Hi everybody! I am Jon Bard, Managing Editor of Children’s Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children’s Writers, Fightin’ Bookworm in Chief at the CBI Clubhouse. The amazing new members only community for aspiring and working children’s book writers. Today, a great technique on how to think like a kid. One of the toughest task for writers is to get inside the brain of a child. Sure, we all have our own childhood memories but that those could be spotty at best. And even accurate recollections reflect at different time in a different mindset. The standard advice is to observe and interact with children. Being with your own kids can give a window into the language and interpersonal dynamics of today’s kids. But even this is far from fool proof. Youngsters are thoroughly aware of an adult’s presence and may simply be trying hard to be on their best behavior. There is another way however that is remarkably efficient and is a surefire way to get an accurate picture of the likes, dislikes and passion of kids, read some magazines.
As the periodical market has become more niche or oriented, editors and publishers have become by necessity geniuses in understanding their slice of the audience. The people who put out boys life for example, spend a great deal of time and money working to master the mindset of the grade school boys and who’s life scouting, the outdoor adventure play a vital part. Page after page of the magazine reflects this understanding. The vocabulary, pacing, subject matter, article length and design are all tailored specifically to suit this audience. If you hope to write for this niche, becoming familiar with boy’s life is as valuable as attending a dozen scout pack meetings and probably a lot more peaceful. So here’s the plan. For whatever age, gender, or special interest group you hope to write for, find their magazines and read them cover to cover. When you do consider these points, note how the magazines target a narrow age group and sometimes just one gender. Compare a magazine for early elementary readers to one for ages nine through twelve and see how they tone, humor and attitude of the writing changes.
Some magazines have an educational focus and others are for entertainment. Notice how the educational publications still capture reader’s interest by using jokes or making the topics relevant to the kid’s lives. On the other hand, the entertainment magazines also strive to profile people who are good role models to showcase activities there worthwhile and to work with an age appropriate boundaries of good taste. Notice how the slant of magazines for girls is different from that for boys. Girls’ publications often feature more fiction and poetry. Boys’ magazines may contain jokes or comic strips. As an exercise, read some boy magazines and girl magazines for the same age group and pinpoint their differences. This will help you in creating boy and girl characters for your fiction. Peruse some of the actual articles and recent issues. Many magazines have excerpts on their website so you could easily get a sense of what kids are reading. Look at the magazine market section of children’s writers and illustrators market published by Reader’s Digest books for a list of magazines in their website. However, there is no substitute coming thorough a hard copy of each publication. This will help you understand not only what kids care about but what they're learning at school. Educational magazines in particular or an article that could be applied to a children or reading in class. And if your writing fiction that centers around a character or school experience, you want to get the teacher’s lesson plans just right. As a fiction writer, reading children’s magazines can help you zero in on what your characters care about. What's going on in there world and even what they find funny. If you're writing non-fiction magazines will show you the breadth of interests enjoyed by your target audience. And perhaps point you toward a niche you can fill. So visit your local newsstand and start your research. You might get some funny looks while you're reading Jack and Jill at Starbucks but the publishing contracts will be well worth it.
For much more about writing children’s books,, stop by the CBI Clubhouse, our amazing site just for aspiring and working children’s book writers. You’ll find audio podcast, interviews with top authors and videos, articles, ebooks, late breaking publishing news, chat rooms, message boards and much more. Plus, you'll also be able to download the current issue of our legendary children’s book insider, the newsletter for children’s writers. Until next time, this is Jon Bard, reminding you, keep writing.
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