In my last article, I discussed common writing mistakes, but don’t be mistaken. Just because I said you should do this or that, doesn’t mean you should listen to me all the time. First, you must know the rules so you know when to break them. Good writing doesn’t always stick to the book. In fact, some of the most innovative stuff has broken plenty of rules. In this article, I provide just a few examples of the many rules you’ll hear when writing a children’s book. RULE YOU CAN BREAK: Don’t use adjectives and adverbs This is definitely a rule that writers can take too far. People are always saying don’t rely on adjectives and adverbs to do all of your work--that’s lazy writing. Don’t take this to mean you should never use adjectives and adverbs in your work! Just use good judgment, when you do. Keep everything in balance. Use them when you need them. If you completely swear them all off, your writing may sound stilted or robotic. Particularly when you write dialogue. People use adjectives and adverbs when they talk. Sometimes, you’re going to need to say SUDDENLY and QUICKLY to get your meaning across efficiently. Be realistic, be natural. Don’t sacrifice authenticity in your writing because of some rule. RULE YOU CAN BREAK: Avoid really long sentences While it’s true really long sentences can destroy clarity, a work shouldn’t be just a series of really short sentence either. You’ll want to watch for clarity in your doozies, but don’t eliminate them all together. Good writing isn’t afraid to play with sentence length. Sometimes short sentences need to be offset by longer ones, so the flow doesn’t seem stilted. You will need to watch for long sentences in easy readers though. There are sometimes limits around sentence length, depending on the publisher. RULE YOU CAN BREAK: Always start a book with a bang Yes, you want to start a book that will grab the reader, but sometimes writers take that to mean, they should start with a high-drama action scene. The result? An ending where your reader could care less about what’s happening with your police chase scene because they have no idea who your character is. I often tell writers when I critique their work that you should not ask me to care about your plot if I don’t care about your characters. Grabbing your reader at the outset doesn’t necessarily mean high-action/high-drama. Sometimes the quietest openings can be quite thrilling. The best way to understand how to open a book is to read YOUR favorite openings to children’s books. STUDY THEM. Think about why YOU like those opening so much. Learn from that, then apply it to your writing. RULE YOU CAN BREAK: Never start a novel with a prologue It’s true that prologues can become crutches for authors who are afraid to write flashbacks. Or shortcuts because it just seems easier to throw it all in a prologue. Or maybe the author is deliberately trying to work in some interesting hook but can’t figure out how to meld it into the beginning of the story. Or … maybe the author wrote one because he thinks prologues are just neat. Whatever the reason, a lot of people will tell you not to use a prologue in a children’s novel. The reason? Kids don’t like to read about what happened before the story started. They want to read the story when it starts. Immediate gratification. While adults might be more patient about prologues, kids may not. But that doesn’t mean you can’t write one. Figure out if you really need it. Could the prologue just be called Chapter One? Is it as important to the story as the story itself? f you can cut it out, and the story is more or less the same, then you might want to ditch the prologue. If you can’t, and really, this is the best way to get the information across, then keep it! Use it wisely and with reason, is all I’m saying. RULE YOU CAN BREAK: A book for young readers must be grammatically correct. Some people think that a children’s book has to be written in proper English. They go through painstaking efforts to make sure everything is like their 7th grade teacher would want it to be. The result? Stiff writing. You’re not writing a business letter; you’re writing a fiction book. Don’t sacrifice story over properness. If a kid in your story is going to be grammatically correct all the time, well, that kid isn’t real. Unless that IS the kind of character you’re going for. If a character doesn’t feel real, the book will be lost on your reader. So keep it real—misplaced modifiers be darned! Though you do want to make sure you have a solid grasp of all the grammar rules, so you know where you can flex, without sacrificing the clarity of your story. FINAL RULE YOU CAN BREAK: Never break the rules. Hopefully, after reading this article, this last one becomes your major takeaway. Break the rules from time to time. It’s really the only way to innovate and make your mark! All the really great books that will be remembered for all time break rules. I love using HARRY POTTER as an example. Everyone said, NO KID WILL READ A BOOK THAT LONG. See? Imagine if J.K. Rowling had stuck to the rules! Happy rule breaking, everyone!
Article Source: http://www.bizymoms.com/expert-advice
Cynthea Liu helps aspiring writers through her web site WritingforChildrenandTeens.com Cynthea is also the founder of AuthorsNow a resource for librarians, teachers, reviewers, and booksellers to find out about the industry's hottest debut children's book authors. Cynthea lives in Chicago and is represented by the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.