Writing Prompts and Ideas to Jumpstart Your Children’s Book Writing

The thing about a dream is it will never stop calling you - you’ll always be imagining what if… What if I had…

Taken that workshop? 

Listened to my friend and shared that idea?

Chased that idea of becoming an author?

Sometimes we wait years to start a dream just because we don’t know where to begin. If you’ve been longing to get writing, you’re just waiting for the right idea, I’ve got just the list for you. 

Now’s the time to turn that question around and ask it in a different way. What if I…

Choose this character instead of that one? 

Wrote my story for my family, not just everyone? 

Switched pov to get better creativity? 

Here’s a place to start so you can get to those kinds of questions.

What if your next bestselling character is sitting three tables away from you right now? Sometimes, when we don’t know where to start, ideas feel so far off, but they don’t have to be from some far-off land. The world is full of stories for you to tell, and sometimes all you need to do is listen. Think of yourself as a story detective finding clues out all around you in the people talking at the cafe, with the kids at the park, or even in your own attic. 

1. The "Secret Life Of..." Method

If you’re the type of person to have half-thought-through fantasies floating around inside your head, this one is for you. Go to a public place (a park, a café, or even just look out your window). Pick one person, animal, or even an object and daydream. Daydream for five minutes, thirty, an hour, doesn’t matter! The idea is all about inspiration from real life.

Ask yourself: What does it want? What is it worried about? What is its story? Now scribble all those ideas down and use it to form the base of your story. You can even add in those other half-thought-through ideas. 

2. The "Eavesdrop for Dialogue" Method

This is similar to a “secret life” method, but taken one step further. When you're out, listen for snippets of conversation, especially from children (respectfully and safely, of course!). Kids can say the most wonderfully absurd and profound things.

Using a snippet, start a piece of dialogue. You can build your story out from there. 

3. The "Childhood Artifact" Method

Sometimes it’s not just other kids that have interesting ideas - but we remember how we had all those magical or crazy ideas. And it usually started with something tangible. So try finding an important object from your own childhood (or you can even just imagine it). What memories does it bring up? What adventures did you have with it? 

Write a story with that object. Try making it the main character or a key magical element.

Another thing that can stop us from telling our stories is that we might think our ideas or characters are stale. When that’s the case, it’s usually not the idea itself - we all have many common experiences that are so important for growth! It becomes about how it’s told. We want to grab those nuances of individual experiences that are so important in childhood. That’s when it’s fun to flip the script and even use simple shifts in perspectives to get new angles and nuances for that story. 

1. An Inanimate Pov

Have you ever seen Toy Story (any of them count!)? Think about who the main characters are - that’s right, toys! They’re inanimate objects but they’re important for childhood development as they help with creative play. 

Try writing from this point of view. Write a common childhood experience from the perspective of an inanimate object. You can choose what. Something silly? Something scary? 

2. Translate Your Adult Problem

Writing a children’s book might mislead you to think you can only talk about childish themes. That’s not so! There are so many “adult” ideas that should be translated for children to help them learn.

So try taking a common adult frustration and think of a childhood equivalent to base your core emotion on. For instance, if you have a long commute to work that teaches patience, you could picture a child on a tricycle trying to keep up with their older brother or sister to get to a candy store. 

3. The Villain

One other tried and true method is taking a classic “villain” character and rewriting the classic fairy tale, nursery rhyme, or story from their point of view. While we don’t want to promote bad behavior, using this style is a great method to teach changing behavior, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, and the ability to rewrite the story for good. 

A good example is The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. The wolf explains he was only stopping by to borrow some sugar and wants to right the misunderstanding! It can be humorous and rewarding to rewrite from a villain’s point of view. 

Remember when a cardboard box could be a spaceship and a pile of laundry could be a mountain? Let's recapture that spontaneous, nonsensical magic to jumpstart some creativity and build a story only you can tell.

1. The Picture Prompt

Sometimes it’s not just real life that’s fascinating but our own life too. Our history, heritage, ancestors and legacy. It’s good to tap into that.

With this prompt I encourage you to go through an old family photo album or online museum archive. Find one photo or piece of art that inspires you. Write a story based on what you see.

2. Your Childhood Map

Still thinking about your own experiences, think back to your childhood home.

Take a paper and pen and draw a map of your childhood home or town. Only mark and label where important things happened (I fell out of a tree here; I went ice skating there)

Use one of those spaces for an emotional resonance to base your story on.

3. Jar Method

When you have a blank page, a blank brain, and nothing new coming your way you can always try some mix and match. 

Start with 3 jars. In the first one write down interesting characters (a shy octopus, a toothless beaver), in the second write down some fun settings (the bottom of a laundry basket), and in the third, simple conflicts (they won’t stop giggling, there’s a secret message to decipher). Then pull one paper from each and write your story based on what you get!

Did you try some of those out? How did they feel? Sometimes our anxiety still sticks around and has us thinking - I don’t have time to write! I don’t have the experience to write!

Well, I’ve put together the 7 Writing Prompts for When the Words Won’t Come to waylay any of those fears and spark your creativity in under 5 minutes. It’s a full list of free writing prompts to keep in your back pocket so you can pull out a helping hand whenever you need.