Writing for Children

Last year, I started the ball rolling and set about researching/reading a few children’s books and ended up writing a couple of book reviews and started writing a series of vignettes aimed at young adults (teenagers). However, I recently took a step further and signed up for a Writing for Children correspondence course run by The Academy of Children’s Writers and I am very pleased with the course content and am about to embark on my first assignment, which is headed ‘Recommended Reading’ and involves reading from a choice of four classics – I chose The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – and then writing a 500 word analysis using prescribed headings.

Then, I am to write an original piece of work of 1500 words max, which may be a short story, magazine article, or the opening of an intended novel. The challenge is to write the piece in a style which would be suitable for an eleven year old girl, at the moment in primary school, but shortly to go to the nearby comprehensive. She has difficulty with her reading and dreads those times when she has to stand up and read a page aloud in class. Although this scenario is challenging, I think that having her as a reader in mind will help enable me to stay aware of my reader’s needs and write an appropriate piece.

For more information about the course visit:

http://www.children-writers.co.uk/