For instance, having a series based around the experiences of a main character will help young children to relate to the person, and go on a journey with him or her, ending with a positive outcome. Writing a series of short stories can be an excellent way to continue teaching lessons to young children. This will help them make connections between the words and the visuals. Not only will they read the words that are written in your short story if they are reading themselves, (or hear if an adult is reading), they will also see the pictures and illustrations you use. For instance, if your short story is about the adventures a young girl has with her pet dog, you could use an illustration of the girl, her young dog and the situations they both find themselves in.īy using pictures and illustrations, you increase the modalities by which your message will get through to kids. In order to make your short stories for children extra engaging, use pictures and illustrations to help tell your story. This will help to create pictures in the minds of youngsters and really engage them with your stories. In the text, use plenty of dialogue between the main character and the others, and also describe actions taken by the characters. Also, simple language will help adults who may be reading your stories to kids, to clarify any points should youngsters ask questions. Keep sentences short, and use simple words that are easy to understand for children, so that they can be read easily by those children who can read. Unlike writing for older children, when writing for kids aged between 4 and 8, writing in simple English is vital. This could include situations like being at school, going on holidays, friendships, and the experiences had within these contexts such as worry, happiness, anger, being hurt, and frustration. When writing short stories for children, you have a great opportunity to develop plots that kids can relate to in their everyday lives. This will help kids to follow your stories far better. Rather than having many characters, which will only serve to confuse children, have one main character and two or three other supporting characters who interact with the main one. The best way to entertain kids through your short stories is simplicity and this includes the characters you have in your stories. Base your stories around a central character The actual stories can be a very positive and entertaining experience for young kids.ĭo you want to get into writing short stories for children, particularly for those aged between 4 and 8? If so, check out the following tips to help you: 1. You are writing for a group of young people who are developing and your work is contributing towards this process. I guess you can't blame them, when they are competing against collections that have dozens of big names attached to them.Writing short stories for children is a hugely rewarding experience for a writer. It's a shame, because there are plenty of authors who excel at short stories rather than novels and who might never be able to publish a collection, because you need a name before a publisher will consider a collection of shorts by only one author. You wouldn't think so, and people keep predicting that, any moment, the short attention spans of today's youth will latch onto short stories as the ideal art form, but it just hasn't happened. Short stories are a difficult medium to sell at the moment. May 11, - Short story writing has traditionally been more about getting your work into journals rather than necessarily published in a collection anyway.Īnd the interesting thing is that there are actually quite a few people managing to get their work out there by self publishing online as well. I'd rather just get a good fiction journal, where they have only printed the best of the best.Īs a writer, I'd also prefer to be able to stick to writing a short story, rather than fiddling with covers and marketing. I'm sure there are diamonds in the rough, but there is an awful lot of rough to wade through and I just don't want to have to do that as a reader. May 12, - I would be hesitant about both buying and selling work that way, just because there is no gatekeeper to ensure quality.