Children's Novel Writing for Beginners
A course by Lisa ThompsonChildren's Author
A course by Lisa Thompson, Children's Author
Learn to create contemporary and vibrant fiction for young readers, inspired by your memories.
We are all storytellers, and through children’s novel writing you can dive into your own memories and explore your senses to create a captivating narrative. Lisa Thompson is a professional children’s author and writer of the best-selling book The Goldfish Boy, among others. She has been nominated for numerous awards including the Carnegie Medal and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. She also gives talks and workshops at book festivals and schools.
In this course, Lisa teaches you how to tap in your surroundings, and evoke memories in order to make your stories realistic and vivid for your readers. Learn how to gather ideas and inspiration, establish your main character, connect to your audience, and share your work with the world. Are you ready to spark the imagination of young readers?
What will you learn in this online course?
13 lessons & 23 downloads
Materials for Writing
3 minutes, 42 seconds
Ideas
12 minutes, 43 seconds
Choosing Your Main Characters
11 minutes, 0 seconds
Finding Material in Your Past
5 minutes, 37 seconds
Planning a Story
9 minutes, 42 seconds
Researching to Connect with Your Audience
10 minutes, 43 seconds
What's included in this course?
Begin by getting to know author Lisa Thompson. She discusses how she became a full-time professional writer, what she loves about writing, and the books and films that have influenced her writing career..
Explore your writing materials and begin gathering ideas. Lisa walks you through the equipment she uses at different stages of the writing process, such as a notebook, a timer, Microsoft Word, coloured pens and a phonebook. She explains how she comes up with the concepts for her books and how to put together your own ‘treasure box’ of ideas. Learn how to use your own memories and surroundings to form a realistic and vibrant story. Then, begin planning the structure of your story by outlining key moments and character details.
Understand how to connect with an audience of young readers by observing how children speak and act. Then learn which elements to avoid to make your story relevant in the future. Create your main character and write a dialogue between them and another individual to establish personality. Learn to ‘show not tell’ in your writing, allowing your reader to fill in the gaps. Then, Lisa shares her best practices for creating the best writing environment, making a mood board, and advice on completing your first draft.
Hear Lisa’s tips on editing your work, and how to share it with the right readers, including finding an editing partner or a writing group. End the course by delving into how and where to take your work forward, from self-publishing to finding an agent.
What is this course's project?
Write a short fiction story for a young audience using your own memories to make the narrative more realistic and vibrant.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone who wants to try writing a story for young readers.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience is required.
In terms of materials, all you need is something to write with, this can be pen and paper or if you want to write digitally you’ll need access to word processing software.
Reviews
- 1 year ago
The topics are easy to grasp especially for beginners.
- 2 years ago
this is one of my favourite writing courses on Domestica and I discovered Lisa's books because of it.. and now "The Light Jar" is one of my favourite books for children ever. Thank you Lisa, you're a great inspiration for me..
- 2 years ago
interessante
- 2 years ago
One of the most beautiful and well explained courses I had the pleasure to watch. Although I apparently can't write short (I tried), I will apply the techniques learned here in the context of what I am now developing. Thanks a lot for the involvement of Mrs. Thompson
- 2 years ago
Lisa is not only a successful published author, but also a teacher extraordinaire - excellent material and such an engaging learning environment. I have learnt so much new information about writing novels for children in this course and I'm half way through. Lisa is incredibly generous with sharing her expertise, her own personal writing processes / techniques, and depth of wisdom on the subject matter. Highly recommend - it is such an excellent course. Thanks Lisa.
Inspired by creating a sense of mystery in real-world settings, she has written several books including The Light Jar, Owen and the Soldier, The Boy Who Fooled the World, and her best-selling book The Goldfish Boy. Lisa also gives talks and workshops at schools and book festivals, and has been nominated for numerous awards including the Carnegie Medal and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- About Me
- Influences
- U2
Finding Ideas and Preparing to Write
- Materials for Writing
- Ideas
- Choosing Your Main Characters
- Finding Material in Your Past
- Planning a Story
- U3
How to Enrich Your Writing
- Researching to Connect with Your Audience
- The Importance of 'Show, Don't Tell'
- Music and Mood Boards
- Writing and Finishing Your Draft
- U4
Editing and Finishing Your Piece of Writing
- Editing Your Writing
- Sharing Your Writing
- FP
Final project
- How to make writing more vibrant for a younger reader
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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