WRITING FOR CHILDREN
Off the shelf
Have you written a children’s story that feels fated not to succeed? All is not lost, as Amy Sparkes looks at ways to transform shelved writing into something that will appeal to young readers
Amy Sparkes
What do you do when a story doesn’t seem to be successful? Perhaps you’ve submitted it many times and have now decided it doesn’t have a future. Or perhaps it’s a story you just didn’t feel so passionate about by the time it was finished. It might feel like some stories are doomed to be shelved forever... but... there are still ways you can use existing work, even if it is not in its current form. So, what can you do?
Consider favourite elements
The easiest place to start is probably to identify your favourite elements from your shelved story. What do you love most about it? If you could only pick one component of your story, what would it be? You can also think about what first initiated the idea. What was your inspiration? Identifying this can even help you rediscover your passion for the shelved story and perhaps rework it or enable you to strip it right back to the beginning and create a new vision. But how can you do this? Let’s look at three of the most common ‘favourite elements’: concept, character and theme.
Concept
Sometimes the heart of your idea itself is your favourite part. Is there a way to take this idea and recreate it? Perhaps you could adapt it to suit a younger or older readership? Perhaps you could place the idea in a more marketable genre?