Writing for Children

A CHILDLIKE VOICE

Kids are far more discerning than many writers suspect. They know a "fake kid" when they hear one, so your dialogue must feel like real words spoken by a real kid. At the same time, it cannot include all the affectations (um, so like, um, what?) that might be part of real speech but would drag the story down. So how do you learn how to write real dialogue? Glad you asked. Here is a three-step process that will help you transform your dialogue.

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COMBATING THE BORING SPEECH TAG

Dialogue is the favorite part of story writing for many authors. In dialogue writing, the author is able to give voice to the people the author created. Tag we're going to dig into the bits that tag along with the dialogue: speech tags and narrative action. How important is that? And how varied? We'll be reading through examples so be sure to download this week's show notes here, so you can see the examples as you apply these techniques to your own work.

Join the Institute of Children's Literature Community! Get our weekly newsletter with articles on the craft of writing, hot markets looking for your work, and cool resources for your writer toolbox: www.instituteforwriters.com/icl-news

INTERVIEW WITH KATE DICAMILLO

Kate DiCamillo's writing journey has been a truly remarkable one. She grew up in Florida and moved to Minnesota in her twenties, when homesickness and a bitter winter led her to write Because of Winn-Dixie—her first published novel, which became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. Since then, she has been a National Book Award finalist, won two Newbery Medals and was named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. She now has almost 30 million books in print worldwide.

In this interview, we dig into Kate's newest book Beverly, Right Here and talk about characterization through dialogue, including:

• Do you think about showing v. telling while you're writing, or do you naturally fall into it?
• What do you find most challenging about writing dialogue?
• Has your dialogue changed in your protagonists over the years?
• Is it hard to switch between writing dialogue for kids, teens, and adults?

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REVISION: DON'T GO IT ALONE

When you're about to begin revising a piece of writing, it can seem so daunting. So, today we bring you a rebroadcast of advice from author and IFW Guest Blogger Rita Reali. Rita's a freelance editor with advice on the importance of getting fresh eyes on your work before you revise.

Let a one-on-one mentor help you hone your revision skills and polish your work so it shines in your submissions to agents and publishers! Get started here!

REVISION TIPS WITH POET RENÉE LATULIPPE

Enjoy your holidays with a rebroadcast of our popular episode with Renée LaTulippe sharing how to use poetic techniques in your revision for a manuscript that truly sings.

Let a one-on-one mentor help you hone your revision skills and polish your work so it shines in your submissions to agents and publishers! Get started here!

FAILURE IS PROOF OF EFFORT

As the end of the year creeps ever closer, it can be a good time to take stock of how your writing life is going, as long as you do that examination wisely. Having a successful writing life can seem impossible sometimes, especially if we look predominantly at the times we've tried something without success. Virtually every writer has stories that didn't work, books that didn't sell, and efforts that didn't bear fruit. Let's look at those efforts in a different way today.

Let a one-on-one mentor help you hone your writing skills and polish your work so it shines in your submissions to agents and publishers! Get started here!

5 TIPS TO REV UP YOUR OPENING

When a reader picks up your book, you don't want them to put it down. Here are five tips for energizing your opening sequence and pulling in your reader.

Let a one-on-one mentor help you hone your revision skills and polish your work so it shines in your submissions to agents and publishers! Get started here!

BROWBEATEN INTO SUBMISSION

Sometimes, the most well-meaning folks can do the greatest harm to an aspiring writer. For a writer, there can be a lot of pressure to get published or prove you can get published. Our friend and frequent blogger, Rita Reali shares some of her story with us today.

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BREAK INTO PUBLISHING

Writing is a noble proposition, in and of itself. Published writing is something else entirely. And paid published writing—whoa, Nellie, that's just glorious!

In order to get published though, you need to put yourself "out there" in the world, and get your writing in front of people who are in charge of accepting items for publication … preferably in places that will pay you for your work. Inspired by an article from Rita Reali, let's look at different ways to break into publishing today.

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6 STEPS TO SUBMISSION SUCCESS

These days a vast majority of publishers and agents accept submissions online, whether through email or a website form. There are a few holdouts, but these days it sounds strange to hear anyone say they don't take digital submissions. This means we all need to learn how to put our best foot forward in online submissions. Adapted from an article by Jan Fields, here are six steps to submission success.

Get a one-on-one mentor to help you write publishable work that agents and publishers are looking for! Get started here!