Writing for Children - Writing Tips for Creative Kids Part II

As we found in the first part of our of our article "Writing Tips for Creative Kids" writing can be fun, educational and a great way to pass the time. What stops many writers or want to be writers from taking the dream of writing to the next step is a lack of knowledge of the mechanics or steps involved in the writing process.

Do not be fold by thinking that because your audience is of a young age that you can be sloppy in your structure or take short cuts on the steps involved in writing. Young readers are very adept at picking out shoddy work. Children’s literature has a cadence that is often not present or necessary in adult literature. There is a reason Dr Seuss is in a league of his own, his stories have a rhythm very few other children’s writers have duplicated. It is almost lyrical in nature.

In this part of our article, we will look at the story basics and the story details both very critical parts of your writing’s success.

In part, two we continue our look at the structure of a story or article and two more steps in the writing process:

Step 2: Story Basics

Once you have an idea of what you want to write, you need to start "fleshing out" the details of your story. Create your main character and write down things about this person such as their likes and dislikes, appearance, age, name, friends and other details.

Often in a story, the main character has a problem that they must solve. Sometimes another character helps them solve it and yet another presents some type of hindrance to the problem being solved. Try to flesh out these characters as well and see how they work with each other throughout the story.

The problems that the main character usually encounters are a person against person, person against nature or even a person against himself or herself. Decide which conflict you want for your main character.

Step 3: Story Details

Once you have your story basics, you can begin to create more details around them. You may want to develop why or how your main character did to have their problem. Decide if they can solve it on their own or if they need help. Think about personal challenges that they may need to overcome such as fear or doubt before they realize that they could have solved their problem all along.

Think about your secondary characters. How will they help the main character? What knowledge do the possess that the main character does not?

There is also usually a villain in stories and they will try to stop the main character from achieving their goal. Think about whom your villain is and what will they gain by preventing the hero from doing something?

Many stories have someone who helps the main character reach their goal. This is sometimes an authority type figure such as a teacher or mentor. They are usually older and wiser then the friends. They help them find the answers that they need in order to achieve the goal. Think about developing this character.

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Writing for Children Articles

Writing Tips for Creative Kids Part I

Writing Tips for Creative Kids Part II

Writing Tips for Creative Kids Part III

Creative Writing for Children

You will need enthusiastic creativity, the ability to put yourself in a child's mind and a vivid imagination to pen good creative writing for children. Children see the world from a curious and fresh perspective and you will need to put yourself in their shoes to write the way they would want to read. Creative writing for children can be very satisfying if you are young at heart yourself and possess good writing skills for children.

Keep your story simple. You will not want a story, which is overly complex, or difficult to follow because that will make younger children lose interest quickly. You might like to use some humor. Think about the silly things you can write which will have adults and kids laughing together. You can use rhyme and made up words if it fits in with the writing you are doing.

It is always a good idea to show rather than tell. Instead of saying, for example, "John is jealous," you could have John react in a jealous way to something, so you are showing not telling. This also applies when writing for adults. Also, make sure that both the theme of your tale and your word usage is appropriate for the audience you have in mind. Small children do not understand long words and too many will put them off reading your story.