Have you written a children’s book
?
Writing a children’s book is probably one of the most fun and exciting things that you can do as a writer. You get to create a book that will help to mold a child’s thoughts, which is definitely a huge deal when our children are our future. However, as exciting as that may be, it is a job that requires a lot of forethought to ensure that the story is well suited to the impressionable minds of children. In this blog post, we will give a few tips on editing a children’s book so that your book will be a great success.
Editing a Children’s Book
Below are five tips to help you while editing a children’s book, or when you’re selecting a children’s book editor.
Tip #1
The first thing you need to do when editing a book meant for children is to remember the audience. Children should only read age appropriate materials and as such, it is important that you carefully examine the actual story for elements that may seem inappropriate or too adult-like in nature. If there is any adult content, it can easily be cut down or removed without much loss to the actual storyline.
Tip #2
Another tip that you should remember when editing is to make sure that every word that is written should contribute to the plot or character development. This means that if there is any frilly writing that is unnecessary, it should be cut out. This only hampers the story and you have to remember that children get distracted easily. So, make sure that your writing is to the point and moves easily from one scene to the other.
Tip #3
Next, you should make sure that each of the characters in the book have their own distinctive voice. This is a typical problem that most novelists go through, and it is essential that it is quickly identified and fixed. That last thing you want is to have two or more characters who sound like the same person as this makes the story quite boring and unbelievable. Every person is an individual and in order to keep your reader’s interest, it is important that each character is interesting in their own individual way. This also helps the reader to become more engaged and attached to the different characters in your story which separates an okay book from a great book.
Tip #4
Most writers love the written word and generally love describing things. This is essential in order for the reader to create a picture in their minds while reading, however, too much of a good thing is bad! When there are overly long paragraphs describing a scene, it can quickly become tedious to read. Therefore as an editor, it will be your job to identify and cut down on any verbose descriptions that bore the reader or are simply unnecessary.
Tip #5
Lastly, make sure to pay attention to the tense being used throughout the story and be sure to keep it consistent. You definitely don’t want to be switching tenses from one paragraph to the next so be sure to keep your tenses consistent.
In conclusion
So, there you have it, five tips on editing a children’s book that will help make your book the best version of itself and a huge success. If you decide to publish your children’s book as a print book on Amazon, using the CreateSpace platform, or if you go the ebook route with the Amazon Kindle KDP program, your readers will love your book more when you take the time to have it edited professionally.
