Children’s Book Writing Intensive
GUIDE TO FICTION COURSES
The Children’s Book Writing Intensive happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
The quiet magic of Goodnight Moon grows into the zaniness of Dr. Seuss and widens into the dazzlement of Harry Potter then matures into the straight talk of Judy Blume and the gritty reality of The Hate U Give. Such is the amazing journey children take through books. These stories are a treasured part of childhood and they linger for a lifetime.
To captivate young readers, you must balance a youthful imagination with an adult professionalism. Here you will learn about the various types of children’s books and their special requirements, as well as fiction craft and how to market your work.
Whatever type of children’s book you seek to write—picture books, easy readers, chapter books, middle grade, young adult—we’ll show you how to write stories that entrance.
I rode the train home scribbling ideas in a notebook. The next morning I got up and wrote another chapter of an easy-reader book I'm experimenting with. As I wrote, I thought about all I'd learned in class about character development, believable dialogue, confict and resolution, and making the whole thing interesting to a youngster. I can't think of a better investment of my time than to spend a Saturday in this class!
Linda Post
corporate communications
Notes
Our Children’s Book courses cover the full spectrum of children’s books, from picture books to YA novels. Many children’s books authors write books for various age levels. The focus is mostly on fiction, but writers are welcome to work on nonfiction children’s books.
If you want to work on a YA novel, you may do so in our Children’s Book courses, or in Fiction I or (at the advanced level) Novel II First Draft and Novel II Critique, or our genre courses: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Mystery, Romance. The difference: In a Children’s Book course, you will be learning about and reading works for various age levels; in the other courses, you will be learning about and reading works for adults. This is fine because YA novels are very close to adult novels.
Upcoming Classes
Syllabus
This course gives an overview of the basics of children’s book writing craft. Course components:
Brief lectures
Writing exercises
Topics:
Introduction to Children’s Books
Plot
Character
Point of View/Voice
Description
Getting Published
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
