The market for getting a children’s book published is very competitive. In order to make your manuscript rise above the rest, you not only need an enticing story and vivid characters, but your prose must be solid and fresh. Write exactly what you mean, but write it differently from everyone else. Sound impossible? It’s not, if you know what to look for.

The following are words which, if used in excess, will cause your writing to lifeless. While these words can’t be eliminated entirely, often they can be replaced with more creative choices. In children’s book writing, every word counts, so let’s see how we can make the most of every one we use.

* Quantifiers

Really, very, all, big, little, many, some and “a lot” are used too often and rarely add much to a sentence. The key with descriptions is to find the precise word or phrase that will paint a picture in your reader’s mind. “Uncle Bill was very tall” does not give the reader any useful information. But if you offer a point of reference, the reader can visualize Uncle Bill’s height: “Uncle Bill was so tall that when Jessie stood on a chair she could barely see his whiskers.” This not only tells the reader exactly how tall Uncle Bill was, but it also mentions another physical element–his whiskers– which makes him more interesting.

Sometimes removing the quantifier will make the sentence more powerful. “Sara stood at the bus stop. She was very cold.” The word very is not necessary and delays the reader from getting to the essence of the sentence, which is that Sara is cold.

*Telling Instead of Showing

“Like”, “as if” and “seemed” can make writing sound passive instead of active. “Tom picked up the puppy, who seemed as if she was afraid.” This is lazy writing, because the author relies on the reader to fill in what “afraid” means. “The puppy was curled up in a corner of the sofa. When Tom picked her up, she let out a soft whimper. He could feel her shaking as he held her close to his chest.” By giving concrete details, the author shows the reader exactly how this puppy acts when she is afraid.

One word many authors rely too heavily upon is “felt”. How a character feels should be clear from the surrounding text and dialogue. If the author has to tell the reader that Max feels happy, then the rest of the text is not working as hard as it should be. Show how Max is happy (perhaps he’s turning cartwheels on his way home from school), and let the reader draw his own conclusions.

Laura Backes is the Publisher of Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Book Writers. Want to learn how to become a successful children’s book author? Come hang with the Fightin’ Bookworms at http://cbiclubhouse.com. Whether is writing picture books, chapter books, young adult novels, finding children’s book publishers — or anything else — you’ll find all the answers at the CBI Clubhouse!

Reference librarian Lisa R. Bartle has created a resource of immeasurable usefulness to children’s book writers—and anyone else who cares about literature for kids.

The Database of Award-Winning Children’s Literature offers over 4,000 records from 50 major children’s book awards across five English-speaking
countries. Looking for a young adult novel set in the 17th century that’s won an award? A pre-school book with a female, African-American protagonist that’s
been honored? No problem—the database makes such searches easy.

Here’s how this site can help writers: If you’re planning to write a story, visit the database and find honored books that have similar settings, age-group
targets, characters, etc. Then, go to your library or bookstore and examine these
award-wining books closely. You’ll get instant insight into not only what
makes a book well-received, but what makes your particulartype of book a winner.

Go to http://www.dawcl.com and check it out.

And for more information about children’s book writing — including our exclusive writing course, the CBI Challenge — visit the CBI Clubhouse at http://cbiclubhouse.com.

In this video, we share 7 things you can start doing right now to improve your chances of success as a children’s writer!
 

Interested in learning how to write a book and send it to children’s book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!

Writing picture book fiction is quite possibly the hardest type of writing there is, and yet editors receive more picture book manuscripts than any other genre. To make your work stand out from the crowd, you need to do more than study how to devise a winning plot and create believable, unique characters. You need to polish your prose until it sparkles. Here’s a video checklist to help with the editing process:

Webmasters & bloggers:  feel free to embed this (or any of our videos) on your page.  Click here for our full selection of embeddable videos.

If this video doesn’t play correctly, you can also view it at MySpace, Metacafe, Blip.tv, Veoh, Sclipo, Viddler, 5Min, Graspr and i2TV

Interested in learning how to write a picture book and send it to children’s book publishers? Come on over to The CBI Clubhouse for audios, videos, insider writing tips and much, much more!

Successful, published children’s book authors tend have four things in common. See if you have what it takes to make it writing children’s books and getting them published.

If you can’t view this for any reason, you can view the video on YouTube, Metacafe, Blip.tv, Veoh, Sclipo, Viddler, Howcast, 5min, Vimeo, Graspr and i2TV

If you enjoyed this video, please spread the word by bookmarking it with social sites like Digg or StumbleUpon using the “Share/Save“ button just below. Also, feel free to embed our videos in your own blog or website!

NEW! Click Here to Share this Video as a Tweet on Twitter!

From picture books to young adult novels, there are certain rules newer children’s book authors should never break. Here they are!

Enjoy!

If you can’t view this for any reason, you can view the video on YouTube, MySpace, Metacafe, Blip.tv, Veoh, Sclipo, Viddler, Howcast, Graspr and i2TV

If you enjoyed this video, please spread the word by bookmarking it with social sites like Digg or StumbleUpon using the “Share/Save“ button just below.  Also, feel free to embed our videos in your own blog or website!

NEW!  Click Here to Share this Video as a Tweet on Twitter!

As a writer, you’re expected to know enough about your subject to write authoritatively about it. That’s fine if you’ve spent your life as a firefighter and your story is set in a firehouse. But what if you’re writing a story in which the main character dreams of being an Olympic diver, and you don’t even know how to swim?

That’s the sort of pickle writers find themselves in all the time. There’s a setting, an occupation, a hobby that just feels right for your character, but the writer is utterly ignorant about the details and inner workings that would bring such an element to life.

That’s why eHow.com is such a cool site. Their slogan is Clear Instructions on How To Do (just about) Everything and it’s a fair boast. Pay them a visit and you’ll know how to do a Forward One-and-a-Half Flip From a Springboard in a matter of minutes!

http://eHow.com

For writing tips and more information about writing for children, visit The CBI Clubhouse – Home of the Fightin’ Bookworms!

Picture books aren’t read, they’re performed.

The very act of reading a story out loud to a child forces the reader to add inflection, dramatic pauses, and even ad-lib some commentary. Where the pages are turned can add (or detract) as much from the experience as the quality of the story itself.

Picture books are almost always 32 pages long. There is no mysterious artistic reason for this; it’s simply how the printing presses work. If the book is longer, it will go up in 8-page increments, but most publishers don’t risk this added expense on new authors. The 32 pages includes the endpages (the white or decorated pages at the beginning and end of the book), the title page, and the copyright/dedication page. So the author has an average of 26 pages to tell the story. In general, the first page of text is a righthand page, and the last page of text is on the left.

Read more

When we write fiction, we see the story in our mind long before it’s down on paper. We know why our characters are acting the way they do because we are familiar with their past and in control of their future. We understand the significance of every event in the plot. But sometimes we forget to tell our readers.

Successful fiction is dependent on a logical progression of cause and effect. In real life nothing happens in a vacuum; feelings are a response to an event, action is followed by reaction. The same is true in fiction. Three areas where cause and effect are most important are in the presentation of the main character, the structure of the plot, and the story’s resolution. Read more

Picture books aren’t read, they’re performed. The very act of reading a story out loud to a child forces the reader to add inflection, dramatic pauses, and even ad-lib some commentary. Where the pages are turned can add (or detract) as much from the experience as the quality of the story itself.

Picture books are almost always 32 pages long. There is no mysterious artistic reason for this; it’s simply how the printing presses work. If the book is longer, it will go up in 8-page increments, but most publishers don’t care to spend this added cost on new authors. The 32 pages includes the endpages (the white or decorated pages at the beginning and end of the book), the title page, and the copyright/dedication page. So the author has an average of 26 pages to tell the story. In general, the first page of text is a righthand page, and the last page of text is on the left. Once you’ve written your story, it’s useful to break the text into 26 sections, type each section on a separate piece of paper, and staple those pages together like a book. Now read your story as you turn the pages. Does each spread (two facing pages) encompass a different scene from those before and after? Are your characters doing something the illustrator can draw? Finally, is there a reason your r! eaders will want to turn the page to see what comes next?

Talented picture book writers consider pacing when they’re revising their texts. Here are four page-turning methods that work: Read more