Advice on writing for kids
A twitter thread by Jennifer Laughran
I Can’t give you advice on writing a kids book as I’ve never written one. But if I were to take some advice, this would probably be the advice I’d take…
The best advice if you want to write for kids is, GO TO THE LIBRARY AND READ 100 BOOKS PUBLISHED IN YOUR CATEGORY IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS. Put your favorites in a special pile and buy your own copies of those so you can write in them. Tear them apart. Why and HOW do they work? 1/5
If you do this: CONGRATULATIONS, you just did much of the work for a masters degree without having to pay for it. While you're at it - make a spreadsheet of those 100 books, noting WHO PUBLISHED THEM, and agent/editor if they are listed in the acknowledgements. Note patterns! 2/5
If you do THIS step: CONGRATULATIONS, you just got a crash course in publishing and are armed with the knowledge of "who publishes what" that you will need as you begin your querying/publishing journey. 3/5
Whenever I give this advice, some folks push back and complain about "having to" read lots of kids books (which, it's the best homework I can IMAGINE doing, and if you don't like reading them, maybe don't WRITE them!), or they think it is a waste of time or I'm being MEAN... 4/5
I think it can actually SAVE you time flailing in the darkness, and I'm being nice. But hey, if you don't like it: Ignore me! You don't need to fight me about it. Like... it's free advice and this is a free country. I promise that I don't care what you do or don't do. :-) 5/5
Ps: people say there’s a lot of crap on twitter, the truth is, there’s a lot of people on twitter, and if you curate who you follow, it’s actually more than a pleasant experience.