Books for Writers and Illustrators

There are dozens of books on the market aimed at both new and experienced writers. To help you choose your own bookshelf, here are some I have found useful myself or other writers have recommended. 

When I'm stuck on a project, I find The Writer's Idea Workshop and The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children are particularly useful at helping me to work out how to move forward.

Latest Review
How to Write a Blockbuster
by Lee Weatherly and Helen Corner
(Teach Yourself)
Although this is a general writing book, the information it contains is very relevant to writing for children and one of the co-authors is a successful children's author herself. The book is divided into two sections. The first, by Lee Weatherly, looks at creating your book. This is packed with excellent advice on plotting and creating characters but, for me, the most useful part was on the one about actually writing the story down. It has the best explanation of 'show don't tell' that I've seen and the suggestions for one making your writing more active were really useful.
   The second section of the book is by Helen Corner, creator of the Cornerstones Literary Agency. It deals with the business side of writing - creating a submission package, getting an agent and being published. There is also has a useful chapter that looks at other routes to publication, including book packagers and self-publishing.
(reviewed by Diana Kimpton)
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 Market Guides   
If you are aiming at the UK children's market, you definitely need a copy of The Childrens Writers and Artists Yearbook. In addition to listing children's publishers, agents, film companies and masses of other useful addresses, it has a wide range of articles on writing and illustrating for children. These don't just deal with the creative process - they also cover the practicalities of contracts, copyright, public lending right and tax. Absolutely indispensable for children's writers and illustrators. (updated annually in August)
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If you want a market guide that covers writing for adults as well as writing for children, you have a choice of three. The two we recommend are The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook (the one with the red cover) which covers illustrating as well as writing and The Writer's Handbook (the one with the yellow cover) which concentrates purely on writing and feels slightly less formal. Both have a selection of useful articles, comprehensive listings of relevant contact details and a subject index to help you find your way around. Choose whichever one takes your fancy and maybe get the other one next year. If your budget is tight, you'll probably find one or both of them in your local reference library. Ask if you can't see them - apparently some librarians keep them behind the counter.
(Both guides are updated annually in August)
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The third option is the Writers Market UK. Like the other two, it has a range of useful articles and comprehensive listings of useful addresses. However, it doesn't have a subject index so it is much harder to use than the other two. The only way to find the children's publishers it to work your way through the publishers section, reading each entry.

Reference
The Usborne Illustrated Thesaurus                
by Jane Bingham and Fiona Chandler
(Usborne)
Every writer needs a thesaurus and this one is perfect for children's writers. It's much easier to use than Roget's as words with multiple meanings have a sentence to illustrate each one plus a list of suitable replacement words. The vocubulary suggested is wide and imaginative and the best feature of all is the lists of suitable words to use when writing about a particular subject. For instance, the section on 'fantasy' includes descriptive words for fantasy creatures, sorcerer's castles and enchanted forests as well as ideas for possible clues and tasks for heroes and heroines. A superb book which, although written for ages 10 and up, is ideal for adults and sure to improve your writing. I've kept my review copy and use it all the time.
Click for Sample page
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Writing for Children  
Writing for Children
by Linda Strachan
(A&C Black)
This is an excellent guide to writing for children, both for complete beginners and for those with some experience. It starts with a thorough examination of the many different areas children's writers can tackle, and it's particularly good to see chapters on writing non-fiction and writing for the primary educational market as these two areas are too often ignored. The author then continues with a useful guide to writing and plotting before moving on to how to submit your work. But she doesn't stop at the moment when your manuscript is accepted. She also covers post-acceptance issues, including the publishing process, self-promotion, school events and working with an agent.
As an added bonus, the text is interspersed with quotes and advice from a wide selection of children's authors who are writing today so the book is packed with useful, up to date information.
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The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children
by Nancy Lamb
(Writer's Digest Book)
This is an excellent book on storytelling, packed with insight into the writer's craft. It covers everything you need to know to write great fiction, including plot structure, viewpoint and characterisation. The clear explanations include useful examples as well as hints on spotting why something doesn't work and tips on avoiding common pitfalls. I particularly liked the concept that we make a promise to our readers at the beginning of the book and must keep that promise at the end. As Nancy Lamb is American, UK readers may not know all the titles to which she refers but this doesn't detract from the book's usefulness to both novice and experienced writers.
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Teach Yourself Writing for Children
by Allan Frewin Jones and Lesley Pollinger
(Teach Yourself)
Written jointly by an author and an agent, this book provides an interesting insight into how the world of children's books works and what editors don't want to publish. ("I never want to see another project based on talking vegetables and/or traffic cones!") With information on working with illustrators, writing faction, dealing with rejection and publicising your book, it is a useful book for beginners and for those further on. However most complete beginners would need more help with the actual nuts and bolts of writing and plotting than is provided here.
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Writing a Children's Book
by Pamela Cleaver
(How To Books)
Although you're likely to read this book from cover to cover initially, Pamela Cleaver has used subheadings and bulleted lists very effectively so it's easy to dip into it to find the information you need. She covers plotting and character development in great detail, emphasising the importance of conflict and complications, and provides a detailed chapter on the important art of rewriting. Other useful information includes a guide to revising your work, tips on dealing with writer's block and a whole chapter on writing nonfiction. Useful for complete beginners and the more experienced.
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Write for Children
by Andrew Melrose
(Routledge)
Andrew Melrose teaches the MA in writing for children at King Alfred's College, Winchester and has written this book with his students in mind. As a result, it is much more intellectual than many other how-to-write books with more quotations, longer words and more convoluted sentences. (For instance, it talks about scatalogical humour rather than toilet jokes.) To counterbalance this, its well organised sub-headings and bulleted lists allow you to skim read if you wish so you can pull out the facts you want straightaway, then go back to absorb the deeper information on a second, more leisurely reading. This is not the ideal choice for a complete beginner but it wasn't meant to be. Andrew Melrose has targetted his market correctly so the book is useful for more advanced writers and particularly good for students of creative writing at degree level and beyond or others coming from a literary background.
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Writing a Children's Book
by Pamela Cleaver
(How To Books)
This is a new edition of this very useful guide so it's completely up-to-date. Although you're likely to read it from cover to cover initially, Pamela Cleaver has used subheadings and bulleted lists very effectively so it's easy to dip into the book to find the information you need. She covers plotting and character development in great detail, emphasising the importance of conflict and complications, and provides a detailed chapter on the important art of rewriting. Other useful information includes a list of reasons why manuscripts are rejected, tips on dealing with writer's block and a whole chapter on writing nonfiction. Useful for complete beginners and the more experienced.
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Illustration
Illustrating Children's Books
by Martin Salisbury
(A & C Black)
This is a wonderful book for any aspiring artist. Starting with a brief history of children's book illustration, it moves on to look at drawing skills, ways to use different media and how to develop characters. It then explores different types of book in detail including picture books, books for older children and non-fiction, considering how to decide which sections of the book to illustrate and how to use viewpoint and other aspects of the picture to vary the mood or add drama and pace. The final section deal with the tricky subject of getting published, with advice on preparing a portfolio, approaching commissioning editors, finding an agent and getting paid. Interspersed throughout the book are ten fascinating case studies, each of which follow the development of a particular piece of work.
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Writing for Animation
How to Write for Animation
by Jeffrey Scott
(The Overlook Press)
With so many children's authors wanting to write for animation, it's great to see a book on the subject at long last, especially one as good as this. Jeffrey Scott has an impressive list of credentials in the business so you can be confident his advice is sound. In the first section of the book, he gives an overview of the animation process and how the writer fits into the team. In the second, he looks at developing a story from an original premise to a finished script using an episode from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as an example. I found this extremely useful as his method of plot development opened up a new way of working for me. He also looks at developing new series and, although he stresses that this is hard for a beginner to do successfully, he shows how to create a presentation and series bible. The third section deals with selling your script and, although his advice is based on the American market, it is easily adaptable to the UK. It's particularly good to see a whole chapter on breaking into animation without an agent. At the end of the book is an extensive glossary which explains animation jargon to newcomers. Altogether a very useful read - I've already written for animation but I still found it useful.
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 General Writing Books    
Plot and Structure
by James Scott Bell
(Writers Digest Books)
There are quite a few books that try to explain how plot works, but this is one of the very few that really show you how to tackle the process of plotting. My own copy is dog-eared from frequent use, and it has definitely helped to improve my writing.
Starting with a quick look at plot structure, James Scott Bell rapidly moves on to ways to find ideas and develop them into a strong story. The book is packed full with useful advice and exercises to trigger your creativity and help you find ways to strengthen your plots. Highly recommended, whether you like to plot in detail before you start writing or prefer to dive straight in and see where your characters lead you.
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Description and Setting
by Ron Rozelle
(Writers Digest Books)
Don't be fooled by the title of this book. It's not about writing poetic descriptions of sunsets. It's about drawing your readers into your story and bringing your characters alive. Using well-chosen examples, the author explains how to cut the clutter from your story, explores the issue of showing rather than telling and shows how to use all your senses when creating scenes. She also looks critically at the tools you can use - including adverbs, metaphors, cadence and punctuation - and shows how to use them for best effect.
    This is a useful book, both for experienced writers and those who are just getting started. I found it helped me see what I was doing right, as well as showing me ways to improve.
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Writing Clinic
by Kelly Nickell
(Writer's Digest Book)
This book offers a fascinating insight into what editors want to see when a book, article, query letter or synopsis lands on their desk. It helps writers understand the importance of revising their own work, by showing easy to understand examples of the critiques given to real-life authors. It also explains how to give useful and constructive criticism to others. The comments may be by American editors, but these comments are equally relevant to the needs of the UK market.
Whilst reading the whole book is extremely instructive, the simple layout allows you to dip into different areas whenever necessary. So whether writing for children or adults, fiction or non-fiction, this book should increase your knowledge, and therefore your chances of publication.
(reviewed by Jan Wright)
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Eats, Shoots and Leaves
by Lynne Truss
(Profile Books)
There are many books about punctuation but this is the only one I've found that's fun to read. (It's also the only one that topped the bestsellers list for weeks.) It uses amusing anecdotes and examples to illustrate the right and wrong ways to use the various punctuation marks while, at the same time, explaining the history of how the marks came into being and how their use has changed over the years.
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From Pitch to Publication
by Carole Blake
(Macmillan)
Written by a top agent, this book takes you through the business side of writing, including understanding the book trade, negotiating a contract and understanding royalty statements. Although Carole Blake talks exclusively about adults books, her information and advice is equally relevant to children's publishing. She includes hints on finding and working with an agent but, if you haven't got one, this book is just what you need to help you cope alone.
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The Writer's Idea Workshop
by Jack Heffron
(Writer's Digest Books)
All writers occasionally run into a writing block. Maybe you haven't any ideas. Maybe the the book you're writing seems to have fizzled out somewhere in the middle. One way to find a solution is to reach for this book. It's packed with sensible advice and useful prompts to help you get your creativity rolling again. I've used this book successfully myself and particularly like the chapter, Dot the Dragon's Eye, which helps you add the tiny details that brings a story alive.
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Marketing your Book: an Author's Guide
by Alison Baverstock
(A&C Black)
The times when authors could get on with their writing and ignore selling have long gone, if they ever existed. Publishers increasingly expect us to help with marketing campaigns and do our own publicity so a book that tells us how to do that is both timely and useful. Alison Baverstock is an author herself and a marketing expert who has worked in publishing so her advice is based on practical experience on both sides of the divide. There are sections on writing press releases, doing radio interviews and giving talks as well as suggestions on how to get on well with your publisher's publicity department. There is surprisingly little on harnessing the publicity power of the Internet but, despite this, the book should be useful to most authors, especially those new to publication. It has a particularly good section on deciding whether to self-publish so, if you're thinking of going down that route, read this first so you realise how much work is involved.
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Story  by Robert McKee
(Methuen)
As the name suggests, this inspiring book is purely about creating a really good story - one people will remember long after they've finished it. It talks primarily about writing screenplays but don't let that put you off. The principles you'll learn here apply equally well to children's novels.
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The Writer's Journey
by Christopher Vogler
(Michael Wise Productions)
Some of the most enduring stories are the ancient myths so it's sensible to try to learn from their success. In this book, Christopher Vogler looks at the structure of mythical tales and how we can use that structure to add strength to our own plots. He uses films to illustrate his points but these are equally applicable to books.
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Teach Yourself Screenwriting by Raymond G Frensham   
(Hodder and Stoughton)
If you want to try your hand at writing for the screen, you'll find this book gives you all the information you need from developing your idea to selling it to a producer. The author is strongly connected with the London Screenwriters Workshop so, unlike many competing titles, the book is geared to the needs of UK based writers.
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Teach Yourself Creative Writing
by Dianne Doubtfire
(Teach Yourself Books)
This classic book takes you through the basics of writing both fiction and non-fiction and then looks at the various areas you may like to try, including writing for children. It is written in a highly readable, friendly style and benefits from Dianne's long experience as a creative writing teacher. This latest edition has been updated by Ian Burton who is one of many successful authors who started their writing career in Dianne's classes. A good choice for complete beginners who want to try other areas of writing in addition to the children's market.
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The Internet
The Non-Designer's Web Book 
by Robin Williams and John Tollett (Peachtree Press).
This is a fantastically useful book for anyone planning to make their own website. It starts from first principles and teaches you how to produce a site which looks good and works well. There are plenty of full colour examples, clear explanations of the necessary jargon and straight forward explanations of the technicalities which don't swamp you with the intricacies of html . This is the book we used to help us design The Word Pool so you can see the results of its teaching for yourself..
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