Writing for Children

Some people think writing for children is easy since the stories are usually a lot shorter and often simpler than stories for adults. Is that true? Is children's literature the "light" version of writing?

I will ask you a few questions first:

What are the topics young children care about?

How long may a story for first readers be so that they can read it without losing concentration nor interest?

How simple or complex should a story for advanced readers be? About what kind of topics, and how long?

See? Writing for children has its own set of difficulties. Since stories can be very short, every single word counds a lot more than a word in an adult novel. Young readers have their own needs and expectations, and children are not simply children. As a children's writer, you need to know exactly for what group of children you are writing. How old are they? How much reading experienve do they have? What topics hold their interest? What is age-appropriate language?

Whereas some people seem to have a natural talent to write for children, other writers lack the ability to adapt their writing to this unique audience.

Children's literature is more than just another fiction genre; it is a whole different category with its own genres. So no, writing for children is not just writing a shorter story with younger protagonists. It may be easy for some writers but out of reach for others, just like any other kind of writing.