Keys to Success in your Children's Story 7/15/2012 6:57:09 AM
When you’re planning a children’s story there are some elements you need in order to make it successful. Here are some hints that will help you write the perfect story that children will love.
• Have a good “hook” in the opening: Children need to be really engaged in a story so you need an interesting beginning that will help them want to keep turning the pages. Sometimes dialogue is good, but you also need action, in order to peak your reader’s interest. For example, in my award winning autobiography, Tails of Sweetbrier I wrote:”Have you ever really wanted to do something, but you came across a roadblock of some kind? Maybe you’re afraid of new things, or maybe you have a physical challenge. Are you going to follow your dream or are you going to push it aside without really trying?” The questions leave the readers wondering what happens next.
• Be sure the dialogue moves the story along: Dialogue helps make stories interesting, but be sure it’s related to what’s happening in the story and it serves a purpose, other than just to fill up the page.
• Make your characters believable: Remember to make your characters authentic and realistic. Your characters should have traits that children can identify with. Maybe one of them is overconfident. Maybe one is shy and afraid to try new things. Perhaps one has no self esteem or no friends because he/she is handicapped. You want your readers to feel connected to your characters.
• The main character should learn something important: Your main character should grow by learning something important. Maybe he or she was overconfident, but learned that other kids were not friendly because he/she seemed like a “know it all,” but something happened to change their behavior. Maybe your main character was a bully until someone stood up to him and showed him a different way to behave.
• Tie the beginning and the ending together so the reader can see that something changed for the better. If you can connect the beginning and the ending, the readers will be able to think about the important lessons in your story and what the theme was. The ending should leave the reader satisfied that there was action, interesting dialogue, and an ending that leaves them content with the outcome.
• Be sure to proofread and revise until you feel your work is the best it can be. It’s very important to revise and proofread so that you don’t overlook mistakes in typing, grammar or spelling. Be sure that your work reflects your best effort. Your readers deserve it.
