Writing fiction for children

Aims

This course aims to:

• introduce the range of fiction in different formats published for children 
  of different ages 
• consider story, and how to create compelling characters and plots 
• learn techniques for writing a story that comes to life vividly 

Course content

You will think about what a story is, and why children need stories. You will consider the privilege and responsibility of writing for young people, and the topics where particular care may be needed, as well as the opportunities for fun. From the apparent simplicity of picture books to long complex novels for young adults, and the early reader and middle grade chapter books in between, we’ll consider the different stories and treatments across the range. Where can we find story ideas? How can our own childhood experiences give emotional power to our stories? How can we best shape those story ideas through plot structures which pace and focus the story to best dramatic effect? You’ll play with ways to create convincing characters that readers will relate to and care about, however fantastical they are on the outside. We will think about story point of view and the storytelling voice. Would first person or third person narrative work best for our story? How can we perform dialogue between characters to best story effect? What about using literary devices such as diary form or text messaging? And how can we write a picture book text which will share the job of conveying story with illustrations? When should we let pictures do the work whilst text stays silent? How might pictures and text contradict to comic or dramatic effect? We will think about how best to approach the task of getting a story published; ways to approach agents and publishers, the opportunities to be found in less obvious places, and the likely outcomes from those approaches. And we will also consider how best to continue developing your writing for children skills beyond the end of this course.

What to expect on this course

The course will mix short lectures from the Course Director with discussions and with short writing exercises. A daily (non-compulsory) writing task will be set that can be worked on in your own time, and we will then workshop what you have written in a session the next day, developing your work further. Questions and ideas expressed during the sessions are welcomed.

Course sessions

1. Why write for children? What kinds of books are written for different ages and stages of childhood? Considering different book formats. Who do we, personally, want to write for, and in what book form? 
2. What is a story? Which stories did we love as children, and why? We’ll look at where to find story ideas from our own experiences and observations, how to apply imagination to those ideas, and shape them into stories. Task: writing a simple very short story for young children. 
3. Workshopping the stories we’ve written, and developing them further, perhaps using traditional stories as a template. 
4. Considering the importance of character powering their story into life. How to find and create compelling characters. Thinking about ‘baddies’ and motivation and portraying telling details to bring characters to life. Task: to create and convey a character within a sentence. 
5. Workshopping the characters created in the previous task, and beginning to think about the shape of their story. 
6. Considering plot; how to create and control it. How to think up clever plot ideas, then let imagination work with logic to shape a satisfying beginning-middle-end story shape. What those three key elements within a story need to achieve. Setting that plot in a distinct time and place. The role of fantasy. Task: to create a basic plot outline. 
7. Workshopping plot ideas and developing them further to create strong potential stories to work on. 
8. Thinking about the voice we use, and the techniques, for bringing a story to imaginative life through writing. The careful use of few words to be read out loud for a picture book text. To use rhyme or not? The need to paint pictures and animate characters through words alone in novels. The restrictions when writing texts for beginner readers. How to milk your drama! When to stay quiet and let reader imagination fill a gap. Task: to write a story opening, using different points of view. 
9. Workshopping those story beginnings and considering how they could be developed. 
10. How to approach getting published. Agents. Publishers. Competitions. How to present your story in a professional way. Where to find help in developing your writing for children. A chance to ask further questions or debate issues to do with children’s literature.

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

• acquire an appreciation of the opportunities and responsibilities inherent in writing stories for a child audience 
• acquire some understanding of how to create convincing yet accessible characters and plot through skilled use of text, sometimes to work in conjunction with illustration 
• gain insights into the professional commercial world of children’s literature, understanding the challenges and rewards to be found, and potential ways to develop skills further 

Daily Writing Assignments

Written assignments as part of the course (all learners).

Writing will play a major part in this course. You are given the opportunity to produce up to four 350 - 400-word creative pieces through the week to be submitted for discussion by the class. Pieces should be submitted electronically to your course Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) forum space no later than 6.15pm each evening on the following days:

Monday (for the workshop session on Tuesday) 

Tuesday (for the workshop session on Wednesday) 

Wednesday (for the workshop session on Thursday) 

Thursday (for the workshop session on Friday) 

The aim of these courses is to create, for their duration, a community of writers – a group of practitioners naturally interested in developing their own work, but also sensitive to the needs of their fellow-learners. Please be mindful that the daily writing submissions will be shared across the whole group, so share only that personal information in your writings that you are comfortable disclosing. The classroom discussion of others’ writing needs to be simultaneously stringent and supportive; and it should be remembered that each participant can learn as much from a full engagement in the discussion of the work of others as from that part of the discussion that focuses on their own writing.