How To Write A Children"s Book In 3 Easy Steps
For a long time I struggled with the idea of "how to write a children's book".
For one reason or another, writing books for kids seemed more intimidating and more difficult than writing for adults.
Being able to "write on their level" was something that I thought was only reserved for a few gifted people.
I was wrong.
I'm about to tell you why.
I have known a method of writing for some time that has made writing process as a whole easier than I ever thought it would be.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized that this concept could be applied to children's books.
The method, in it's simplest form, centers on the concept of "divide and conquer".
I'm going to give you the basic steps to take advantage of this concept and enable yourself to start writing children's books today.
Step 1: Write A Short Story The first step is to write your story using the method and style of your choosing.
Choose a topic suitable for children, but beyond that FORGET that you are trying to write a children's book.
Just get it written.
Don't worry about being fancy.
I would recommend that you don't even worry about spelling, typos, or corrections of any kind.
This stage of writing, for this method of writing a children's book, is just intermittent.
We're not trying to create a finished product here, but just to get the story down on paper...
whether that takes 20 pages or 100 pages!Don't worry, this will work for toddler books too.
We're not going to keep the 20 page book!The only reason for writing a "normal" story is because for many of us, that's a lot easier than writing a children's story! Step 2: Choose A Single Theme Or Lesson From Your Story To Highlight All you have to do to accomplish this step is decide on what lesson your book will teach.
What is the "moral of the story" that can be learned from what you just wrote?Whatever it is, find it, and write it down.
Then move on to Step 3! Step 3: Divide And Conquer The third step is really the fun part.
Start using "divide and conquer" to break your story down smaller parts.
If you can get your story into15 to 20 sections of related material (usually the main "events" of your story) you're doing well.
Now look at the parts you have broken your story into.
These are the pages of your children's book.
Now you take each of these sections and paraphrase it into a few short sentences.
Once you have done that, with as many of these as possible, you take the paraphrased version and paraphrase THAT.
What you will end up with is a short, simple, concise version of what you started with.
Some pages will have 2 or 3 sentences, others may have only 1.
This is the rough draft for your children's book! Now you simply go through and make sure it all makes sense together.
Shorten where needed, add more where needed.
It's a good idea to check your writing to make sure it is at a proper reading level for your intended audience.
There are formulas available to help you do this and also some free tools online that will do it for you automatically.
There are countless ways to go about writing a children's book.
This is my favorite.
The reason I like it is because it allows a "regular writer" to break things down to the level needed for a young child.
Whatever method you choose, the important thing is to keep at it.
Your first children's book will most likely not be your best.
Don't stress about that.
Just finish it, call it an accomplishment, and keep writing!
For one reason or another, writing books for kids seemed more intimidating and more difficult than writing for adults.
Being able to "write on their level" was something that I thought was only reserved for a few gifted people.
I was wrong.
I'm about to tell you why.
I have known a method of writing for some time that has made writing process as a whole easier than I ever thought it would be.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized that this concept could be applied to children's books.
The method, in it's simplest form, centers on the concept of "divide and conquer".
I'm going to give you the basic steps to take advantage of this concept and enable yourself to start writing children's books today.
Step 1: Write A Short Story The first step is to write your story using the method and style of your choosing.
Choose a topic suitable for children, but beyond that FORGET that you are trying to write a children's book.
Just get it written.
Don't worry about being fancy.
I would recommend that you don't even worry about spelling, typos, or corrections of any kind.
This stage of writing, for this method of writing a children's book, is just intermittent.
We're not trying to create a finished product here, but just to get the story down on paper...
whether that takes 20 pages or 100 pages!Don't worry, this will work for toddler books too.
We're not going to keep the 20 page book!The only reason for writing a "normal" story is because for many of us, that's a lot easier than writing a children's story! Step 2: Choose A Single Theme Or Lesson From Your Story To Highlight All you have to do to accomplish this step is decide on what lesson your book will teach.
What is the "moral of the story" that can be learned from what you just wrote?Whatever it is, find it, and write it down.
Then move on to Step 3! Step 3: Divide And Conquer The third step is really the fun part.
Start using "divide and conquer" to break your story down smaller parts.
If you can get your story into15 to 20 sections of related material (usually the main "events" of your story) you're doing well.
Now look at the parts you have broken your story into.
These are the pages of your children's book.
Now you take each of these sections and paraphrase it into a few short sentences.
Once you have done that, with as many of these as possible, you take the paraphrased version and paraphrase THAT.
What you will end up with is a short, simple, concise version of what you started with.
Some pages will have 2 or 3 sentences, others may have only 1.
This is the rough draft for your children's book! Now you simply go through and make sure it all makes sense together.
Shorten where needed, add more where needed.
It's a good idea to check your writing to make sure it is at a proper reading level for your intended audience.
There are formulas available to help you do this and also some free tools online that will do it for you automatically.
There are countless ways to go about writing a children's book.
This is my favorite.
The reason I like it is because it allows a "regular writer" to break things down to the level needed for a young child.
Whatever method you choose, the important thing is to keep at it.
Your first children's book will most likely not be your best.
Don't stress about that.
Just finish it, call it an accomplishment, and keep writing!
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