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Q. How do I write a children’s book?
A. Write down your ideas as they come to mind.

Writing doesn’t have to be hard. Just write down your thoughts! You can do that. When an idea comes to mind, when a snippet of a scene pops into your head, write it down and save it. Day after day, week after week, your book will show up on the page–if you give yourself permission to let the words flow.

Trying to edit while you write just leads to frustration! Writing and editing are different hats to wear, different ways of thinking. Trying to do both at the same time just doesn’t work. (This is yet another “been there, done that” situation.)

For the early drafts of my beginning reader Loose Tooth I tried writing and editing at the same time. I went through draft after draft trying to make the story perfect and NOTHING was working. Then I read The Right to Write by Julia Cameron.

“We are forever editing, leaving out the details that might not be pertinent. We are trained to self-doubt, to self-scrutiny in the place of self-expression.” ~ The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

So I gave her approach a try. What did I have to lose? I sat down and wrote whatever came to mind. ALL of it. I captured EVERY detail on the page, even the ones that didn’t make sense. And then the next day, I did it again. I wrote down every word of the story that came to mind, every single word.

After I had the entire story on the page, after it was all written down, I changed hats and started editing. And what happened? Those little details that seemed random at the time made the story work.

Those impertinent details turned out to be the answers the story needed. I just needed to give myself permission to write them down.

Q. When should I revise my children’s book?
A. It’s up to you. There isn’t one “right” way to write a book. What works best for you is something that only you can determine. It’s very personal. The only way to figure it out is by trial and error.

Some writers jump back and forth between writing and revising each day. These writers have writing session and an editing session each day. The secret is to know what each session looks like.

In the writing step your job is to write down your thoughts. You write down your ideas as they come to mind.

Capturing your thoughts on the page is your task as a writer.

In the revision step your task changes. As you edit your story, your task is to make sure that your words are clear. Now is the time to rearrange your sentences. This is when you move things up or down on the page — or remove them completely.

In the editing stage you are organizing your ideas.

Making small changes as you move through each draft allows you to work on your story in two different ways each day. Write first and then make time to revise. Or revise what you wrote yesterday and then write new material. Try each and see what works best for you.