Whatever gets fingers to keyboard!

I intend to get back into writing over the next 12 months too.  I had a couple of bits picked up by McSweenys a few years back and very solid interest from 2 agents who liked my 3 chapter proposals.  Problem here was that I wrote these without then thinking I'd really have to follow them up with an actual fucking book.  That fizzled out through my business suddenly growing too rapidly and simple laziness.

Has anyone here had a go at writing a children's story?

Well...it's intended to be targeted at a youngish age bracket, but as I write I can't help but think that I'm nudging up that bracket.  With the type of story I have I want to target maybe five to eight, but the way the story is unfolding it's going to be over one hundred pages, which feels too long for that age group.

To be honest with you I have no idea.  It's been ten years since I put pen to paper and back then it was film screenplays.  Right now it's pen and paper, second draft will be typed.  Length is a real concern, though.  I mean it's taken ten pages for the actual adventure to kick off.

Raiziel wrote:

Has anyone here had a go at writing a children's story?

Yep (see page 7) though only short form and given that was my first "official" attempt I obviously don't really know any more than you.

Still, here's some observations based on watching my kids as they grew up.

The one thing I'd say about writing for children is to avoid the trap of writing for children.  Whilst you obviously have to take some things into account for your audience (no sex or swearing unless you're going for the teen market, no 600 page epics for pre-schoolers etc), writing something you think "a child would like" is likely to go horribly wrong.  If only because children like to think they're reading something an adult would read - and because they're damn good at spotting bullshit and patronisation (their alarms would probably be going off right now - sorry).

(There's also the point that most stories for children, if they are to succeed, need to make it past the parents too.)

The other observation I'd make about kids stories is that they, more than any other, have to work when read out loud.  I'd say it's a good test for any writing, but doubly so with children's books where, particularly with the age range you're talking about, someone is very likely to be reading it out loud.

As for length.  Well, yeah, you can get away with a long story if it's sufficiently episodic.  But I'd argue that every chapter needs to be pretty much a self contained story in its own right at that age.  (Look at Paddington, Winnie-the-Pooh, Pippi Longstocking etc etc.  All books in their own right, but you can also pick a random chapter as a bed time story.)  Older children can obviously manage longer stories, but at age 5-8 episodic is the way to go I'd say.  (Yours might be a perfectly good tale for older kids too though.)

Finally, as well as getting some adults to read it for you, test it on actual kids.  They'll quickly let you know if it's not working for them.  (And don't do what I did and exclusively ask family and friends to read your magnum opus - they will tell you it's great because they love you.  Ask someone with no vested interest in being nice)

Great advice, Tin.

Writing a story that's come to you unbidden is, in my very humble opinion, always the best way if possible.  Like you say, get it down, then have a look at what you've got.

The main thing is, you're writing it.

Oh, and thanks to both you and Davy for the kind words.  It's about time I started getting some more stuff down myself...

I thought Armada was crap too. I quite enjoyed Ready Player One, felt like he bashed out Armada pronto to capitalise on his current hotness.

Raz, feel free to share if you want some feedback! Would suggest finishing the whole thing first though.

Good. First drafts aren't usually worth sharing unless you're a savant like Tempy.

The bastard.

tigerswiftly wrote:

Good. First drafts aren't usually worth sharing unless you're a savant like Tempy.

The bastard.

they call me the first draft master. can't finish shit though.

I'm in a slightly different position in that I already have an agent as a screenwriter at the same agency. It's a big agency that also has literary agents. I've been badgering my agent to connect me with one of the literary agent for months. She eventually did and I sent the chapters to her. In hindsight I think it was a bit of a bum steer from my own agent as she never said anything like "make sure you have the whole book and not just a few chapters...". I probably should have known that myself but already being in the agency I was just desperate to take advantage of the fact I could bypass the sludge pile.

So after the literary agent liked the chapters and requested the rest I apologised and said I still had a bit of work to do and that I'd get the rest over as soon as possible. She didn't respond to that for weeks so I was already thinking I'd fucked it but then just last week she asked how I was getting on. I said I was still working on it but due to other writing commitments I'd need at least another few months. She came back saying no problem and no rush. So I was really relieved.

I now have a bit of daylight from Feb onwards so I'm really hoping I can put my head down and focus on getting the draft done. I'm sick to the back teeth of the screenwriting world so I'm really hoping I don't fuck it up.

Yeah, good luck, Scout!

What's the novel about? Space wizards?