Remember what it was like to curl up in your favorite book as a child, completely absorbed in the world of the story? We write stories for children to teach them the lessons we have learned, provide a source of joy and inspiration – and perhaps to rekindle such feelings within us too. This is an article with the steps in writing a children's book, from building an idea to throwing the solution to a publisher.
Step
Method 1 of 5: Research and Discuss
Step 1. Read lots of children's books
When you want to start thinking about ideas for your children's books, it's helpful to read other people's work. Head to the library or children's bookstore and spend a few hours looking for ideas. Think about the book that caught your attention the most and why it caught your attention.
- Do you want your book to be illustrated, or is it just text?
- Do you want to write fiction or non-fiction? Non-fiction or informational books require research or knowledge of the topic and it would be great if you are an expert in something like dinosaurs, meteors or machinery.
- For good fiction inspiration, read classics. Don't limit yourself to the latest works – step back and read old stories trying to find out why they are remembered forever. For example, look for books like: Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, The Polar Express, and other books.
- Look for fairy tales. Today's entertainment business is very interested in fairy tales and turning them into something more modern. Since most fairy tales are folklore, you are free to use characters and plots and take them to new places with new traits and behaviors!
Step 2. Consider the age range of your reader as a writer
The “children's book” type includes everything from books that have only one word on each page to books written chapter by chapter, novels and non-fiction books written for middle school children and teens. The plot, content, and theme of your book must be readable for the age of your reader (remember that parents are the gatekeepers who will decide or none of the children will read your book).
- Picture books are more suitable for younger children. These books tend to be full of color, which makes them more expensive to print, so keep that in mind. On the plus side, these books tend to be shorter but, your writing has to be very good to catch attention and keep the story solid.
- Books with chapters and non-fiction/informative books are more suitable for older children. Start with something easy to read i.e. teen novels, there is promise here but it also requires a lot of writing and also involves research.
- Don't underestimate the opportunity for a book of poetry and short stories. If you write well, you'll find kids who like both of these things.
Step 3. Decide if your book is mostly words, or mostly pictures, or a balance between the two
If your book is for younger children, you will need to use lots of illustrations to complement your writing. If you're an artist, you can create your own illustrations – many children's authors do. If you can't, you can hire a professional illustrator to create illustrations for your writing. For older children, diagrams, pictures, and bright pictures will sometimes suffice, not using any pictures at all also sometimes works well.
- Before meeting the illustrator, sketch out an idea for your drawing on each page you want to fill in the image. This will help you in later editing stages, and you can give the sketch to potential illustrators to give them the ideas you want.
- Illustrator has many different styles, so it's important to make some observations before making a decision. Do an online search for illustrators and take a look at their portfolios. If hiring a professional doesn't meet your budget, you might want to ask a friend or relative who can illustrate your story.
- Consider photography as one of your options to add images to your book. If you like taking photos, you can use everyday scenes, stick with toys or something. You can also use digital effects to add something that can't be photographed easily.
Method 2 of 5: Preparing the Contents of the Book
Step 1. Decide on the main components of your story
Write down your ideas in notes. The basic things you need to remember regarding:
- Whether you want to direct your book to children or adults, most great stories use a few basic elements: A main character, a supporting role, an engaging setting and a plot involving the main conflict, source of the problem, climax, and resolution.
- For non-fiction or informative books: need to inform the reader of a history, character, real thing or way of doing something.
- Picture books: this one requires a lot of illustrations, usually also uses a lot of color, which means it will cost more to print. The writing is scanty but it has to be very good and original – it is an art to limit words but still tell a great story.
Step 2. Consider linking messages in fictional stories
Many children's books contain positive values, ranging from simple ones like “sharing with others,” to complex life lessons on themes such as willing to die for a loved one or how to think about big issues such as caring for the environment or respecting cultural differences. There's no need to get the message across directly, don't push it-if you do, your message will sound awkward, which means kids won't pick up on it.
Step 3. Get creative
If you're writing fiction, this is your chance to write something silly, weird, imaginary, and full of fantasy. What inspired you as a child? Wear it, develop the idea. Not that you should use something weird for no reason. Emphasize genuine feelings as well as actions that make sense for your character. Readers can tell right away if something feels wrong, and that's when they will put the book back down. And if you're writing non-fiction, this is the time to share your knowledge and do research with the next generation of cooks, engineers, or artists! Most importantly, be creative but also accurate-it's okay to strike a balance between keeping your reading light and still ensuring that the content is fact-checked thoroughly and understandable or accessible to children.
Method 3 of 5: Concept Your Story
Step 1. Write your initial draft
Don't worry about how it sounds – you won't be showing it to anyone now. Concentrate on outlining your book on a piece of paper, don't be afraid to hone it later. Most books fail to materialize because of perfectionism-let the red pen be used “after” the words have been put on paper.
Step 2. Pay close attention to the age of your readers
Vocabulary, sentence structure, and sentence length should be adapted to the age group of the readers of your writing. If you're still not sure, ask kids from your target age group, and try using the words you're about to write, to get an idea of their ability to process the sentences. While it's great to pressure kids to learn, there's still a limit to using hard-to-understand words without using a dictionary!
- Write concise sentences that clearly communicate the ideas you want to share. These are the basic principles of good writing for all ages. And this is very important for children who are learning to understand meaning that continues to increase in complexity.
- Don't underestimate the intelligence of your readers. Children are very clever, and if you make a mistake writing for them, they will quickly get bored of your book. Even if the theme is age-appropriate and the sentences are simple, your writing concept should appeal to your readers.
- Stay up-to-date. Just because something doesn't appeal to you or seems too technical doesn't mean you should avoid it. Children want to read what is currently interesting in terms of language and concepts, so if that means you should study in depth about things like programming or terms in texting so that the story or information you convey appears interesting, and original., and embrace the opportunity for them to learn with enthusiasm!
Step 3. Provide a realistic resolution or outcome at the end of your fiction book
The ending doesn't always have to be happy – it can also be a real bad thing for young readers, because life doesn't always have a happy ending. The ending should be very strong for the rest of your writing and not feel sudden or disjointed. Sometimes it helps to take a break and then return to the book, when appropriate conclusions will form in your subconscious for a while; while for others, this conclusion will be known better than the part where the story begins!
For non-fiction books, always try to provide a summary of the various things in the story, to end your work neatly. It may be an observation of how the story might unfold in our minds in the future, or a summary of what the main points can be drawn from the book, or it may be a curious reflection on what the reader might want to do/read/learn next. Whatever your approach, keep it concise as young readers tend not to want to read anything more than about half a page long at the end of a work of non-fiction
Method 4 of 5: Fix to Evolve
Step 1. Improve your script
This step should be repeated until your manuscript is finished polishing. You may find that parts of your story don't work, or that you need to add new characters. If you work with an illustrator, you'll find that adding artwork can change the tone of your story. Make corrections in several sections and several times until your manuscript is ready to be shown to people.
- Learn to let go. While it can be hard to throw away work you've spent hours perfecting, just because it doesn't fit or doesn't actually work, that's part of being a writer. Knowing what is not is an important part of the art of writing. To be objective, take some time to freshen up.
- Check spelling and grammar as you check your work. Each improvement helps to improve the final quality of your book.
Step 2. Show your script to others
Start by giving your script to family and friends. It's not always easy when it comes to getting immediate reactions from loved ones who may want to keep your feelings in check, so consider joining a writing workshop or forming a writers group so you'll be able to get honest feedback on your manuscript.
- Remember to show your book to the main reader: children. Read your script in front of the children and see if they seem to "get it," and which parts bore them, and so on.
- Consider whether your book will appeal to parents, teachers and librarians. These are the people who will be buying your book, so it should be eye-catching as well.
- Once you have received feedback from a variety of sources, revise your manuscript.
Method 5 of 5: Publish Your Book
Step 1. Publish yourself
It is a worthy and respectable choice in today's publishing world. Look online for companies that will help you self-publish your book. You may be creating an e-book, or you may want to have a copy of your book printed. You can spend as little or as much money as you'd like if you self-publish, and you'll be able to avoid the lengthy process of publishing a book through more traditional means.
- Some self-publishing companies provide a higher quality service than others. Before choosing a company, pay attention to the type of paper they use, and try to get samples from other books they have published.
- When you self-publish a book, you still have the opportunity to be published by a publishing company. In fact, you'll have a sample of your finished book to send to them with your finishing touches. If it looks pretty, it can give you an edge over other submitted works.
Step 2. Find a literary distributor
If your heart wants to get your book published through a traditional publishing company, the best way is to find an agent who can help you through the process. Research agencies working in children's books in the United States can be found at www.writersmarket.com. The same agency organization will exist for other countries as well.
- Send agents a letter of inquiry and a book synopsis. If the agent is interested, they will reply with a request to see the script. It may take weeks or months to receive a reply.
- If your book is not picked up by the agent, you can send your request letter and synopsis directly to the publisher who received the manuscript that the agent did not want. Make observations about publishers publishing books like yours before you contact the publisher.
- If your book is picked up by an agent, he or she will ask you to make improvements to the manuscript to make it more attractive to potential publishers. When it's ready, the agent will send the final result to the publisher that seems to match the book to be published. Again, the process can take several months, and there is no guarantee your book will be published.
Step 3. Publish for local consumption only
Writing children's books is already a great achievement in itself. There's no need to search for extensive publications if you don't want to. Sometimes it's more personal and shared only with people who care. Consider printing the manuscript at a copy shop and binding it to give to some friends, or the kids in your family. Many photocopy shops have services that allow you to print and bind full-color booklets that look very professional.
Tips
- Play with language. Children won't be afraid to express their creativity and humor, so use funny words and you that keep them interested in the story.
- Find out what children like about your books. If you have kids, ask them what stories they like, and if you want, you can relate them. This will be a lot of fun for you.
- Think twice about doing anthropomorphism. The editor sells a lot of stories about talking radishes, fish and mineral assemblages, so using this technique will be very hard to sell unless done very well.
- Children's books are mostly collaborative work. If you hire an illustrator, be prepared to share the results with him.
- Rhymes, especially rhymes that rhyme, can be beautiful in the right hands. Usually not. If you can't tell the story any other way, then use appropriate rhymes. If you want to compose poetry, use free rhymes. If you want to compose rhymes in rhymes, use a rhyming dictionary (See The Complete Rhyming Dictionary by Clement Wood).
