What Makes a Good Children's Story?
Part One
That is not an easy question to answer. Children, as we are sure you know, change their minds frequently. One minute it toys coming alive, the next it's aliens, then  it's witches and wizards. So, as a writer of children's stories how do you know what will be popular and what will bore the little darlings to death? Well, there are a number of things you can do to make sure you are heading in the right direction.
Know the Classics
As with any kind of writing, if you want to write children's stories you need to read them - lots of them! This is a vital part of your market research. You should read the classics that keep children hooked from generation to generation, such as 'Winnie the Pooh', AA Milne, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' Lewis Carroll and 'The Wind in the Willows' Kenneth Graham. You should also try to read books that have become modern classics, such as 'The Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle, 'Where's Spot?' by Eric Hill, 'The Snail And The Whale' by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler and 'The Sheep-Pig' by Dick King Smith. Follow and note the plot changes, language used, length of sentences and so on to form a starting point for your own stories.
Know The Current Trends
And, just as importantly, you should make sure you know about the latest releases and what themes and characters are popular at the moment. You can do this using:
- websites such as Amazon where you'll be able to see the current titles available and the best sellers
- your local book shop to see the latest titles for children
- your local library to find out what are the most borrowed children's book (you could be cheeky and ask for a peek at 'Bookseller', it'll tell you all the books published that week, plus a whole host of other useful publisher-related information)
-the current catalogues of children's publishers
-the websites of children's publishers - they have details of their up and coming releases, author profiles and submission guidelines
-market research books, such as the 'The Children's Writers' and Artists' Yearbook' http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/ and 'The Writer's Handbook' http://www.thewritershandbook.com/ have the contact details of suitable children's publishers
Printed with permission from http://WritersBureau.com
Editor's note:
The rest of this informative article will be published later this week. Please check back and learn more about how to write a bestselling children's book.
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