Most books, web sites and articles on writing for children deal with the business of how to get your work published rather than giving any practical advice on actually creating something that children would want to read (or have read to them).
Unfortunately this paradigm exists throughout the children’s publishing industry. It is the industry which dictates what it will mass-market to our children rather than letting the honesty of the art shine through.
With the advent of electronic publishing, there is no reason why every worthy endeavor in children’s literature can’t be exposed to an audience.
In this article I will give you four steps to creating a viable children’s book which can be published in electronic or traditional print format.
Step One: Write For One Child
Adults may be written for en masse, children must be written for one at a time. Select a child to write for. You may select a son or daughter, a niece or nephew. You may choose to write for your inner child. The important thing is that you write for a real child, not your ideal of what a child should or could be.
Step Two: Know Your Child
This of course is a variation on the theme all authors learn: “Know your audience.” How do you get to know your child? Ask questions. Children love to answer questions. They feel important when they are asked questions. However, don’t ask them questions about your story. First, this will ruin it for them. Second, you will miss the opportunity to really get to know your child. Kids know when you are really interested in them and when you’re just trying to get something out of them. If your questions are forced, their answers will be contrived, what they think you want to hear.
Step Three: Involve Your Child
Read your first draft to your child. Read your second draft to your child. Read your third draft to your child. How will you know when you are done? If on your 10th draft your child remarks that the 9th draft was better or seems disinterested, throw out the 10th draft and publish the 9th.
Again, don’t ask any questions directly related to the story, just read it to them.
Step Four: Thank Your Child
Children need appreciation. By thanking your child you will not improve the quality of your finished product, but you will most certainly improve the quality of your next work. Conversely, if you fail to thank your child, your next work will reflect poorly and may not even come to fruition.
Did you achieve success? If you followed the above steps honestly, I guarantee it!
Children Are Noble
When writing for children, the first thing to remember is that children are noble. They are young princes and princesses. This is an affirmation of their potential.
Everything you write for a child should be geared toward fostering and developing the inherent nobility of the child. Never write anything that might in any way degrade a child or suggest that they are anything less than royalty.
Here are three things you can do to ensure your writing is aligned with a child’s nobility:
1. Be honest about your motives for writing children’s literature.
If you are not writing to uplift children, why are you writing? If it is for some other reason, it is easier to slip from the path of uplifting the child.
2. Watch children and learn to recognize their nobility.
As you watch children you will se some of the greatest acts of kindness, mercy, friendship, and love. As you observe these acts of children you will come to realize the great task you have of providing literature which will further inspire those traits. Don’t be daunted, just be humbled by their nobility and strive to enhance it.
3. Remeber that you were also once a noble child and strive to recapture your own nobility.
Each of us has potential. Some of us may have fallen short of that potential at times. The potential is still there. So many self-help programs urge us to get in touch with our inner child. I believe that what they are really saying is to recognize that noble child within each of us.
Shalom. Salaam. Peace.