Writing for Children - Tip 13 #writetip

A book for children has to engage their interest in every way. 

They have to feel the emotions, the fear, the joy, and the insecurities of the characters. 

They want to hurt when their heroes do, cheer when the bad guys are vanquished, groan at the soppy humour and laugh out loud at comic antics.

To achieve this you will need to ensure you cover the basic ingredients. The following suggestions might help you.

Tip 13 – Creating a Blueprint for Success

A strong narrative voice
This means the way in which you tell the story through your writing style. Make it distinctive and uniquely yours.

A setting your readers can reach out and touch with their minds

Wherever you set your novel, make it exciting, exotic or unusual, but more importantly, make it real for your readers. You need to know your imaginary world as well as you know the town in which you live.

Characters who live and breathe

Give your protagonists noticeably defined personalities and mannerisms. Make sure their motives are clearly understood. Create people kids will love or even love to hate.

A likeable central character

You must have someone at the heart of the story who has depth and fascination for your young readers. They have to care about every high point and low point of the heroine’s life.

A strong point of view

Seeing the story unfold through the eyes of the hero allows kids to share his thoughts, feeling and fears.

An (almost) insurmountable problem to solve

Your readers must believe in their hero’s quest and worry about how he is going to find the solution. They should be almost panicking every time something new stands in his way.

Cliff-hanger chapter endings

Each chapter should end on a note that intrigues or frightens. Your audience must be left feeling as though tomorrow is far too long to wait to read the next chapter. Try to recreate that feeling you had as a child when you read by flashlight under the covers because you had to know what happened next.

An ending that satisfies

Whatever the outcome of your story, your readers need to feel that justice was done and the world is back on its axis.

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