So you want to write for children 

• Can I make a career of this? 
• Research 
• Would I make a good children's writer? 
• Writing skills 
• Assessing your strengths 
• Editors have their say! 
• The different categories of children's books 

Writing for teenagers; writing short stories 

• Writing short stories for children 
• Plotting your short story 
• What's different about writing for teenagers? 
• What makes a 'good read' for teenagers? 
• Social issues in books for teenagers 
• Example of a published short story 
• Coming up with a plot for your short story 
• Guidelines for contributors to children's magazines 

Generating story ideas 

• Using your skills and knowledge 
• How to find ideas 
• Using ideas in more than one category 
• Viewpoint 
• Pitfalls in writing for children: writing down to children; sermonising; writing in an outmoded style 

Genre fiction: all kinds of stories 

• What do you mean, 'genre' fiction? 
• The rules of each genre 
• Science fiction and fantasy 
• Historical novels 
• Mystery and suspense fiction 
• The importance of research 
• Writing about juvenile crime 
• Animal stories 
• Family stories and school stories 
• Humour 

Picture books 

• Starting with an idea 
• The picture book plot 
• Working with words 
• Writing in rhyme 
• More advice from editors 

Writing for the education market 

• Educational publishers 
• Non-fiction 
• Books for reluctant readers 
• Political correctness 
• An example of simplified language 
• The easy-to-read text 
• Educational publishers and the school curriculum 
• Sample guidelines for a book for reluctant readers 

Story books 

• Short books or long books? 
• Plotting 
• Writing on more than one level 
• Beginnings, middles and ends 
• General tips for writing the children's story book 
• The basics of a children's book 

How to make your stories sparkle 

• De-fog your story 
• Use signposts 
• Make viewpoint clear 
• Character motivation 
• Cover letters 
• Query letters 
• Add sparkle, and your writing stands out 
• To control your pace, adjust the length of your scenes 
• The synopsis 

How to create interesting characters 

• Characters make your story 
• Stereotyped characters 
• Create a character file 
• Character tags 
• Sexism and racial stereotypes 
• Describing your characters 
• The difference between major and minor characters 
• Make your characters grow and change 

Marketing your work and building your career 

• Professional do's and dont's 
• Copyright 
• What if my manuscript is rejected? 
• Business as usual 
• Networking with other writers 
• Your next book 
• Financial records and taxation 
• How to make a living while you're waiting for royalties 
• Building a career 
• Planning for a writing career 
• How to present your work to a publisher 

Dialogue and setting 

• What's so important about dialogue? 
• The role of dialogue 
• How do you write effective dialogue? 
• Show, don't tell 
• Do your characters all sound different? 
• Setting 
• Troubleshooting: how to fix dialogue that doesn't work 
• Using a setting information sheet 

Writing non-fiction for children 

• Why write non-fiction for children? 
• Finding non-fiction ideas 
• Which age group will you target? 
• Research tips 
• Preparing for interviews 
• Effective chapter hooks 
• An example of non-fiction text 
• Short non-fiction