Top Ten Writing Mistakes Made By New Childrens Writers, Writing : iPedia

Okay. So I'm not David Letterman. But I doubt if he'd know much aboutthe top 10 mistakes made by new children's writers anyway. I, on theother hand, read from 10 to 20 manuscripts for children every week (I'mnot bragging - I'm just an instructor with the Institute of Children'sLiterature). While many of the stories I read are destined for publication,I find that 10 common mistakes crop up again and again in the othermanuscripts I edit each week.

I'll start with number 10 (just like Letterman) and work my way up to thenumber one

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10) No Clear POV Character - Children tend to relate to the POVcharacter in a story. This is the person they will root for. Make it clearright from the start whose story is being told. Even if you have two maincharacters (twins, for example), you need to pick just one of these kids tobe your POV character. And, it should go without saying, when writingfor children, make sure your POV character IS a kid - even if Grandmahas a big part in your story.

9) Multiple Points of View - Unlike stories for adults, stories for childrenare generally told from only one POV. It isn't difficult to maintain a singlepoint of view once you get the hang of it. Just remember - if you are"showing" everything from your main character's point of view, then heor she has to be present for everything that happens. I see stories all thetime where the POV character suddenly leaves the room. Yikes! If yourPOV character wasn't there to see or hear what went on, then we can'tsee or hear it either.

8) Telling instead of Showing - Read a good story and chances arethere is a lot of action and dialogue (showing) with minimal stretches ofstraight narrative (telling). Too much narrative and the story sounds likea summary. Readers don't want a summary. They want scenes withaction and dialogue that make them feel they are actually experiencingwhat is going on. So "show" as much as possible of your story throughaction and dialogue.

Writing may refer to two activities: the inscribing of characters on a medium, with the intention of forming words and other constructs that represent language or record information, and the creation of material to be conveyed through written language. (There are some exceptions; for example, the use of a typewriter to record language is generally called typing, rather than writing.) Writing refers to both activities equally, and both activities may often occur simultaneously.
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6) Dialogue That is Not Punctuated Properly - Get a grammar book tolearn how to punctuate dialogue properly. But, most importantly,remember to change paragraphs each time the speaker changes. I readmanuscripts all the time where three or four characters are speaking, yetthe paragraph never changes. Just imagine how confusing that is to thereader!

5) Long Timeframes - I know Harry Potter takes place over severalyears. But, the story also takes place through several books. Mostchildren's writers start out writing stories for children's magazines orthey want to write picture books for very young children. Either way, thetimeframe in these stories should be rather short - a couple of hours or aday or two. If your story takes place over a couple of weeks or (gulp!) acouple of years, then you need to shorten the timeframe.

4) No Narrative "Hook" for the Reader - I know what you're asking -"What is a narrative hook?" Well, that's simple. It's just an openingsentence or two that "hooks" the reader and makes him or her want tocontinue reading to find out what happens.

3) Dialogue That Doesn't Sound Real - Listen to any child or teenagerand you'll find out that much of what kids and teens say (at least to eachother) tends to sound like a series of grunts. So don't have the child orteen in your story use words like "shall," or never use contractions. If youdo, the dialogue will sound too formal and your work will not have achild's or teen's voice.

2) Adults Who Step In to Save the Day for the Child - I know what you'rethinking. Parents and other well-meaning adults DO step in all the timeto save the day for kids. So why can't they do it in stories for children?The answer to that is - because children don't want to read stories likethat. Stories for children have strong children (or children whoeventually become strong throughout the course of the story) ascharacters. This empowers the children who read these stories. Theyfigure, if the POV character can solve his own problems then maybethey can too.

1) No real conflict - There's no story problem. Your POV character needsto face some big problem right at the start of the story. Then, he or sheneeds to struggle and struggle with this problem as he/she tries to solveit. That is, things need to keep getting worse and worse until finally thePOV character is able to solve the problem (or at least resolve it) andchange or grow somehow in the process. Without a story problem youhave what editors like to call "an incident," and editors don't publishincidents. They publish stories.

So that's my list of top 10 mistakes new children's writers make. Use thisarticle as a checklist when you're writing for children. Avoid thesemistakes and you'll be well on your way to publication.

Suzanne Lieurance is a freelance writer and she teaches children'swriting for the Institute of Children's Literature. Lieurance also owns theThree Angels Gourmet Co. which produces a unique line of "heavenlygourmet mixes" for sale at http://www.threeangelsgourmet.com and throughgift shops, Christian bookstores, gourmet

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Food is any substance, usually comprised primarily of carbohydrates, fats, and/or proteins, that can be consumed by animals (including humans) for nutrition or pleasure. Almost all foods are of plant or animal origin. Many cultures have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices.
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Many people speak about the Information Age as the advent of the Knowledge Age [citation needed] or knowledge society, the information society, and information technologies, and even though information science and computer
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Top Ten Writing Mistakes Made By New Childrens Writers

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