Maybe it’s been a dream of yours to write a children’s book. You feel like you a lot of creative and quirky ideas you’re sure kids will love. Now is the right time to start writing it. However, you should not underestimate writing children’s materials. It can be difficult, depending on the genre you are planning to execute. Regardless, the challenges should not dampen your spirit when it comes to writing. They should encourage you further.
Thankfully, there are some methods that will help you come up with great material. Creating a high-quality book will even help you build your reputation among the communities of writers and readers. So whether you are self-publishing your children’s books or you are planning to get an agent, here are some of the pointers that you should keep in mind:
Pick a good theme
Writers should always care about the theme that matters to their audiences. That way, they will find your material easy to enjoy. This rule is also applicable to children’s books. You don’t want to write about a divorced woman dealing with her career, as kids will not find it appealing.
Check out the things and interests that kids nowadays care about. It could be about school, making friends, and pets. Gain inspiration by reading other peoples’ work and talking to kids, such as your own children, siblings, nieces, and nephews.
Choose the right language for the right audience
It’s a given that you should choose easy-to-understand language. Fight the urge to use high-brow words, as your target audience will not understand them anyway. Write as casually as possible. But don’t be afraid to pepper in some unique terms that they can ask their parents or teachers about. This way, they learn something new, apart from the book’s lesson.
Create relatable characters
Relatability is one thing that will make your book a hit among kids. In this case, you need to see to it that the characters of your books have problems, concerns, and happiness that kids usually have. But do not just stop at that! It is important that you create a great character arc, which dictates how your character grows and changes throughout the story.
Always have them deal with a problem, be it a simple one, like reaching for the cookie jar on the counter or a more serious story, like the fear of going to the dentist. And end with the character reveling in victory or properly learning from their mistakes.
Partner with an illustrator
Children’s books are not just all about words. Depending on your target audience, it will help a lot to work with an illustrator that will flesh out your characters and story scenarios. More than half of the world’s population are visual learners. As such, vivid graphics make it easier for your target audience to understand and appreciate your materials.
Writing for kids is not always an easy task. There are a lot of challenges that you need to overcome, especially when it comes to refining the language and choosing the subject matter. You need to pick a subject that your readers will always care about. It would be also great if your material can appeal to adults. As creative as you may be, you still need to follow rules when creating a children’s book. Break or bend them as you please to create your next masterpiece.
