Wednesday, March 4, 2020

9 Things I Learned From Rewriting My First Childrens Books Series

9 Things I Learned From Rewriting My First Childrens Books Series 9 Things I Learned From Rewriting My First Children's Book Series As a primary school teacher, Heather B. Moon always knew she eventually wanted to write books for children. She also felt that she had a leg up in terms of knowing her market. In this article, she discusses what she learned from rewriting her first series of children's books with the help of a professional developmental editor.   Lessons learned? You can see how I made changes that addressed the problems that we talked about earlier:Introducing secondary characters: I brought other characters into the story in a more entertaining way. But more importantly, I have introduced them through Lottie’s eyes! She is still the main focus of the story, and the people around her have been woven into the action instead of taking the main stage.Show, don’t tell: I must admit it took me a while to get the hang of this - but once I did, my brain fizzed and frothed with ideas. See what I did there? Don’t say: â€Å"I thought of an idea† - that is boring adult speech. If your character is feeling frightened, write something like: â€Å"I felt a giant chunk of ice plop into my tummy.† This is much more appealing to a child and gets the feeling across that the character is scared.Make current, relatable references: Kids might not know what a DVD is - but I’ll bet they can all identify with hoping for WiFi to continue their interrupted iPad games!The young readers I have shared Lottie’s story with have responded well - and a lot of it is thanks to the changes that Rachel and I made to my dialogue and prose. 9 tips for writing books that children will want to read again and again. That’s the best tip I have for other writers looking to publish children’s books: understand how your little readers see the world and talk to them on their level. It might not be as easy as 1-2-3, but with supportive people in your corner, you’ll be on your way to sparking the imaginations of a new generation of readers.Please share your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Heather B. Moon  in the comments below!Lottie Saves the Dolphins is available on Amazon and on Amazon Kindle!

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