Five Things to Remember When Writing for Children

chillibreeze writer — Parvathi Ramkumar

Writing for kids - Resources and articles

Children are fascinated by the realm of the imagination – of the mighty worlds they can create in their minds, the ‘friends’ that often have interesting and sometimes magical powers, of the mystery and joy of innocent life yet untouched by any bleakness. A story imbued with a sprinkling of vibrant color and a dash of glittering magic can captivate a child’s attention as easily as that luscious cake baking in the oven.

Writing for children involves a lot of tender care. A young mind is as fresh as a sapling in spring, ready to be nurtured and guided. Narration in any children’s fiction is a guide that can steer them towards the positivity of life. Writing for adults, an author could let thoughts and words flow free. An adult may not be affected by mention of a doppelganger, for instance. But the same concept, unless handled very carefully in a children’s book, could frighten them into imagining any moving shadow as a projection of themselves.

1. Choice of Story is pivotal. Children tend to favor those that allow them to visualize the story in their mind’s eye, where they can forget the present and discover a whole new domain of dreams. Here, the concept of weaving ‘social issues’ into the fabric of the text must blend seamlessly into the story. Otherwise, a smooth narrative can be obscured by ideas and ideals that are there…and it would seem that they are there just for the sake of being there. A child’s mind can pick these out easily. For example, there may be thoughts of social inequality in the Harry Potter series, hence the word ‘Muggles’, but such implications, and the wrongness of them, are directed at the child’s subconscious, where he learns to differentiate, albeit subtly.

2. Characterization plays a key role in capturing the child reader’s attention. For younger readers, hardcore and dark subjects could be treated with humor and animal personifications as in done in the Jataka Tales, or the Panchatantra, both of which tailor the essence of life into small, well thought out tales laced with humor. By no means is this diluting the gravity of the content presented. On the contrary, it allows for a young mind to fully grasp the situations of the world he lives in. Magic and fantasy are imaginative, but more importantly, they’re fun to read, and a well thought out wizard in a pointed hat with spell craft on his fingertips could engage a child in hours of reading pleasure. Multilayered characters, subtly drawn so as to appear consistent, are important in any fiction. What qualities these characters have and what they do within the story – world could differ in a children’s book, than, say, a techno-thriller for the adult audience. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton could well confuse as well as frighten a child, but the Dragonriders of Pern could enthrall and captivate.

3. Tone of Narration is an important aspect of overall storytelling. But, some writers are wont to preach – these are children one is writing for, after all, and children need to be told what to do. Nevertheless, to be told what to do sometimes carries with it an element of preachy morality; and a preaching tone in a book for children could cause a lot of resentment. It is not hard to understand – who would like a complete stranger to barge in and lecture one on what is right and what is not? A book is a sacred object, and children who read remember this. Therefore, to have a sermon in place of a story serves no purpose – the narration must talk to its reader, the child wanting to dream, and live the book’s story as his own. To talk down to such an eager reader surely destroys the purpose. The bantering, lively tone of The Hobbit, for instance, would allow its reader to experience the joy of the tale, gently drawing him into a fantasy world that he can explore.

4. Morality, and the division of black and white, could be a potent force. A child’s perceptions are as yet limited. To clearly demarcate what is right and wrong in the story is absolutely essential, and yet if the hero is presented as a sanctimonious zealot with his need to be good bordering on idiocy, the child’s mind would automatically divert to the antihero – who might just turn out to be a more interesting character. The element of what is good and the hero’s perception of it must be subtle – it must flow with his dialogue, and seem natural in his actions. Every Eragon may find his way through a chaotic world – it is how he does it, and what he learns with it, that make Christopher Paolini’s series eminently readable. Morality is a sensitive issue, and if a young reader feels that a villain has a lot more fun that the hero, all purpose is lost. And, of course, nobody in real life is completely good or completely bad, there are elements of both in every individual. However, tales of redemption and tragedy need to keep their target age group in mind – older children tend to understand such things better.

5. Short and Crisp prose will appeal more to a target audience with a limited attention span. Verbosity in children’s fiction needs to be kept to the minimum. Throwing huge words at a child to improve his vocabulary will only make the child want to stamp his feet and fling the book away, besides, huge words tend to stick out like a sore thumb. To weave a difficult word once in a while into the main narrative could serve the purpose better, for if sentence structure and phrasing is lucid, a difficult word would blend with the text, but it would still pique the reader’s curiosity – enough to reach for a dictionary.

Writing for children is a delightful experience that encourages the author to delve deeper into his own child – heart to tell a tale to another tale. It is the process of rediscovering the innocence and joy of being a child, to make the world a brighter place for other children.

Children’s fiction is about guiding a malleable mind through the labyrinth of life, and bringing that mind out safe, happy, and hopefully, wiser in the ways of the world.

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in January, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Parvathi Ramkumar has a Masters in English Literature, and is currently pursuing French at the Alliance Francaise. She is interested in creative writing and writes poetry, children’s fiction and general fiction, with an inclination towards fantasy, and her articles and poems have been published. She is a freelance writer based in Bangalore.

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