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Course Description
Do you long to write but feel like you're too busy? Writing for children can be the answer. Children's stories are generally far shorter and simpler than stories for adults. You can draft an 800 word children's story during a couple of lunch hours or during your child's nap times. Many noted children's authors started writing in short bursts when their own young children were sleeping or playing nearby.
Writing for children is by no means easy, however. Children's book and magazine editors expect well developed characters, engaging plots, and vivid description, all in a very small package. Good children's writers learn to make every word count. Communicating effectively with kids means using language they can understand but not talking down to them, and this is easier said than done. In this course, we will look at the elements that go into an effective children's story, from initial idea to finished manuscript. If you've always wanted to write but don't know where to start, we'll cover that too. And once you have a few good stories under your belt, you'll want to find publishing outlets for them. We'll go over the basics of submitting to publishers and even of publishing books yourself.
Writing stories for children can be a fascinating hobby or a challenging career. You can write for your own kids, or publish stories and books that will reach thousands of eager readers. Either way, you will gain the satisfaction of knowing that you are making a difference in the lives of children who hear or read your words.
Learning Outcomes
By successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
Describe creating characters kids will love.
Define plot in the children's story.
Describe setting and the art of description.
Describe dialog in the children's story.
Define modeling.
Create a first draw.
Describe the revision process and what to look for.
Describe ways to handle rejection and learn from criticism, and
Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.
Course Lessons
Lesson 1: Let's Go!
One of the biggest obstacles writers face is finding the time to write. This lesson provides some strategies for finding the time to work on your writing projects.
Lesson 2: Just Do It
The way to become a writer is to simply sit down and begin to write. This lesson will provide some strategies for doing this.
Lesson 3: Creating Characters Kids Will Love
This lesson will show us how to create characters that our readers can relate to and thus become interested in.
Lesson 4: And Then What Happened? Plot and the Children's Story
In this lesson, tools for creating an engaging plot are described.
Lesson 5: Setting and the Art of Description
In this lesson, you will learn the importance of creating vivid descriptions and how these descriptions will help to engage and captivate your reader.
Lesson 6: He Said, She said. Dialog in the Children's Story
Dialog is an essential part of any story. This lesson provides dialog-writing tips.
Lesson 7: Modeling
This lesson describes how modeling can help aspiring writers to practice and perfect their craft.
Lesson 8: The First Draft
In this lesson we will discuss strategies that will help you hang in there and get your first draft written.
Lesson 9: Writing is Rewriting
In this lesson, we will discuss some techniques that will help you revise and improve your own work.
Lesson 10: Don't Despair, Share!
In this lesson, we will learn how seeking other people's viewpoints can prove to be valuable to your finished story.
Lesson 11: Target Practice: Studying the markets
In this lesson, you will learn how getting to know the markets you are aiming for can increase your chances for publishing success.
Lesson 12: Don't Give Up
In this lesson, you will learn how patience and perseverance are two important keys to becoming a successful, published writer
This is a non-credit course, and is provided for your personal enrichment.
This course is not intended to be a substitute for any state, government, licensing, certification or educational requirements.
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($65.00) This course will provide the learner with a better understanding of the underlying concepts needed to improve the reading skills in children and adults. more
($65.00) This course will provide the learner with a better understanding of the underlying concepts needed to improve the reading skills in children and adults. more
($65.00) Do you dream of writing poetry, short stories, or novels?. more
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