Writing for Kids: Tips and Techniques
"Write4Kids.com is
packed with articles, interactive tools and cool freebies ... all about the
art of writing children's books. You'll find page after page of advice found
nowhere else online or off, and you'll learn about the successful author's
secret weapon — Children's Book Insider.
The following articles by Laura Backes will help you learn tips and techniques
for writing for a young audience, including special topic considerations, trends,
research, and marketing — plus excellent instruction on general writing,
story development, and editing skills.
Articles by Laura Backes
A Common Pitfall: Expository Dialogue
By Laura Backes
Dialogue adds to the narrative by allowing your characters to speak for themselves.
It's not simply narrative surrounded by quotation marks.
A Look at Current Trends
By Laura Backes
In the constantly-changing world of children’s book publishing, it’s
often hard to keep up with what’s hot. ... Here are some areas where
editors are currently buying.
Characters and Point of View
By Laura Backes
The point of view — how you choose to tell your story — determines
the voice of your writing.
Editing Secrets
By Laura Backes
Checking your basic grammar and spelling are of course important, but authors
need to go beyond surface editing if their work has a chance of catching
an editor’s eye.
Eliminating Lazy Writing
By Laura Backes
In order to make your manuscript rise above the rest, you not only need an
enticing story and vivid characters, but your prose must be solid and fresh.
Eliminating Passive Writing
By Laura Backes
Passive Writing is common pitfall, one so insidious that it even pops up in
the writing of very experienced authors from time to time.
Great Fiction Comes from Writing Lightly
By Laura Backes
Great fiction appears effortless to the reader. The characters and setting
are so real, the story so believable, that the reader is completely unaware
of the author behind the words.
Researching the Market
By Laura Backes
How, exactly, does one research a market that produces thousands of new products
each year? I suggest a systematic, three-part approach which works for book
and magazine publishers.
Tips for Developing an Original Voice
By Laura Backes
A story without a strong voice does not come alive for the reader, does not
touch the reader’s imagination. ... Voice is the simplest writing technique
to learn, because it’s already in you.
Tips for Writing Mysteries
By Laura Backes
Mysteries are very popular with middle grade readers. They are generally fast-paced
stories that build self-confidence by allowing the reader to solve the crime.
Turn Personal Struggles into Books for Children
By Laura Backes
Many writers turn difficult periods in their lives into books for children,
hoping to help young readers through similar painful experiences. Here are
some tips to keep in mind when creating and selling books based on real-life
events.
Understanding Children's Writing Genres
By Laura Backes
It's true — you can read three different books on writing and find three
different definitions of "picture book." So, to make your life easier,
here's what I hope is a definitive glossary of children's publishing genres.
Working with Cause & Effect
By Laura Backes
Successful fiction is dependent on a logical progression of cause and effect.
In real life nothing happens in a vacuum; feelings are a response to an event,
action is followed by reaction.
Writing About Controversial Subjects
By Laura Backes
After the Columbine shootings, I wrote that, as writers, one thing we can do
is realize that all kids deal with pressures and problems that we never faced
growing up, and we should make a greater effort to address this in middle
grade and young adult literature.
Writing Great Beginnings
By Laura Backes
When an editor opens up the envelope containing your manuscript and begins
to read, you have 10 seconds to get her attention.
Writing Powerful Endings
By Laura Backes
Once you draw your readers in and take them through your story, you need to
leave them with a satisfying conclusion. Here, then, are some tips for writing
powerful endings.
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