I found this link over on Jennifer’s blog, another children’s writer. How to write for children and teens - Institute of Children’s Literature - it’s a long name but it pretty much says it all. I need to go back and look further into the website but from what I’ve seen there are [...]

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A problem some writers have, is freeing their mind of restraints. Writing is a time to try new things. Just because you wouldn’t go mountain climbing, or scuba driving, or jump from a plane doesn’t mean your character wouldn’t do these things. Just because you wouldn’t murder someone, it doesn’t mean you [...]

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Now that I’m entering the editing phase for my current manuscript, I’ve been looking for some tips that will make life easier. Margot Finke’s Secrets of Writing for Children has some practical advise which I believe is a great start. Yes, some of it is quite basic but I think that’s the stuff [...]

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I’ve had several people over the past two months ask me what a chapter book is, so I’m going to talk about that today.
A chapter book for children is the proper terminology for a children’s novel for the ages of 8 to 12. It’s usually between 25,000 and 40,000 words, yet [...]

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Have you heard of the KISS technique? No, it doesn’t mean you go around giving everyone a big sloppy kiss in the hope of getting published. It means to keep your writing simple.
KISS = Keep it simple stupid
Some writers feel they have to use big, impressive words to be successful but, often, by [...]

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As a writer of children’s stories, I think it’s important to understand how a child develops. Yes, we’ve all been through it but can you remember how you thought when you were five? I can’t.
A writing friend, Scarborough, gave me these two links:
General Developmental Sequence - This site shows the typical activities and [...]

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Boost - This community has been recommended to me by several people in a new group I joined yesterday. They do critiques, there’s a forum and plenty of information and support to be had within these pages.
Australian Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators - I’m not sure how useful this site will be [...]

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When writing for children it is important to remember that children love characters. With this in mind, it is equally important to create realistic characters that will reach out and grab the reader and take them on an adventure of a life time.
The good children in your stories must be likeable. They must [...]

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A writer must always be prepared to do research. No matter what the genre. Because if your reader discovers errors in your facts, you will lose their respect and their readership. An author cannot afford to have this happen.
If you’ve followed my progress over the years, you would have seen that I’ve [...]

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A friend gave me this link to Robin Friedman’s Interviews with Editors. It looks like a great resource for writers of children’s books.

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