Owen,+Gregory+D.

Hmm...What Do I Want To Try To Write?

The two genres that are most interesting to me are a children's book and a TV/radio commercial. I feel like I have had quite a bit experience with the other genres, but have never tried my hand at a children's book or an actually script for a commercial.

I am also thinking that if Madonna can write children's books, and multi-million dollar ad agencies can put out the crap that they do, whatever I produce can't be much worse. Both you be fun and highly creative as well.

I don't know much about children's books, and have purposely avoided elementary aged students, so I do not know much about what that age group even likes. It will fun to find out more about the genre. As for the commercials, I know quite a bit about the business behind it all from my days at Ferris State. I graduated with a business degree from there, but never did any real script writing. The classes focused on more of the business aspect--go figure--and not the creative aspect of advertising.

I would like to try either children's book writing or advertisement writing as a way to see how far my creativity and imagination can spread.


 * Guide To Writing A Children's Book:**

Brainstorming subject matter is the first step in writing a children's book. This should be the fun part too, have you seen what some children's books are about? Be creative and original with the ideas, or take a new spin on an old idea, either way,at this point, just let the ideas flow. Once you have a lengthy list of ideas, take your best idea and make it into something universal. For example, say that you are in love with the idea of a kid who only eats cheese, now you need think of something that this kid has in common with many other kids. Let's say he is only eats cheddar, his common problem is that he doesn't like to try new things. See it already starting to develop!

Once the main character and his problem brainstorm again on the effects of this problem. Once the list is complete, pick your favorite scenarios. If you have kids of your own, or spend a lot of time with kids, this can help you, or it can hurt you. Remember, we are going for something universal here, so if it starts to get feeling like you are putting too much of your kid(s) into the story, you will need to start again. The good thing about having experience with kids is that you know what they are interested in and that can help you over make the story more universal. Even though we are dealing with kids here, they are pretty smart and know cause and effect. Do not make your story line too obvious (ie. I always told Junior not to lean back in his chair and then one day....well you know the rest, he falls and gets hurt).

Next you can start to brainstorm possible resolutions to the problem. Up until this point we have not dealt with setting or other characters, and the only thing we know about the main character is he likes cheese and doesn't like to try new things. So, now you some decisions to make: how many characters are there going to be? Where is the story going to take place? What are the other characters going to be like? What is the main character going to be like. The story is beginning to take shape now, but one thing must be answered. Why does the main character do what he/she does, and how do we change him/her? No idea is a bad one here, and it may take a long time to get a story that flows the way you want it to. Because this is process WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN AND NEVER DELETE ANYTHING. Ideas will come and go, so make sure you have a way to track all of them. Don't just save one word document that you keep changing, because your previous ideas are then hidden and hard to get back to--and they may just be your best ideas.

In putting the story together remember that you need to tease the reader. A book with one conflict and resolution is too simple and short even for a children's book, it still need the arc of a story with all the peaks and valley on the way to the climax. Remember to "show" not "tell," which will be a bit easier since picture will be added later. One more pointer through all of this, the main character needs to be identifiable to almost all children. That is the tough part, writing an original story about an unoriginal character and problem. Having children and children's books around to reference will help you get over some of the road blocks in this creative process.

I will not spend much time on the artwork or pictures to be used in the book. I am a writer, not an artist. the best suggestions I have is to give the story to a friend who is artistic and willing to illustrate the book for you and just see what he/she draws to each page. If they do not draw what you were thinking or trying to convey in your writing, then you have started the revision process complimented on both ends. A writer can revise and artist and an artist can revise a writer.

Oh, one more thing, MAKE SURE THE KID IS THE HERO. No matter how good the story is in all other aspects, it fails if the main character is not heroic in some way.

Children's Book Websites:

An extensive, in-depth step-by-step guide to brainstorming and writing a children's book. Not only does it go through the do's it also goes through the don't, and proposes ways for the writer to catch and avoid the don'ts. http://www.best-childrens-books.com/how-to-write-a-childrens-book.html

A more general approach to writing a children's book. The author uses her experiences and writing process she used to create her own popular children's book as an example. http://www.altdaily.com/features/arts/literature/how-to-write-a-childrens-book.html

Proposes guiding questions and tips for getting started brainstorming and other ways to get the ideas flowing. http://www.fabjob.com/childauthorsample.html

This site has ideas that are extensions of popular children's books. If you know a child that has a favorite children's book, see what ideas are here. There is more to children's books than the book. http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/index.htm

A brief, but concise guide to writing children's books. Good for ideas and general approaches to getting started with your children's book http://www.ehow.com/how_4532451_childrens-books-writing-ideas.html