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Hey guys. I have found it very hard to come up with an idea for a child’s book. The idea needs to be about “real” people doing “real” things – no witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, fairies or
their ilk. Stories about animals are fine; stories with talking animals are not. the story must be 500-1500 words in length and aimed at 5-8 year olds.
ANY IDEAS????????? *Please*@bluejay Well, are you going to be doing a story in modern times or back whenever? That’s the first question you should ask yourself. Then, whichever time frame you decide to use, think what some problems a child might go through are in that setting. That’s if you want to come up with anything…just a starting point.
As for ideas, I’ve got nothing. Sorry…. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything you could use. And Maybe someone should give you a writing dare that involves children.HEY GUYS! Give @bluejay a children’s book writing dare!! I’m terrible at making those up. 😛
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
Oh dear… children’s stories are NOT my area of expertise. I’ll let you know if I think of anything, but most of my ideas are ridiculously hard to simplify into something like that. 😛
I’m afraid realistic children’s stories aren’t my area of expertise either (in fact I just realised that everything I’ve ever done in that genre was either fantasy or sci-fi). Have you tried searching ‘children story prompts’ on Pinterest? I did just now and some thought-provoking ones came up. My favourite one probably was “It is now legal for children to be sent to jail with adults. You new cellmate is a six-year-old”.
@bluejay Sounds like you’re doing a writing contest. Are you?
Five to eight years old. Well, what is really interesting to five to eight year old kids? What grips their attention? If you have a story with kids their age then that is always a plus. I like reading kids books when the kids interact with other kids a lot. And realistically. Also, what is their view of parents? That’s another aspect. Just some thoughts . . .
You could go generic and talk about a pet that a kid got. Or a new friend. You could write something about kids who use the power of imagination to have fun (Barney, is that you?). Maybe you don’t like generic. Maybe you want something exciting. What about moving to a new location. Yeah, that’s still generic.
Okay, so I’m rambling. And I can’t think of anything that isn’t generic.
What about an experience? For me I never read children’s books that have the action happening over a long period of time. At the most it’s a week. Because a short story has to have a main situation. So experiences . . . going to the zoo and getting lost and meeting a gorilla and finding out that the gorilla is Harambe. Okay, never mind that one.
I’ve concluded that I don’t have any good ideas. Must be because I write pessimistic and dark stories (with a ray of hope). Sorry I wasted your time though. Or if you didn’t read the rambling above then your time wasn’t wasted. But then again you wouldn’t even see this message because you didn’t read any of this. Who am I talking to again?
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
@Bluejay *seizes head and groans* I am SO sorry but I have nothing to give you! *curls into miserable ball*
It’s so awful, ’cause I’m always picking apart childrens’ stories for being dumb, or too generic, or badly done, or whatever, but I guess that makes me kind of a hypocrite since I can’t think of anything better myself. 🙁 If I think of something I’ll certainly let you know though—hope you don’t have a deadline?- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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@bluejay This is random, but what if a little boy’s dad got him a pet, and is teaching him about how to take care of it. Say it is a goldfish. The little boy neglected it or fed it too much and it dies, so he had to learn about responsibility or something. But then he learns his lesson and ends up using what he learned to help someone else, perhaps another kid at his school.
@dragon-snapper Thank you for the helpful questions.
@sierra-r & @kate-flournoy & @emma-flournoy Don’t stress. Children stories are hard. (And yes, there is a deadline, but not till Feb.)
@mark-kamibaya Yes, it is for a competition and yes, I did read your post. Rambling is alright. Sometimes your ramblings can be inspiration for another person. So thanks.
@winter-rose Whoa! That’s an interesting idea. I shall have to put my thinking cap on. 🙂@bluejay Hmm….well, Robin Hood was a real person, so that might qualify…or, maybe a story from the perspective of a mischievous ship’s boy on Captain Cook’s ship, exploring the South Sea Islands (I think)….I remember when I was that age, I liked stories about early American history: Indians and settlers, patriots and redcoats. Ooh, and children working in the Underground Railroad. Did you know that since the Quakers were very strict about lying, the children would help the slaves hide instead of the adults, so that when the police came and questioned the parents, they could honestly say they weren’t part of it? And no one thought to ask the children. Talk about thrilling story material… All of that’s American, though; you might not be as familiar with it. I can’t think of anything else right now, but I will let you know if I do! 🙂
Um… the only kids stories I wrote wrea bout a girl who wants a doll for Christmas and works to buy it but on C-mas eve it’s gone, and then it turns out her family bought it for her actually.
And the other was two children who got lost in Mammoth cave and had to find clues and do puzzles and stuff to get out.
Yah.
Pets are used over and over, so I don’t like the idea of doing those. You should read Beyond the Orphan Train books. They are good for kids 6/7 to ten, even though I read them and I’m fourteen, but blah blah blah, they’re still good, and geared for a younger audience.
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
@bluejay One thing you could do is find a sibling or a friend of a sibling or really any child who is in the age range you’re writing for and ask them what they want to see in a story.
Another rout to go all together is try and focus on a real life problem that children have. Maybe a pet dies, or (like @mark-kamibaya said) they move. It doesn’t have to be a really big thing, it doesn’t even have to seem terribly important on the Life Scale. From some of my experience with children that age, they could use seeing a child having the same problems they have. HOWEVER! don’t leave it in the dark. You can use the story to show the silver lining. Maybe the kid moved from his friends, but he makes new friends, his dad has a better job, mom has more time to be with him, and they get to visit all the time because family is in that area, or whatever.
One last thing. (Sorry guys! I may be rambling to…)
Who will be the hero of your story? The child? The parent, friend, pet? Hero, in this case, doesn’t mean MC, just “Who will save the day?”Also, I really liked @sarah-h’s idea 😉
Ok. My two cents is out there 🙂 hope that helps a little.
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