How to Write a Children's Book

WHEN Monday, Sept. 11, 7-10 p.m. WHERE Chancellor Hotel - Clipper Ship Meeting Room 433 Powell Street San Francisco, Calif. MORE INFO Email learnwest@mediabistro.com, or call (310) 659-5668. PRICE $65 ($50 for ) more info Add to Calendar iCal | Outlook

Course Details

These days everyone seems to want to be a children's book writer—from established literary figures like Adam Gopnik and Michael Chabon, to celebrities like Madonna, Billy Crystal, and Katie Couric. And no wonder: children's books are the books we all first fell in love with, and children can be the most enthusiastic audience you'll ever encounter. But writing for children is harder than it looks. The best children's books are as poetic, exciting, funny, and poignant as any work of adult literature. The worst—many of which were written by celebrities—can be cloying, cutesy, preachy, or dull.

This seminar will teach you the nuts and bolts of children's book writing, from developing an idea, through writing, editing, and submitting it to publishers. You'll learn the basics of structure, plot, tone, and character, as well as how to use such time-honored techniques as rhythm, repetition, humor, and understatement.

In this class you'll also learn:

• How to block out a 32-page picture book and outline a chapter book
• Why reading poetry will make you a better writer
• Techniques for beginning and ending your story
• The art of revision—why less is more
• Common mistakes beginning children's book writers make—and how to avoid them
• Why editors like to choose their own illustrators

Instructor Bio

Dashka Slater's Courses

Dashka Slater is the author of two three picture books: Baby Shoes, Firefighters in the Dark, and The Sea Serpent and Me.

Baby Shoes was named one of the best children's books of 2006 by both Booklist and Nick Jr. magazine, while The Sea Serpent and Me was a 2008 Junior Library Guild Selection and a 2009 Cybil Award Finalist. Slater's novel, The Wishing Box, was named one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times, which called it "an impish novel, hopeful and full of humor." She is the recipient of a 2004 Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and has won many awards for her journalism, which appears in magazines ranging from The New York Times Magazine to Mother Jones. Her fourth picture book, Princess Amanita and the Nine Noses, will be released by Dial Books in the Spring of 2011.

Learn more at www.dashkaslater.com or by reading her children's book blog.

Testimonials

Dashka's class opened a creative outlet for me that I always wished I had explored. I really enjoyed reading my classmates' stories and sharing my personal experience. The comments and feedback throughout the class helped me more than you know! -- Heidi Boeckmann

"This class provided a wonderful entry into a writing group. Sharing thoughts and ideas with other writers, as well with our instructor, made me really feel like part of a community." -- Tara Gannon

"Dashka showed support to each student's work, pointed out what needed change, and made suggestions on how to make improvements. I was amazed with her insight into our manuscripts. As though she were doing a puzzle, she would fill in the missing pieces." -- Barbara Gold

"Dashka is fabulous and insightful. Her lessons are very well scaffolded and her comments and feedback guide us to a remarkable finished product." -- Hamu Yaropa