Children love to access new and different worlds through the power of reading. Reading is one of those childhood pastimes that should never die, no matter how popular video games or outdoor pursuits become. Reading is an essential skill to learn as well as being an easy and cheap way for young ones to access excitement, fantasy, real life emotions, empathy for others, and understanding of the world they live in, and an understanding of the worlds that many other children live in. In addition, reading can help children develop their own writing skills, their creative thinking, and their ability to forge arguments and create their own valued opinions. Books for children are thus crucial to their personal and academic development.
However, writing books that appear to children can be tricky. It has long been a myth that children will accept uncomplicated storylines, less developed characters and cliché endings. Nothing could be further from the truth. A well written children’s book needs just as much time and energy put into its plotline and characterisation as a full on adult novel. This is particularly true for kids who are aged between 9 and 12, where their reading ability is strong, but emotionally they may not be quite ready to move onto teenage fiction or non-fiction pieces.
So, if you fancy writing a children’s book for an audience aged between 9 and 12 years of age, how should you go about the planning and writing skills process? There are a number of crucial things to consider:
- Firstly be sure that you are happy to write for this age group. Publishers are very picky about what material can and can’t be considered as ‘appropriate’ for different age groups, and this classification of literature is usually dependent upon the level and type of language used within a book, and the subject matters covered within a book. The best way to ensure that you are happy to write a book that will be suitable for those aged 9-12 years of age is to spend some time reading other successful books that are aimed at this audience. That way you will not only get a feel for what works and what doesn’t work in fiction for this age range, but you’ll also be able to decide if your writing skills and writing ideas match with the requirements of 9-12 year old fiction.
- Secondly the lead or leading characters within your novel should be around the same age as the intended audience. Be sure that your proposed storyline makes room for this, and be sure that you are confident that you can write action, thought and dialect in the ‘voice’ of a child aged between 9 and 12.
- Your lead character should ultimately be admired by the reader. This therefore means that to be both socially acceptable and appealing to the young readership, your book should ensure that your lead character is morally grounded.
- And finally, don’t forget that children of this age are capable of reading complex fiction. So ensure that you have sufficient secondary plotlines, twists and secondary characters included in the novel to keep the reader entertained throughout the entire book.