If you find yourself stuck for ideas, or unable to think what to write next, don’t sit and stare at your computer or your notebook, go for a walk. You’ll be amazed at what pops into your head. I alkso find I am so much more productive after I’ve walked the dogs.
As well as being an excellent tip, this is an ideal opportunity to post a slideshow of my gorgeous dogs.
I am sure I am not the only one who has got to a point in my writing and lost confidence in what I am doing. I often get about half way through and realise there is still so much to do and the end is still unclear and a muddle in my mind. Then I think what I’ve done so far is all utter rubbish and is only fit for the bin.
Maybe your manuscript is also full of gaps and glitches and your desk is like mine and covered with strange notes and ramblings that have lost all meaning because you – like me – are overwhelmed. Is the dreaded question storming through your head too?
It is easy to lose faith and wonder whether it is actually worth the effort. The hard part is remembering this is NORMAL. It is how you know you are a real writer. We all get tired and disheartened. The trick is to take a deep breath and carry on.
Don’t think about it! Go on Try it!
Poetry should be ageless but, should have a target audience in mind. Your voice has to appeal to the child of today.
Poems for children can be divided into three age ranges: 5+, 9+ and YA.
The Poetry Society is an excellent resource for poets: www.poetrysociety.org.uk
If you want to target you poetry in an event remember National Poetry Day is the 4th October.
There are often opportunities for aspiring poets for children in anthologies and you can see your name alongside big names such as:
If want to write poetry for children go to local bookshop and browse their most recently published anthologies. See who published them. Write to them and say interested in submitting to the next anthology and could they put you on their list. Include a selection of poems as example of your style and voice. Try and include a poem that would have been appropriate for their latest anthology as a similar theme.
Poems can be timeless and you are often able to re-use them. My poem The Fairground is in the Teaching ICT with Story and has previously been featured in a teacher resource called ‘Here comes the Fair’ published by Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust, in conjunction with the University of Manchester and Manchester City council and is now part of an anthology of poems for speech and drama teachers, Poetry for Performance published by The Playing Space.
Series books are often written under pseudonyms by a variety of authors, such as:
Fiction packagers come up with the ideas in-house and they will write a detailed outline saying what needs to go in every chapter. They then have a selection of authors on their list who they will ask to write the first three chapters. They often ask more than one author and choose the one they like best.
Their favourite chapters are presented to publishers and if the publisher likes them, they will commission the writer to write the proposed book in the series or maybe four of the desired books. They will then go through the same process again for the next idea for a story in the series. So each book is written by a different author.
The plot of any story can be set out as follows:
Beginning – meet the main character and introduce the problem
Middle – focus on the problem, which gets worse through the inciting incident – introduce a focus of resistance such as suspense / surprise / tension
End – resolve the problem, whichever way, then get out as quickly as possible.
Aristotle said the most important thing in any story is the sequence of events. Each event has a cause and effect, and each is connected in the plot. There are six stages of plot development:
Conflict is a storyteller’s best friend. The stronger the problem, the stronger the story.
A story for children should open with conflict.
Don’t be nice to your character! Create obstacles to their goal. The story is more exciting that way, the character learns more, and the reward is more valuable since the character worked so hard for it.
Conflicting Characters
The most popular, since conflicts between people are the most interesting to readers.
Cinderella and her wicked stepmother
Inner Conflict
Conflict between good and evil or strengths and weaknesses in a character. This is deep stuff and not usually the main conflict. The Grinch is evil and hates Christmas, but he is not evil at heart, he is like that because someone hurt him. The Grinch feels inner conflict over the good and evil inside of him.
The Grinch
Fight Against Nature
Usually involves natural disasters or survival skills. This conflict is exciting, but often difficult to write about at length.
You can combine different types of conflict. Maybe your characters struggle to survive and fight among themselves, such as in Lord of the Flies.
Add more conflicts and obstacles if your story seems slow or not ‘big’ enough.
Before you write, know how the problem will be solved. Don’t write yourself into a hole! Most importantly your main character must solve the problem. Don’t have someone (or something) enter at the last minute and save the day.
When I saw this it made me laugh. It highlights how different characters can see things from different points of view. These two frames get the creative juices flowing for a whole host of stories. How did the characters get there? what’s going to happen now? Generally though a story should be told through the eyes of a single character, usually the main character.
I have found this myself when reading a novel, sudden shifts in the story’s point of view can jolt and disorient me, as the reader, out of the story. As a rule to keep it consistent, I tend to narrate only what my chosen character would know and nothing they wouldn’t. For example, other people’s thoughts, or something out of sight. although some stories work excellently with two point of views. For example, Philip Pullman’s, The Subtle Knife is one of my all-time favourite books and is told from the viewpoint of Lyra and Will. So like Philip Pullman, if you do need to switch to a different point of view, set up a separate section or chapter for it.
Written in third person, The Subtle Knife, immerses the reader in both characters’ voices in alternate chapters. The narrator’s voice is kept well out of the picture. This again should be a general rule when writing novels, unless you are writing fairy tales and folktales, which opens up for a whole new post.
Now I’ve got your attention, the first port of call is to build the protagonist (your main character).
The important traits of your protagonist should be:
Your main character should be someone the reader can identify and/or sympathise with. They should be near the top age of your intended readers. One exception to this is in folktales. You should identify your characters with one or more telling details—a physical trait, a mannerism, a favourite phrase but a complete description is not really required.
Then, think about your secondary characters, which includes the main character’s friends and enemies.
Protagonist: Main character with flaws
Antagonist: Block the main character from reaching goals. (The Green Goblin in Spider-Man)
Allies: Assist the main character in reaching goals. (Robin in Batman)
Mentors: Wise characters that help the main character. (Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars)
Jokers: Lighten things up! Often the main character’s best friend is a joker. (Donkey in Shrek)
You can combine different types of characters to make them stronger.
A funny villain like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers:
A mentor, like Hagrid from Harry Potter, who is also a joker:
A villain that becomes an ally and helps the main character solve the real problem such as Sloop from Spy Kids:
Strong secondary characters are important in all stories for all age ranges so it is worth spending time on creating them.
There is a large market for non-fiction reference books based on topics taught in school. I recently ran a workshop all about writing for educational publishers. Today I thought I would share some tips.
Writing for Educational Publishers workshop. Photo taken by Addy Farmer
I think one of the main points is that educational publishers prefer to come up with their own ideas in-house or work through book packagers. I work a lot to commission. My book, Explaining Diabetes, which was published by Franklin Watts but, was commissioned by the book packager Bender, Richardson and White. It was one book in a series of books about illnesses and conditions.
When approaching publishers with unsolicited non-fiction it is better not to have a finished book. A one-page outline giving a brief breakdown of the chapters, target audience and potential market is generally what is required.
I suggest you market research the publishers you want to submit to as well. Check they publish books for the age range you want to write. There are different publishers for primary than secondary aged children. You can find out which publishers print what by checking out The Writers and Artists Yearbook.
It is wise to look at what books are out there and analyse them to see how each book is divided and what sort of things are included on each spread. Look for patterns as an indication of style and what might have been in the brief the author was given. Then try and use this as a template to plan your own book that would fit the series.
Why not try it for yourself. If you are successful please let me know.
These are my words of wisdom for today. I often feel disheartened with my writing and some days it is hard work just to keep myself sat at the computer. It’s not easy to get published but perseverance does pay off. Over the years this has become increasingly apparent and over 85 books later I am still persevering. This became dramatically evident when I was running a SCBWI-BI workshop last weekend for the Central North network on Writing for Educational Publishers.
I took a selection of books with me for the attendees to look at and analyse the different series and write their own book proposals. It dawned on me whilst I was teaching, not a lot of people could use their own books to do this as they have not written enough series for each group to go through. It was a proud moment.
Writing for Educational Publishers workshop. Photo taken by Addy Farmer
There is a quote that springs to mind. I do not know who originally said this:
“Writing is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”
And it is not just me. Other authors are still getting deal and books are still selling. During difficult times people turn to escapism through books and movies, so the market is out there.
I know it’s difficult to keep going, especially if your aim is to write the next bestseller. Remember only a tiny majority of writers find fame and fortune but most make a slow steady income by doing what they love. So take small steps to move your self forward a centimetre at a time.
I’m definitely not saying set your sights lower – what I am saying is don’t let your nagging doubts stop you. All writers feel like this at some point in their careers. Don’t let other distractions get in the way of you reaching your goals. Only you can write your story so…
Much To Do About Writing 