Getting Started

This blog aims to help those wanting to become children's authors. 

Getting Started

You have an idea - now you want to write it down.  This is a good thing although it may not always feel like it.  It's a long process, but well worth it. 

Bear in mind that planning is vital.  A well thought out storyline makes the world of difference and eliminates errors that an agent/publisher will scrutinise you on. 

Using a good structure and thinking of it like an equation is an effective way to get started. 
Scrivener is a tool that many people use to structure and edit their story outlines. You can try before you buy so give it a go and see what you think.

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/trial.php


I you dont have Scrivener, use the old fashioned method.  Break your story into parts:

1. Characters: Start with who is involved. 
2. Where:  Actively describe where the characters are, using senses.
3. Conflict: This makes up the biggest part of the story. Why are points 1 and 2 important? 
4. Resolution: How do the chartacters fix the conflict?
5. Outcome: How does it end? What is the moral of the story?

Here's a quick example :

WHO: The gruffalo's child
WHERE: in the woods
CONFLICT: wants to eat a mouse
RESOLUTION: the big bad mouse scares him off
OUTCOME: he learns his lesson not to go off into the woods on his own

Thats the simple version and it should be simple, at least the structure of it.  How many times has this structure worked?

Beginning - Once upon a time

Middle - Something bad happens involving magic

End - they all lived happily ever after

(Certainly works for disney!)


Have a go yourself - see who can come up with the most interesting plot!