The Survey Says

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Read:

• Lamb. "From ABC to YA: An Overview," Crafting Stories for Children, pp. 17-25.

• Lamb. "Structural Design," Crafting Stories for Children, pp. 97-102.

What type of stories  -- picture book, short story,  novel or nonfiction work  -- do you find yourself drawn to write? Whom do you wish to write for?

In order to answer that question, you'll need to think about the various audiences. What sort of stories do preschool, kindergarten, and first grade children like? What sort of stories do elementary school children like? Middle School? High school?

Do you have to be a parent in order to write for children?

No.

The one hard and fast rule about writing for children is this: in order to write for a child, you have to remember clearly what it felt like to be a child. You need to understand what it means to be a child in today's world.

You need to understand the timeless emotional needs that all children share. You need to know the hopes, fantasies, and dreams of children. You need to understand the many guises of fun. You need to know the fears that children strive to conquer.

That's how you write a story that wins the heart of a child.

Our goal as writers of stories for children? To discover the many ways to a kid's heart.

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