Children's Story Writing: Plot and Arcs

 

 Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer

 Lately, I've received a number of picture book manuscripts from potential clients who wanted quotes on editing.

Once I read over the stories, I quickly knew they weren't an editing project because there were no actual stories. They were a list of events or scenes.

It seems to be a common problem with new authors who don't take the time to learn the very basics of writing a story.

So, what exactly is a story and plot?

An article at The Write Practice uses a quote from E. M. Forster to explain the difference between story and plot: "The king died and then the queen died," is a story. "The king died, and then the queen died of grief" is a plot.

The story is the basic storyline. It's the overall description of the story.

In my chapter book, "Walking Through Walls," the storyline is that the protagonist wants to become rich and powerful, no matter what it takes. 

The plot is in the details.

The plot of "Walking Through Walls" is that the protagonist wants to become rich and powerful, no matter what it takes, and he believes learning magic will get him there. 

Another good example of story and plot is "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin.

The story: Within one hour, the protagonist thinks her husband died in a train crash. Having missed the train, he comes home, and the protagonist drops dead.

The plot: The protagonist thinks her husband died in a train crash. Having missed the train, he comes home, and the protagonist drops dead, but it's not from the shock of overwhelming joy. 

Paints quite a different story, doesn't it?

Now, if you have a series of events: Pickles the dog plays with a cat, then plays with a frog, then plays with a goat, then plays with a pig, you don't have a story arc or character development.

I'll have clients ask why something like the above isn't a story. The dog is having lots of fun with different animals.

Well, if it was a concept book teaching about animals, then it could work. 

But if it's to be a fiction story, it doesn't work. The reason is it lacks a story arc and a character arc.

The story arc is the path the overall story takes. Every character in the story goes on this journey. It's also called the narrative arc. 

The character arc, on the other hand, is the path the protagonist takes. 

Just like the story takes the reader on a journey, so does the protagonist. 

The character arc is all about the protagonist. It's him confronting a conflict or challenge, his attempts to overcome it, and his ultimate success. Through this character journey, the protagonist grows in some way. She may gain knowledge, become confident, mature, rise to challenges, or grow in some other way. But it's essential there is growth, especially when writing for children. 

So, going back to Pickles the dog, he has no conflict or challenge to overcome. He doesn't grow in any way.

And as for the Pickles story, it's flat. There's no arc.

Readers won't become invested in a series of events. They want to connect to the protagonist and root for him to overcome his obstacles. They want a full story arc and character arc.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach with over 400 clients worldwide. For more tips on writing for children or if you need help with your children’s story, please visit Karen Cioffi Writing for Children. While there, you can check out Karen’s books.
 
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A feature in the right column of this blog lets you subscribe to #SharingwithWriters so you don’t miss any of Karen’s posts on writing for children. 
 

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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and "The Frugal Editor" both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically," and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "Great First Impression Book Proposals" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor "(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at "The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor" (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

THREE FREE HOLIDAY MEMOIRS STORIES YOU WILL NEVER FORGET

Dear Sharing with Writers Visitors and Subscribers:

Today’s guest post comes to you from my #SharingwithWriters associate who offers several free services to authors through my review blog, https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, with submission instructions in the round silver icons in the right column on the home page. Feel free to explore and get ready for 2026 by taking advantage of these contest winning memoirs (each a gem of inspiring true stories!) Any book in this series of anthologies makes a beautiful last-minute holiday gift, or a gift for the special people in your life any time of year. Since each book in this series is named for a different zodiac stone whose symbolic meaning forecasts the theme of the stories in that particular edition, once you know when the recipient was born, present them with that gem collection on their birthday. What a meaningful, thoughtful gift at less than the cost of a box of chocolates!

Today’s sample stories come to you as a gift from her.  Please pass the link around and they will become (again!) a free gift to your friends. 

Hugs and Happy Holidays to You All,

Carolyn 

PS: Watch here for an invitation on this blog to contribute to Lois’s next anthology--again absolutely free plus several great value-added benefits for each and every entrant.  ~ CHJ

THE LACE TABLECLOTH

 

Retold by Lois W. Stern

When a lace tablecloth, a pastor and an old woman come together at the very same moment in time, was it destiny or coincidence? Read this story to decide for yourself. 

https://tales2inspire.com/inspiring-story-lace-tablecloth/ 

THE HANUKKAH BUNNY

by Mort Laitner

Mort captures the laugh-out-loud story of the little bunny enthralled by his backyard Chanukah lights so perfectly.

https://tales2inspire.com/hanukkah-bunny/ 

THE GIRL WHO LOVED CHRISTMAS

by Micki Peluso

A little girl, born two weeks before Christmas, leaves this Earth much too soon, but leaves family and friends with joyous memories to smile anew as each December rolls around.

https://tales2inspire.com/girl-loved-christmas/ 

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S GUESTBLOGGER AND GIFT-GIVER:

Lois W. Stern, the Book Review Coordinator for TNBR blog spot, is the creator of Tales2Inspire, an authors helping authors Free project to help aspiring writers on their paths to discovery. As such, she has now published twelve Tales2Inspire® treasured anthologies of her contest winners' stories. Lois is a multi award winning author whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, Long Island Press, Barnard Magazine, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in varied venues. As TheNewBookReview review coordinator, Lois serves as an outreach to help other authors brand themselves as authors of talent. 

Get a FREE Tales2Inspire Sampler book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts

                                    Visit her Tales2Inspire blog at: https://www.tales2inspire.com/blog

                                         Visit her Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/tales2inspire

MORE ABOUT THE  #SHARINGWITHWRITERS BLOGGER 

 Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and "The Frugal Editor" both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically," and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "Great First Impression Book Proposals" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor "(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. 

 Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at "The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor" (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

The Dialogue Tag Lowdown

 

 

Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Ghostwriter, Rewriter, Coach

I rewrote a young adult book for a client. It was over 100,000 words. 

With that many words, the author felt compelled to mix up the dialogue tags. 

That, though, is never a good idea.

Some of the tags he used included spat, laughed, teased, smirked, joked, yawned, and sneered.

But my client isn't the only one who doesn't realize that there are specific words for dialogue tags. That might be because new authors aren't familiar with the tag's purpose.

So, what exactly is a dialogue tag and how should you use it?

According to The Write Practice, "They 'tag' the dialogue to a particular character. Also often referred to as an attribution, a dialogue tag is a small phrase either before, after, or in between the actual dialogue itself."

That puts it pretty simple. 

Dialogue tags are phrases that identify who is speaking. They are a must for clarity and in order to keep the reader in the know and involved in the story.

A few examples: 

"What was that?" asked John. 

"I couldn't finish my homework," John said. 

"If I go to the store," John said, "I'll pick up milk."

So, you can see that dialogue tags are straight forward. They allow the reader to know who's talking. 

The basic tags are said, replied, asked, and answered. These tags kind of become invisible to the reader. The reader can acknowledge who is talking while not thinking twice about the tag.

But when the basics just aren't enough, you can also use whispered, shouted, mumbled, and muttered. They should be used sparingly and take note that mumbled and muttered have two different meanings.

So, going back to dialogue tags that shouldn't be used, I did a search and was surprised at the results.

One site had a list of dialogue tags that included, emitted, bubbled, chuckled, grinned, sang, smiled, and rejoiced.

Another site had grieved, mewled, bawled, blubbered, fretted, agonized, comforted, admired, hissed, soothed, glowered, placated, assented, tittered, and sobbed, stating they could be used as dialogue tags. 

This may be one of the reasons why some writers feel it's okay to use these words and any other they think of. 

A good way to think about whether a word can be used as a tag is to think of the word and what it means.

You can't blubber dialogue.
You can't admire dialogue.
You can't comfort dialogue.
You can't sneer dialogue.
You can't tease dialogue.
You can't emit dialogue.
You can't spit dialogue. Although you may spit as you talk.

Dialogue tags and adverbs.

This is another common problem that can arise with dialogue and tags - the use of adverbs.

My client did a lot of this as well.

Using an adverb after a tag looks like this:

"Don't bother getting up," John said angrily.

"You're beautiful," John said admiringly.

"Get out of my chair," John said, disgruntled.

Instead of using adverbs, the sentence or paragraph should show how the character is feeling.

Ellen couldn't open her eyes. Crying all night left them swollen and achy. "How could this happen?" 

Showing what's going on allows the reader to know how she's feeling. You wouldn't need to add "sadly" at the end of the tag.

Do you always have to use dialogue tags?

Another question that can come up about dialogue tags is whether they have to be used all the time.

The answer is no, as long as it's clear who's speaking.

John shook his head. "No way. I'm not going."

"You've got to," said Pete.

"No, I don't."

In this simple example, you can see that only one of the dialogues has a tag.

The first one notes who's talking by using: John shook his head.

The dialogue that comes after that is from Pete.

The third dialogue line is John responding to Pete. As there are only two characters in the scene, the reader will know who is speaking.

Writing dialogue is easy once you get the hang of it.

A good way to learn how to write dialogue with proper tags is to read a lot of traditionally published books. Pay attention to the dialogue.

I'm NOT putting down self-published books; I've self-published books. The problem is not all self-published books are done professionally. 

Traditionally published books have professionals editing them; they have gatekeepers to ensure the story is quality. They know the ropes and it's important to learn from books that are done right.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach with clients worldwide. For more tips on writing for children or if you need help with your children’s story, please visit Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.

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A feature in the right column of this blog lets you subscribe to #SharingwithWriters so you don’t miss any of Karen’s posts on writing for children.  
 
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 MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and "The Frugal Editor" both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically," and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "Great First Impression Book Proposals" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor "(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at "The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor" (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

Writing: The Juggling Act

  

  Contributed by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer

 It takes time to write a 'good' story.

I’m sure there are writers who sit down and write a story in a day, but I’m talking about doing it right.

This is especially true of writing for children.

It’s so important to know the rules. Know what the standard industry guidelines are and adhere to them.

There’s a lot that goes into writing. And if you want it to be publishing and marketing worthy, again, you want to do it right.

But what happens when you finish your manuscript? You revised it, edited, and proofed it, and possibly even had a professional writer look at it.

Your manuscript, your baby, is ready to fly. 

You enter the traditional submitting phase. You’ve done your research and have found literary agents and book publishers in your genre. The submission process is in full swing.

This process can easily take longer than the writing process, but you need to persevere.

In the meantime… 

Should you just sit around and wait for a bite from an agent or publisher?

Should you sit around and gather dust on your keyboard?

Absolutely not!

You need to move on to another story as soon as you start the submission process on your first book. Once book two is in the submission process, it’s onto book three, and so on.

This goes even more so for articles.

According to writing coach Suzanne Lieurance, you should have around 12 articles out circulating to magazine editors.

This is how you get work.

It’s the writing juggling act.

Keep the stories or articles moving.

Once you finish one story, get started on the next.

Another aspect of the writing juggling act: Book Marketing.

While you do need to keep writing those stories and getting them published, you also need to work on marketing you and your writing.

Marketing is a part of every author’s writing life if you expect to sell your books. 

-The first step of marketing is to create a quality book.
-The next step is to submit your work – this is pitching your work.
-If you’re self-publishing, you will need to publish it and distribute it so it’s available for sale.

Once the book finds a home, it’s about creating visibility. If people don’t know it exists, you won’t sell it. 

The marketing and visibility process is ongoing.

If you’re wondering if having to promote your books is a must, even major publishers expect their authors to have an online author platform. They also expect the author to be able to help sell their books through that platform.

And, small publishers expect you to do all the marketing. 

Marketing is that important.

So, what are the basics of an author’s online platform?

-The first step is to have a website and keep it current.

-Next is to post to social media to bring awareness about you, your books, articles, or services.

This will take up any spare writing time you may have. 

So, if you’re a writer, there is no such thing as downtime. It’s all about the writing juggling act.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author, ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach with clients worldwide. If you need help with your children’s story, please visit Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.
 
Karen also offers: 

HOW TO WRITE A CHILDREN’S FICTION BOOK. 
A 250+ book that will help you start or finish your children’s book

FICTION WRITING FOR CHILDREN eCOURSE
4-Weeks / 8 Sections / Instructor Guided Self-Study Program
 
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MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T/ ) of books for writers including "The Frugal Book Promoter" (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), and "The Frugal Editor" both offered in their third editions by Modern History Press. Others in that series are "How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically," and two booklets, both in their second editions also from Modern History Press. The booklets, "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "Great First Impression Book Proposals" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII) are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book. "The Frugal Editor "(https://tinyurl.com/TheFrugalEditor), was recently released in its third edition. It is the winningest book in this series for writers. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it helps them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at "The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor" (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow it to get news on her new releases directly from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.