Want to write your first fictional children’s book or adult novel? Penning your own story can be very rewarding but also a daunting experience if you do not know where to begin. If you have an idea for a story but need to learn how to develop it, the following ten tips will guide you. Begin by mapping out your story’s plot beginning, middle, and endpoints in an outline or visual.
Establish a strong introduction—Establish conflict and the main characters at the onset to capture the reader’s attention. The main character must be faced with a problem that will be resolved by the end of the story.
Make your characters credible and interesting—Pull real-life ideas to make your protagonists realistic. Give them unique personalities and quirks that show they are complex and multi-faceted. They should also have the ability to learn and grow.
One point of view—Whether using first, second, or third person to narrate the story, stick with the same POV throughout the story. If you have the main character narrating the story and suddenly change to a third person, this may confuse your readers.
—Details are good, but only when sprinkled throughout the story. Introducing too many characters, descriptions, and other particulars at a time overloads the reader and can cause them to get lost.
Show don’t tell—When the character experiences an emotion such as fear, joy, or sadness, you want the reader to feel what they are feeling, so have your character experience that emotion in a scene rather than telling the reader outright.
Use fewer words with more impact-- Don't be wordy and redundant. If you have two words you can say with one, that will make your writing more succinct. (blizzard vs heavy snowstorm) Use an active voice (the dog chased the cat vs the cat was chased by the dog) and strong verbs (I sped vs I ran quickly). For children's books, make the language simpler. ('For a long time, the sea was a wonderful place to live' vs. 'For many ages, the sea was a paradise for its inhabitants.') Note: You can pare your wording down during the editing process. See my blog, Understand the Editorial Process and Your Content Editing Needs Before Choosing a Service, for more information on editing.
Keep the reader engaged—Give the reader the impetus to keep reading by using foreshadowing, cliffhangers, and delayed emotions to intrigue the reader and create suspense.
Follow genre guidelines for length—For example, the average length of a children’s picture book is 32 pages, but an adult romance novel can be about 100,000 words. Do your research.
Balance the story structure—There are three important components to the writing: reflective narrative, action, and dialogue. It's important to know the characters' thoughts and feelings while equalizing this with incidents and conversation. A healthy dose of each will bring the story to life, maximize readability, and maintain interest.
Resolution and wrap-up—Have a conclusion that ties up loose ends. The resolution signals the point in the story where the problem is solved, or the character faces certain circumstances. Except in children's books, it doesn’t have to be a happy ending, but all components of the plot should come together in a finale that the reader can easily comprehend.
Using these ten guidelines, you will have the framework to transform your creative ideas into a compelling narrative that captures and holds the reader's interest from beginning to end.
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