There are people who think writing stories and books for children is pretty easy. After all, the books are shorter, simpler, and sweet. They think writers of children's books can whip out several a year.
Nope, that's not right. Writing a book for a child might be harder because the author must say so much in so few words. Like all books, there should be a problem, the protagonist must solve the problem, and she/he meets obstacles along the way.
You'll find a few things I've learned about writing for children below:
Know what age group you are aiming for:
Picture books for children up to age 4 (and sometimes even beyond)
Early Reader books for 5-7 year olds
Chapter Books aimed at 6-9 year olds--story is divided into chapters and is of greater length
Middle Grade books for 9-12 year olds and longer than Chapter Books
Young Adult (YA) for teens--longer and more involved; can even appeal to adults
Do some research about vocabulary for each of these categories of books. It's alright to introduce new words to children, but keep to their vocabulary categories for the most part.
The writer must create a main character that children can relate to and one that brings some emotion to the reader. Secondary characters allow for some expansion and interesting people.
Of great importance is that the child must solve the problem on their own. They cannot go to an adult and have them make everything hunky-dory.
Kids love humor and mysteries along with adventure stories.
Stories for children do not always need to have a moral. Sometimes, kids just want to be entertained.
Read books for children if you want to write them. Lots of them!
I've written numerous short stories for children which have been published. I've written one middle grade novel, not published. It's fun to write for kids. Give it a try.
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