Are you thinking about writing a best-selling children’s book? If the answer is yes, then you are here at the right place. While you could probably just sit down and start putting your content together, like any good best-selling book, there are loads of steps you should know about.
For instance, you should know about things like understanding your target market – you might as well know about how to find a children’s book illustrator and the writing style you should use.
Here is the list of easy tips that will help you write a book for children.
Decide on the Age Range
Before you start writing a children’s book, you must clearly understand the age range in which your book falls.
The thing is that if you decide to publish it on Amazon, Amazon is going to make you select the age range – so before you start writing your book, the quickest thing you can do is to look at the potential age ranges and only start writing after you have selected one.
You might as well look at other books that fall in your selected age range so you can look at the words they use (for that age range), the sentence structure, and the style, and then you might want to find the right fit for you.
The key is that writing your children’s book perfectly fits that age range regarding the grammatical structure, storyline, and other components.
You get the point – the first step is to choose your age range, research the books that fall in that age range, and ensure that your writing style fits it.
Select a Writing Style
Depending on the age group that you chose for your potential book, you might want to choose a writing style and stick to it throughout your book. Some of the writing styles that you can choose from including the following:
- Present tense
- Past tense
- First-person
- Rhyming
- Third person
Rhyming Writing Style
If you are looking for a way to make your book catchier and shorter, then you might want to choose a rhyming writing style. Books that rhyme are perfect for younger ages as rhyming can simplify your story and make it more catchy and short.
Past & Present Writing Style
On the other hand, children’s books that are written in the past or present styles are excellent for keeping kids actively engaged in the storyline by allowing them to experience things as they happen rather than being removed from something that occurred in the past.
However, if you choose to tell a story that is based on true events – you might want to use the past tense because it is a finite event.
First & Third Person Writing Style
The writing style of first person and third person is great when you are trying to have the kids relate directly to the main character, which is ideally the central focus on every page.
When selecting your writing styles, you don’t have to worry about picking the right or wrong approach because there isn’t one – it is simply a question of style, and once you have decided upon your style – just make sure to stick with it throughout the entire book.
So, when selecting your writing style, it is not really about making the correct choice – it is all about ensuring that you thoroughly understand your decision and how it impacts your readers and then sticking to the writing style throughout your book.
Integrate Crucial Children’s Book Elements
You might think about this like icing on the cake – this is about taking those extra steps to make your book even better, and a lot of that comes from the general understanding of what children from your selected age group are really attracted to and how you can incorporate those elements.
There are several elements that we are talking about, such as:
Creating Epic Characters
The thing about children’s books is that the best type of characters have strong personalities – they make bold moves and go after their dreams. These characters beat all odds and achieve what they want – children tend to fall in love with these characters and aspire to be them.
An Excellent Hook
Another crucial element that you must integrate into your book is the inclusion of suspenseful action or an excellent hook. While it is common for most other genres to start their plot with a shocking event, doing this for a children’s book is a highly effective way to draw in the younger readers from the very start.
Also, you must make sure to include consistent action – from the very start to the very end of the book, so your younger readers keep reading the book until the very end.
Incorporate Dialogue
Depending on your target audience, your dialogue should match that. For instance, for the younger ages (2-4), you might want to write in simplified words as it is more important for them to remain engaged and be able to relate to the book.
Consistent Storyline
You must ensure that your storyline is not only consistent but should also make sense to the readers. While throwing in a few obstacles is good for the storyline, the purpose should be to get the story going.
It is important to mention here that younger children like happy endings, which is that you must incorporate a solution to the given problem(s) in the book by the end of the story.
Hire an Illustrator
The illustrator is one of the most important aspects of your children’s book – this is mainly because an illustrator can turn your story and ideas into reality. Believe us when we tell you that great artwork can take an okay story and take it to the next level.
So, when looking for your illustrator, make sure to find the right one. More importantly, you will have to choose the style you want for your book and then hire the right illustrator who can draw the kind of art you want for your book.