Children books seem so easy to write! They don't even have a lot of text, especially if they are for toddlers or babies! So much so that you wonder how is it that you haven't thought about becoming a best selling author of children's stories before. But, is it really so simple? Truly speaking, it is not. Children are the most difficult audience, hard to please and absolutely upfront and sincere regarding their emotions and preferences. Thus, if you want to give it a try to writing children books, make sure you follow these five steps first.
STEP 1: Brainstorm Story Ideas
Children books, whether they are long or short, need to tell excellent stories. Even if they are the kids themselves who grab the book and give it to their mom to buy it, mom is the one who has the final call. She will read it and decide if the book is worthy or not. With this being said, take plenty of time to brainstorm different ideas for your story, look at other children books and pay attention to the way in which other authors have dealt with typical subject such as jealousy, fears, love, friendship, new brother or sister, etc.
STEP 2: Create Interesting Characters
Your characters are going to give life to the adventures you write about in your children books. Therefore, you have to make them interesting so that your audience can relate to them and identify with them. Characters in children books do not need to be humans; your audience has a vivid imagination and they will be happy to find in your book elephants that can talk, dogs that can fly or lions with hair problems.
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You should take your time to develop your characters' personality, especially of the main one and make sure the children can easily relate to them.
STEP 3: Plan Your Story
Writers of all styles and genres always write an outline of their story to make sure that the final result is coherent and interesting and that any subplots they include do not interfere with the main one. You should also plan your children books story carefully. Make sure you give plenty of room to introducing your characters and let them show their personality, that the different incidents they go through are catchy and relevant and that by the end of the story you have a happy ending.
STEP 4: Illustrations Are Important
Even if your children books are aimed for early schoolers, illustrations play a very prominent role in this kind of books. They boost the children's engagement with the story, keep them hanging to it and many a time they even allow them to understand the plot better. You can really be creative with the illustrations you choose to add and include collages, doodles and so on. Don't forget to use plenty of colors in them!
STEP 5: Let Your Creativity Flow!
One of the nicest and most pleasant things of writing children books is that the more imaginative you are, the better. Be creative! These books are usually filled with fanciful stories that your audience really enjoys.
If you consider yourself a talented author or if you just want to give your literary skills a try, why don't you visit WARP Place? We are holding a literary contest and you can get your work promoted!
