Yesterday, I reached out (on my message board) for help with my chapter book, Cat’s Eyes. I really wanted a couple of people to read the entire manuscript - approximately 25,000 words - and tell me if there were plot holes, and/or if I had realistic characters…and the response was staggering.

Not only have several people volunteered to do this for me, three of those people have children they intend to involve too.

As a children’s writer, this is really exciting for me. The responses of those children will tell me if I’m on the right track, if I have the right balance of action and breathing time, and most importantly, if I’ve overstepped the mark with words that mean nothing to them. I’ve been worrying about this last issue, but I didn’t want to turn things around and end up talking down to younger readers either.

Writing for children is NOT easy. Never, ever believe that.

To those special people who volunteered, I give a heartfelt “Thank you”. {{hugs}}

Filed under: Cat's Eyes, My Writing: