Guest Article: Creating Ideas for Children’s Books, by Robyn Opie
Creating Ideas for Children’s Books
by Robyn Opie
Ideas are everywhere. All of the time. It’s our job, as authors writing for children, to find some ideas and turn them into entertaining stories.
The most common sources of inspiration include: our experiences and personalities, children, family, pets, friends, conversations, television, newspapers, books etc.
I’ve never had any trouble finding ideas for children’s stories. My problem is finding time to write all of the stories.
I believe that the reason I come up with so many ideas for children’s books is simple; I’m looking or them. I want them. I need them. I’m actively seeking them. I’m open to the possibilities. I’m thinking and behaving as a writer.
During conversations with friends, I sometimes find myself saying, “I like that. I might use it in a children’s story one day.” When I see something that appeals to me I often wonder how I can turn it into a children’s story.
I look at ordinary things and ask questions. Sometimes my questions become a little bizarre. I often look for the funny side of situations or objects.
There have been times when I’ve chosen a popular subject, such as dinosaurs, then asked myself for a story on that subject. And other occasions when I’ve taken an old idea and given it a new and different life.
The simplest way to explain what I mean by the above statements is to share my personal experience with writing for children. The following are the ideas behind some of my stories:
But first . . . I’m sitting in my study, writing this article. I look around the room and see the fireplace. What if the fireplace was a door to another place or world? What if I heard noises coming from the fireplace? And, when I investigate, I find Santa Claus trapped in my chimney. There are ideas everywhere. Just look for them – and ask questions.
My easy reader Sam’s Dinosaur Bone originated from word association. I wanted to write a story about dinosaurs. My experience with dinosaurs was limited to museums. Mmmm . . . dinosaurs, museums, a child going on an excursion to a museum, being told that dinosaur fossils are found in the ground. Are there dinosaur fossils in his backyard?
I recently took an old idea, which I love, Henny Penny’s The Sky Is Falling, and made it my own in my easy reader Down the Well. The hen hears a noise coming from the well. She yells down the well and a voice yells back. Someone must have fallen down the well!
I remember times, as a child, when I wanted to play with someone but no one was available. My friends and family were doing chores, playing sport, visiting friends, on holidays etc. My easy reader Will You Play? was inspired by this memory. The farm animals are too busy to play with the dog. Will he find someone to play with?
Do you have fears? I do. My novel Backstage Betrayal deals with my fear of being locked in a public toilet. (I won’t say any more as it’s rather embarrassing.)
I have a definite dislike of spiders. I don’t fear them. I don’t hate them. I just prefer to not be in the same vicinity as a spider. This preference inspired my easy reader Jo and the Spider. Jo sees a spider in her bedroom. When she returns with her dad, the spider is gone. Where is it?
One night I went to the cupboard for a snack and saw a jar of honey. I wondered what it would be like to be honey – sticky, moist, gooey, sloppy, warm, sweet etc. But there was one big problem: you’d get eaten. From those thoughts came my book Mrs Twitch and the Small Black Box. Jess uses Mrs Twitch’s invention, the small black box, to become honey. She’s in danger of being eaten by her father.
A publisher asked me to write a number of non-fiction books for children. I sat at the kitchen table, wondering what subjects I could tackle, when I thought about milk. Then I decided that milk was too boring. It had been done to death etc. Green milk would be interesting, though. But wouldn’t green milk be Martian milk? This idea was the beginning of my novel Martian Milk. Paul doesn’t want to try Martian Milk because he’s afraid it will turn him into a Martian.
The Mad Mower came from my desire to have a twin to do all the boring things in life like housework, paying bills and walking my dogs, while I did all the fun things like going out with friends, watching football and reading. Tony creates a computer double and asks him to do various chores. Ah, if only life was that easy . . .
Have you ever had trouble sleeping and wished that you had someone to pass the time with, but everyone is asleep? In my easy-reader Chick Catches Dinner, the little chick can’t sleep and goes searching for company. She finds Hoot, a little owl, and has a fun but tiring night.
I was reading a children’s book one afternoon. The child in the story had a teddy bear. After reading the words teddy bear, I thought to myself that I’d like to write a story about a teddy bear. My next story was called Old Teddy and was followed by Teddy’s Sticky Mess.
I was watching the television news one evening and saw a story on a seagull problem in a nearby town. The greedy seagulls had become a nuisance to residents and tourists. My story The Greedy Seagulls is nearing completion.
So, you see, ideas are all around us. It’s your job as an author writing for children to interpret the information you see around you and turn it into your own creation!
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
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Guest Article: Begin With a Bang! by Robyn Opie
Begin with a Bang!
by Robyn Opie
It is a fact of life that publishers will only read one or two pages of your manuscript. They receive far too many submissions to give each one their undivided attention from beginning to end. And, sadly, some of these submissions don’t deserve more than a minute or two of an editor’s time.
As a reader, I have given up on books that haven’t grabbed me in the first chapter. Children, I’m sure, are less patient than I am.
Therefore it is vital for a writer to grab the reader in the first page or two, especially when writing for children. We can even narrow this done to the first sentence or paragraph. Your beginning should intrigue the reader and inspire him/her to read further.
Dialogue and action are a great way to start a novel. Imagine the beginning of your children’s book as dropping your readers into the middle of things, when everything is starting to change or get interesting. Using dialogue or action to plant questions in your readers’ minds will hopefully make them want to read on.
Of course, sometimes it’s necessary to set the scene. Background information about the character, their family, home, friends etc – that is essential to the plot – should be interspersed in such a way that it never slows the story down. Certainly it should never fill the first few pages of your manuscript at the expense of the story.
Let’s look at some examples from my own children’s books:
Beginning with dialogue –
(From my easy reader Chick Catches Dinner)
“I can’t sleep,” said the chick. “I’m not tired.”
In the above example, I’ve introduced the main character and her problem.
A few lines later:
“I wonder if anyone else is awake,” said the chick. She went for a walk.
Thus begins chick’s night-time adventure.
Beginning with action –
(From my junior novel The Mad Mower)
Tony felt nervous, as though his stomach was a food processor mixing a chocolate cake.
In the above example, I want the reader to wonder why Tony is feeling nervous. What is so important to him? And who is Tony anyway?
A few lines later:
Now he was ready to test his computer programme. If it worked it would be unbelievable. It would change his life forever.
The above paragraph is meant to keep the reader turning the pages. What computer programme? Why would it be unbelievable and change his life forever?
Beginning with action and dialogue –
(From my easy reader Down the Well)
The hen heard a splash in the well, so she went to have a look.
“Hello,” yelled the hen.
“Hello,” yelled a voice.
Again, in the above example, I want the reader to keep turning those pages to find out the answers to a few questions. Has someone fallen down the well? Is the voice simply the hen’s echo?
Beginning with setting –
(From my junior novel Martian Milk)
The carpark at Shopper’s Dream was busy. It was Thursday, the day when shoppers from Planet Nub and Planet Teg came to visit, looking for bargains. Paul’s mother, Mrs Taylor, flew the space-car around and around, looking for a place to park.
In the above example, I’m setting the scene of a futuristic Earth. The idea is still to keep the reader turning those pages.
By now, you should be seeing a pattern with beginnings. They are all about hooking the reader and making them want to read more until they have all the answers.
The conflict should be evident as soon as possible, preferably within the first few paragraphs of your children’s book. Your reader needs to know who the story is about (main character) and why there is a story (the main character’s problem/conflict) as early in the novel as possible. You want your readers identifying with the character and their problem before they have a chance to lose interest. This is even more important when writing for children. Children have shorter attention spans and a lot of distractions around them, such as TV, computer games and sport.
Writers often start their story at a point then later, in the rewriting/ editing process, change the beginning. It can take numerous attempts to get the beginning right. Whole opening chapters can sometimes be discarded to improve a story. I’ve done this myself.
It isn’t enough to captivate the publisher or reader with a brilliant beginning. You need to keep the standard. The middle and ending of your children’s book should be equally as satisfying. However, it is the beginning of your novel that will keep the publisher reading or make them move onto the next submission.
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
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