Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi

25 Reasons You May Need Help Writing Your Own Children’s Book

I’ve been a children’s ghostwriter and rewriter (book doctor) for many years.

Now and then, though, I’ll get people who come to me for help but want to write the book themselves.

This is great. I encourage wannabe authors to go for it.

The problem, though, is that when they’re done and give me their draft to edit, I end up having to rewrite the story.

The reason is that they don’t take the time to learn the basics of writing. They have no idea about story structure, plot, themes, memorable characters, basic writing elements, and so on.

So …

I decided to offer children’s writing coaching for those who want to write their own children’s stories but don’t know how, aren’t sure how to go about it, or don’t have the confidence to go it alone and need some hand-holding.

If you think you can just jump in, thinking there’s nothing to it, I’ve created a checklist for you to ponder over.

It’s also a list for wannabe authors who aren’t quite sure whether to go it alone or take the plunge with some help.

Here is the checklist with twenty-five questions that will help you determine if you’re ready and able to write a children’s story on your own:

Do you know how to start a story to grab the reader’s attention?
Do you know about protagonists? How many can you have?
Do you know the differences between the children’s writing genres?
Do you know the word counts for each?
Do you know about conflict? Is it age-appropriate?
Do you know about the story arc?
Do you know about the character arc?
Do you know that the protagonist should resolve the conflict?
Do you know the protagonist should grow in some way?
Do you know how to write dialogue?
Do you know about punctuation?
Do you know about story structure?
Do you know what the takeaway value is?
Do you know your story should have age-appropriate words?
Do you know your story should have age-appropriate topics?
Do you know that even the sentence structure and word count matter?
Do you know how to format your story?
Do you know that with picture books, the illustrations help tell the story?
Do you know how to pace your story, especially if it’s an MG or YA?
Do you know how to move your story forward?
Do you know what subplots are?
Do you know that all loose ends need to be tied up?
Bonus question – Do you know how to write a satisfying ending?
Do you know about revisions and editing?
Do you know what to do once you finish your draft?

There’s also showing versus telling, information dump, and more, but I think twenty-five questions to think about should give you an idea of whether you’ll need help.

A professional children’s writer knows about all these things. She can guide you to a book you’ll be proud to be the author of.

So, what do you think?

Do you need a children’s writing coach?

If you think you need more than guidance, feedback, and hand-holding, you might need a children’s ghostwriter or rewriter.

Just send me an email at: kcioffiventrice@gmail.com.