre you want to write. Be sure they’re well-written, though. A good way to do this is to read recently traditionally published books by top publishers, such as Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Chronicle Books.

There are good self-published books out there, but it’s sometimes a guessing game as to which are well-written and which are poorly written. You wouldn’t want to learn or model poorly written books.

Traditionally published books will be up to the current publishing guidelines and well-edited.

It’d also be a good idea to take a few online children’s writing courses, read books on writing for children, and possibly get a children’s writing coach to help you overcome the hurdles of writing a publishable book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, rewriter, 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 TOWRITE A CHILDREN’S FICTION BOOK.

A 250+ book that will help you start or finish your children’s book

PICTUREBOOK, CHAPTER BOOK, MIDDLE GRADE COACHING

Four to twelve-week coaching programs.

FICTIONWRITING FOR CHILDREN eCOURSE

4-Weeks / 8 Sections Guided Self-Study Mentoring Program

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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.