How to Write Articles for Kids
Reading is one of the best gifts that can be given or taught to kids and when good ideas for articles that will pique their interest are available, it is best to put pen on paper and give our kids something to learn with and learn from. Although as easy as it seems, writing for kids has its subtleties that must be considered when writing for this target audience.
The article experienced by the older generation as educators and the younger generation as learners is very different and they describe article as information that can be obtained quickly, information related to their daily life. For example News articles. They mainly share news through social networking services, the likes of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, which can be accessed with a single click.
1. Article layout
You need to write a plan according to which the article will be created. You should write guided only by one topic, without forming the overall concept of the article. Usually this leads to degradation and waste of energy.
2. Know your audience
Without a doubt, it is imperative for any author, whether writing a guide whether a historical or geographical or a scientific writer, to know his/her audience. Unlike adults, however, kids are impatient critics, and if you allow yourself a boring description and too lavish dialogue, they will simply close the book or refuse to listen to the story to the end.
Watch the kids around you to learn what excites them, what scares them, what makes them laugh, what do they dream about and how do they react in different situations. Keep notes, read many kids books whether it be classic or modern, remember your own childhood and generally live in the world of your readers.
3. Find a suitable topic
Writing an article in a newspaper begins with the discovery of an idea. An experienced journalist is not looking for objective ideas, he is on the lookout for deviations from the norm. If something always happens in a particle pattern, and the scenario has changes, it means that something happened that influenced the development of events in a new way. The phenomenon isn’t obvious and not noticeable at first glance, but it has changed normal things, and as such a great idea for an article.
When choosing a subject, reveal one subject. Another important aspect is that the topic should be interesting, familiar, and relevant to you personally. In addition, it should be focused on your target audience.
Remember that kids change with age. Based on this what would interest a seven-year-old girl would be boring to death for his twelve-year-old brother. In general, kids love stories that include adventure, mystery, discovery, challenge, and humour. Among the “eternal themes” of children’s literature are courage, friendship, belonging, family, loss, growth, anger, suffering, jealousy, and love.
In addition, trust your young readers and do not be afraid of difficult topics such as death, divorce, discrimination, violence. Kids encounter them often whether directly or through their peers and no book can protect them from such a painful experience. Difficult topics are part of maturing, and a good writer can present them in a way that comforts and reassures his readers.
4. Write about current trends
Your readers know what a computer is and the Internet and new media sphere even probably better than you. In their daily lives, people talk on mobile phones, travel by plane, and try food from all over the world. However, it is possible to confuse the buffalo with a cow or to feel lost in the world. So, ensure to add only meaning imagery so as not to lose your audience to ambiguity.
However, don’t go overboard with references to popular culture unless the latest boy band or computer game is relevant to your story, mentioning it is likely to bring contempt to an audience that listens to other bands and plays even newer games. As mentioned earlier, kids are brutally honest readers, consequently they can sense when the topic is not at the heart of the author and react appropriately.
5. Create interesting characters
As with adult books, and even more so, young readers reach for literature to find company and support in a difficult situation. In addition to entertaining them, your work has the task of helping them grow and to gain more confidence in their own strengths and abilities, to draw inspiration from other people’s experiences and to learn something new in the process.
One of the prerequisites for this is that the characters are believable, and they should portray having flaws, to make mistakes, feel sad, hesitant, or disappointed, and generally be people with whom the audience can identify. In fact, they don’t need to be human beings at all: depending on their age, children are easily recognized as dogs and elephants, in objects and mythical creatures, as aliens and vampires.
6. Involve readers in an adventure
In an article for kids or adolescents, something must happen all the time. In addition to getting bored faster, young readers perceive more easily through empathy than through reflection. But never underestimate them because as soon as they feel that the writer is trying to instruct them, they will immediately prefer their phone or computer to the textbook.
Children love to read stories about characters a few years older than themselves, facing trials a little more difficult than those in their own lives. It is important that their literary “peers” overcome the challenges through their ingenuity, courage, and strength, and not only through the intervention of adults.
7. Write clearly
Your story should be told in a way that is accessible to readers. Express yourself as concisely and clearly as possible, emphasizing the action. This does not mean using baby language or avoiding the exact name if you find it complicated. Kids have an almost inexhaustible natural curiosity and can adopt complex concepts if they are explained to them. It is beneficial to note that older children even experience pleasure and pride when they learn a new word or phrase.
An illustrator can always help you out, especially when the article is for younger readers. Ideally, an illustrated children’s book or article is a conversation between a writer and an artist. If you are creating the text first, think about how to suggest to your co-author the appearance of the characters, the setting, and the scenes you want to see depicted, as well as what to leave to his imagination.
8. Enjoy writing
Finally, children’s articles are a link between the author, his young readers, and their parents. They are a means of communication between generations, so it is good to appeal to an audience of different ages and with different social experiences, so that everyone can naturally find something embedded therein for themselves.
9. Read back
It is necessary to read (check and correct) the text only once, without thinking for a long time and without delving into idealism, otherwise it will lead to grinding, countless corrections and, as a result, to an unwritten article. The purpose of proofreading is to correct typographical errors and remove repetition, replacing them with synonyms. A successful article for kids should be easy, competent, and simple.
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