Writing for Children

This course is also offered as an intensive one-week summer school.

This Introductory Writing for Children short course is for students who would like to write books for children aged 3-16 years old.

The first part will focus on learning writing techniques in the context of children’s books, covering a range of areas including characterisation, settings, dialogue and plotting. We will examine how to tackle books for different age ranges, from picture books to Young Adult.

The second part of this Writing for Children course will look at refining your writing and understanding what publishers and agents are looking for.

Each week students will tackle writing exercises and there will be some element of sharing work. We will also look at texts from a variety of published children’s authors.

By the end of the Children's Writing evening course, students should have a strong grasp of what it takes to succeed in the tough but rewarding world of writing for children.

Who is it for?

Whether you want to publish your work or write stories just for your own children, City's Writing for Children short course delivers a comprehensive introduction to the subject, covering several areas and ages.

Timetable

This course takes place every Monday evening for ten weeks.

City Short Courses follow the academic year, delivering courses over three terms. These include:

• Autumn - October
• Spring - January
• Summer - April

Benefits

• Delivered by an award-winning children’s author.
• Taught in small groups
• Awarded a City, University of London certificate

Over the course of 10 weekly evening classes on the Writing for Children short course, you will learn how to:

• Apply theoretical knowledge to practical writing tasks and learn more about the market for children’s books and how to succeed as a children’s writer.
• Understand the market - who exactly are you writing for?
• Identify what works about successful stories, across a range of texts;
• Create strong settings, stand-out characters and convincing dialogue;
• Build pace and structure into your work;
• Learn how to use descriptions that will bring your writing to life;
• Edit and revise your writing, including when to cut;
• Understand what agents and publishers are looking for in a publishable manuscript - the practicalities as well as the indefinable 'it';
• Submit your work to publishing professionals.

There is no formal assessment for this Writing for Children course but students will be expected to participate in group discussion and feedback and be prepared to bring in their work-in-progress for constructive critiques.

This course is open to anyone interested in writing for children and no prior knowledge is required.

English requirements

Applicants must be fluent in written and spoken English.

Picture books

• The Gruffalo (Julia Donaldson)
• Hairy Maclairy (Lynley Dodd)
• Sometimes I like to curl up in a ball (Vicki Churchill)
• Pirate Cruncher (Jonny Duddle)
• Oh Boris (Carrie Weston)
• Hugless Douglas (David Melling)
• Dog Did It (Lynne Garner)
• Augustus and his Smile (Catherine Raynor)

First chapter

• The Jolley-Rogers and the Ghostly Galleon (Jonny Duddle)
• Ferno the Fire Dragon - Beast Quest book 1 (Adam Blade)
• Ottoline (Chris Riddell)

Lower Middle Grade

• Cosmic (Frank Cottrell Boyce)
• The Case of the Stolen Sixpence - Maisie Hitchins book 1 (Holly Webb)
• The Jamie Drake Equation (Christopher Edge)
• The Boy who fell down Exit 43 (Harriet Goodwin)

Upper Middle Grade

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (JK Rowling)
• Mortal Engines (Philip Reeve)
• Murder Most Unladylike (Robin Stevens)

Young Adult

• The Knife of Never Letting Go (Patrick Ness) – sci fi
• Savage Island or Raising Hell (Bryony Pearce) - horror
• The Gifted the Talented and Me (Will Sutcliffe) - comedy
• Noughts and Crosses (Malorie Blackman) – issues / dystopian
• The Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J Maas) – fantasy / romance

Reading on Writing

• Lamott, A (1995) Bird by Bird, Anchor Books
• Yorke, J (2008) Into the Woods, Penguin Books
• Spufford, F (2002) The Child that Books Built, Faber and Faber
• Pullman, P (2017), Dæmon Voices, David Fickling Books
• Kole, Mary (2012), Writing Irresistible Kidlit, Writers’ Digest Books