The Writer’s Toolkit

“If I had to give young writers advice, I’d say don’t listen to writers talking about writing or themselves..”

--Lillian Helman, from Advice to Writers, compiled and edited by Jon Winokur (Vintage Books, 1999)  

Obviously, there are hundreds (even thousands) of books, websites, magazines and other resources available to children’s writers. In my opinion, these are the best places to start…  

Books for Children’s Writers

Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market .Writer’s Digest Books --The bible for writers looking to submit work for publication. Updated annually, it contains information about publishers and what they’re looking for.

Creating Characters Kids Will Love . Elaine Marie Alphin. Writer’s Digest Books: Cincinnati, 2000.— Very interactive, including exercises in each chapter.

How to Write a Children’s Book and Get it Published. Barbara Seuling, Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1984. This and You Can Write Children’s Books (below) are classic how-to’s with exercises and examples throughout.

You Can Write Children’s Books . Tracey E. Dils, Writer’s Digest Books: Cincinnati, 1998.

Worlds of Childhood . Edited by William Zinsser. Houghton Mifflin: Boston, 1990. This book originated as a series of book talks by greats like Jean Fritz, Maurice Sendak, Rosemary Wells and my absolute fav Katherine Paterson. A brilliant collection of wit, insight and sympathy, I read it every year as a pick-me-up.

Writing with Pictures . Uri Shulevitz. Watson-Guptill, NY, 1985. Excellent for illustrators or authors of picture books, this book discusses the marriage of pictures and text unique to picture books. As a non-illustrator I found it helped me think about lay-out and other considerations in a fresh light.

On Grammar and Style

The Elements of Style. Strunk et al. US: Allyn & Bacon, 2000. The Bible of grammar and syntax.

MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2d ed). Modern Language Association. Invaluable guide for research, citing sources, etc.

Sin and Syntax. Constance Hale. New York: Broadway Books, 1999. You can read this grammar guide from cover to cover. It’s a very fun romp through basics of grammar and techniques to make your writing “sing.”

General Writing Craft

Bird by Bird . Anne Lamott. Pantheon Books: NY, 1994. In brutally honest, funny and beautiful terms Lamott discusses fiction writing, the struggles writers face, and the truth about publication.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. William Zinsser. Harper Resource: NY, 2001. While geared towards nonfiction, I’ve found this book helped me in all types of writing, including fiction.

The Right to Write : An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life . Julia Cameron. JP Tarcher:US, 1999. Also check out, The Artist’s Way by Cameron – both inspiring and encouraging books for writers.

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Shambhala: Boston, 1986. Another “classic,” this book almost reads like a devotional for writers. This is another I re-read every year to remind myself why I love what I do.