I first developed the art of writing when I was studying in school. I was good at essay writing and would score full marks in the subject as my English was very good. Then I started writing letters to the editors for newspapers, which were all published without being edited. After graduating from college, I started writing children’s stories for magazines. While writing stories for children, please note that it should never be dull. It should take a new and unexpected twist. The language in the story must also be simple. There must be enough incidents and the reader must become curious to know what is going to happen next.
Look for ideas in real life, such as funny quotes, interesting people, or occurrences at school. You’ll probably want to start off with a scene that will grab the reader and will draw him or her into your story. For example, if you’re writing a treasure story, you may want to start with finding a treasure map in an unexpected place. Perhaps, the hero of your story is travelling in a far-off land, visiting a market place and finds an intriguing looking lamp. Maybe, there’s a sinister looking character following from behind. Obstacles must be introduced in the story in such a way that the reader is forced to think of what is going to happen next. The story is judged on the basis of how the writer removes these obstacles and it should have some link with human nature.
The reader must believe that in such a situation, this could have happened. The characters and dialogues used in the story are also very important and must seem real. Dialogues can make the story interesting or boring. Hence, they should be crisp and to the point. They should either throw light on the speaker or should reveal some incident, thus helping in carrying the story forward. The characters must seem real too. Humour, if introduced, makes the story much more interesting. A man, who seems foolish, could turn out to be wise in the end, or a cruel man could become very kind later. Such characters hold the interest of the readers.
Climax should be included in the end. The ending should come soon after the climax. The last and most important point in writing stories for children is that it should have a happy ending. So before you take your pen in hand, get a couple of youngsters to listen to your story. Do they seem interested in the story? This is the test your story has to pass. If you succeed in getting the attention of youngsters, then you can start writing it down. If you’re a professional illustrator, adding your own artwork can add to the interest level of the story and make it easier to follow.
Jubel D’Cruz
