Today's blog is a simple lesson, although its title may at first appear confusing. Today, I am going to talk about time. It is absoloutley fundemental when writing for children that you give them a clear understanding of the books setting in time if it has an emphasis on the development of the story. It is all very well writing a book for an adult that describes scenes in such a way that a period can be imagined. However, when writing for children, the writer needs to make the reader aware of the period that the book is about very early on. Children always assume that a book is about the present. So, if you reveal that the period of the story is a hundred years in the past (or future) half way into your book, you will lose your reader as they have already created a mental imagery based on the present, and you have just scuppered them of it. They are not prepared for a time warp and will tire reading further. Bad writers do not receive even the slightest of praise from children - books to them are good, or not good.
There is of course no need to mention time at all and allow the reader to set their own time for the book. The simple rule is to either mention time and space early, or simply don't mention it at all. These and other tips can be found at write for children.
No comments:
Post a Comment