10 Lessons I’ve Learned About How to Write a Children’s Book (Part 1)
By: Kimberly Welsh
"How do you write a children's book?" It sounds like a simple question. The answer is not nearly as simple.
I should begin by noting that I am not an editor, an agent, or a publishing expert. I am a first-time children's author sharing what I have learned over years of developing, revising, and expanding a single story into a series.
What I can share is what I have learned by doing the work myself.
My first children's book was inspired by conversations with my daughter more than twenty years ago. That original idea stayed with me, but the manuscript did not remain frozen in time. It evolved as I did, growing as I learned more about storytelling, children's literature, illustration, pacing, and the kind of reading experience I wanted to create.
Here are the lessons that have mattered most to me.
Lesson 1: Start with the Heart of the Story
Not every story needs to teach an obvious lesson or carry a heavy message. In fact, I tend to prefer stories that do not explain everything to the reader. Even a quiet or playful book should have an emotional center.
Ask yourself what you want a child to feel while reading the story. Do you want the child to feel curious? Safe? Excited? Seen? Comforted? Amused?
Before worrying about page count, rhyming, or how to get your book published, it helps to understand the story's heart. That heart becomes the thread you return to when you’re in the weeds working on your manuscript.
What This Looked Like for Me
For The Adventures of Charlie the Cat, I knew I wanted the stories to feel warm, curious, and observational. I wanted children to experience the world alongside Charlie rather than be told what to learn from it. That intention helped guide the tone as I kept writing.
Lesson 2: Know Who You Are Writing For
Writing for children does not mean simply using shorter sentences or easier words. You need to think carefully about your intended reader’s age and write accordingly. However, picture books often have another audience: the adults who read them out loud.
The language must work for both audiences.
The child needs to follow the story, connect with the character, and stay engaged. The adult needs language that feels natural to read aloud. This affects almost everything: sentence length, vocabulary, rhythm, repetition, pacing, humor, and emotional complexity.
What This Looked Like for Me
I took time to read other books targeted to the age group I am writing for. Current picture books have shown me how much story should be carried by the text, how much should be left to the illustrations, and how different books handle structure.
Lesson 3: Leave Room for the Illustrations
One of the most important things I’ve learned as a writer is that a picture-book manuscript is not meant to do all the work. The illustrations are a crucial part of the storytelling.
That means the text does not need to describe every expression, object, setting, or action. In many cases, doing so can make the manuscript feel wordy and repetitive.
If the illustration clearly shows that a room is bright and colorful, the text may not need to say so. If a character's expression can communicate surprise, the sentence does not always need to explain that the character is surprised.
What This Looked Like for Me
This was especially important in developing Charlie's stories. I wanted the books to encourage children to notice details in the pictures, so I had to resist the urge to explain everything in words.
That can be difficult. Writers often want to make sure readers understand exactly what they mean. But picture books depend on trust between the text and the art. When writing a children’s book, it’s crucial to step back and let the illustrator do their own storytelling magic.
Lesson 4: Read the Manuscript Aloud
A sentence can look perfectly fine on the page and still sound awkward when spoken. You may notice that a sentence is too long, a word is repeated too often, or a transition feels abrupt. You may hear that the rhythm slows in the wrong place or that the language sounds more formal than you intended.
Picture books are especially dependent on sound. Even when a book does not rhyme, it still has rhythm. Repetition, sentence structure, word choice, and when page turns happen all affect how the story reads aloud.
What This Looked Like for Me
I have read my manuscripts aloud more times than I can count. Sometimes I read them slowly. Sometimes I read them as if I were reading to a child. I often print them and mark where I stumble or lose energy. If you consistently trip over the same sentence, it’s a good sign it may need revision.
Lesson 5: Revise for More Than the Grammar
Especially in your first drafts, revision goes beyond correcting spelling, punctuation, or awkward wording. A thorough revision asks larger questions:
Does the story begin in the right place?
Does each scene move the story forward?
Does the pacing feel right?
Is there too much repetition, or not enough?
Does the ending feel earned?
Is the strongest moment receiving enough space?
In a picture book, you also need to think visually. Each scene should offer something worth illustrating. Page turns should encourage some kind of emotional movement.
What This Looked Like for Me
When I revised my own manuscripts, I often found that a section I loved did not necessarily help the story. That is one of the harder parts of revision. A sentence can be beautiful and still not belong. Good revision requires a willingness to protect the overall story rather than every word.
But these aren’t all the lessons I’ve learned. Come back later this month for five more things I’ve learned about writing a children’s book!
