I found a lot of good research for this genre, but the article I found most helpful gave 12 steps on how to write a children’s book. The first nine are important to what I am trying to do here, so I am going to go through them now:

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1. Find your best idea: the article suggests I search my topic and the words “children’s book” to find similar ideas or to get ideas. I have to check to see if another book has the same idea and if so would have to make edits to my own idea

2. Develop your main character: the article says that every children’s book has a unique main character. There is something that makes them different and interesting and to lean into that difference when telling their story; however, you cannot make the character indistinguishable from every child. Children need to see a character that is real. They don’t stand for everyone, but they are real. A character questionnaire can also be used to determine how well you have developed your main character.

3. Write the right length: It is important to determine the proper word count for your book depending on the age range you are writing for. If it’s too long and you will lose the interest of the kids and too short you will not achieve your message. For a picture book aimed at children 3-7, the appropriate number of words is 500-800. They say the “sweet spot” is 750 words.

4. Start the story quickly: If the story starts too slow, you will fail to grab the attention of the children. Some very important aspects that I learned in this section were to not give a backstory about the child and do not set the scene. I also learned to move very quickly so I cannot write slow.

5. Figure out the main problem: the problem is what the character will struggle with for the whole book. The majority of the book should be the obstacles the main character has to overcome. The character should not solve the problem too easily, there should be a series of problems, and the problem should be huge to the child. The order should be as follows: introduce main problem quickly, first obstacle, 2 more obstacles, character gives up, breakthrough, main problem solved.

6. Use repetition: everyone loves repetition. The types of repetition are of word or phrase on a page, of word or phrase across the entire book, of the story structure

7. Write for illustrators: develop the book so an illustrator can bring it to life and make it better.

8. End the story quickly: once the main problem is solved, end the book in one or two more pages. A fun way to end could be referencing something that occurred in the first few pages.

9. Choose your title: have a temporary title to begin, but you most likely won’t know what the title should be until you complete the book and know what it’s truly about. Some key things to follow when choosing a title is to use alliteration, don’t use a descriptive title, use an action title and use mystery.

 

References

Foxx, J.M. (2019). How to write a children’s book in 12 steps (from an editor). Bookfox. https://thejohnfox.com/2019/02/how-to-write-a-childrens-book/