Writing for Children: Andy Stanton’s Top Five Tips
3 minutes read
Andy Stanton, tutor on Faber Academy’s Writing for Children course and award-winning author of the anarchic Mr Gum series (and more), shares a few pointers on how to write for children.
Know the territory . . .
Read widely from the range of books aimed at your target age group. The more you’ll read, the more you’ll know what works – and what doesn’t. The great books will inspire you to reach for new heights. The bad ones will fire you up with righteous annoyance: I can do better than that!
. . . but don’t go chasing trends
Don’t worry whether vampires or mermaids or superheroes are popular right now – by the time you’ve cobbled together your best impersonation of the latest bestseller, edited it, sent it to an agent, and got the champagne ready, the world will have moved on. Instead, write what interests you. Your passion and originality will shine through.
Respect your audience
Kids are discerning and sophisticated readers, and they don’t like being talked down to or fobbed off with ‘and then they woke up and it was all a dream.’ Relatable characters. emotional truth. exciting stakes. and an overall sense of narrative fair play: strive to satisfy these requirements of good storytelling. no matter what age you’re writing for.
Find your voice
Frank had a headache. / Waves of pain washed over Frank like a stormy ocean pounding against the rocky shore. / Dull. Black. Pounding. Grim. Relentless. Awful. Agony. / ‘AAAAAAAAARGH!’ screamed Frank, falling to his knees and gripping his throbbing head in both hands. / Frank felt like there was a tiny angry pixie called ‘Vicious Michael’ inside his skull, whacking his brains over and over and over with a sledgehammer.
Which voice best suits your book? (Maybe none of the above.) How do you match your style to your narrative? How will you use images, metaphors and technique to bring your story to life?
Here’s my number one rule in any type of writing
Get to the end of the first draft. It doesn’t much matter how flawed or problematic or patchy it seems to you. Just ‘win ugly’, as they say in sports, and get that first version down on the page. And then, later, when you’re ready to return to it – you’ve got every chance of turning it into something magnificent.
Andy Stanton lives in North London. He studied English at Oxford but they kicked him out. He has been a stand-up comedian, a film script reader, a cartoonist, an NHS lackey and lots of other things.
You’re a Bad Man, Mr Gum! was his first book and is the first in the eight-part Mr Gum series. He also wrote the lyrics and book for Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear – The Musical!, which premiered at the National Theatre in July 2019.
Covering fiction for kids aged six to twelve, with room for a little experimentation beyond, Writing for Children is a new twelve-week course, led by Faber Children’s author Andy Stanton.
Writing for a younger audience is an endlessly exciting adventure. Delve deep into the art of creating unforgettable stories for children in this inspiring and energetic course, beginning on 24 April 2025 in London. Find out more.
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