Writing Lesson Plan - A Children's Writing Lesson Plan For Beginners

Since many aspiring children's book writers are also teachers, it might be a good idea to offer some advice in a familiar format -- a writing lesson plan. We'll develop this plan step-by-step.

LESSON ONE:

Let's start our adventure with a look at the categories of children's books:

Writing Lesson Plan - A Children's Writing Lesson Plan For Beginners

* Picture books -- In its broadest definition, a picture book is a book in which the illustrations play a significant role in telling the story. Under this umbrella are several types of books:

1. Baby Books -- For infants and young toddlers, these books are generally lullabies, nursery rhymes, fingerplays, or wordless books. The length and format varies with the content.

2. Toddler books -- Very simple stories for ages 1-3 (under 300 words) familiar to a child's everyday life, or concept books (teaching colors, numbers, shapes, etc.) Books are short (12 pages is average) and the format can be board books (sturdy paper-over board construction), pop-ups, lift-the flaps or novelty books (books that make sounds, have different textures, etc.) See the "Max" series of board books by Rosemary Wells (Dial).

3. Picture books -- Traditionally, picture books (also called "picture story books") are 32-page books for ages 4-8 (this age may vary slightly by publisher). Manuscripts are up to 1500 words, with 1000 words being the average length. Plots are simple (no sub-plots or complicated twists) with one main character who embodies the child's emotions, concerns and viewpoint. The illustrations (on every page or every other page) play as great a role as the text in telling the story. Occasionally a picture book will exceed 1500 words; this is usually geared toward the upper end of the age spectrum. Picture books cover a wide range of topics and styles. The list of Caldecott Medal winners, available from your library, is a good place to start your research. Nonfiction in the picture book format can go up to age 10, 48 pages in length, or up to about 2000 words of text.

4. Early picture books -- A term for picture books geared toward the lower end of the 4-8 age range. These stories are simple and contain under 1000 words. Many early picture books have been reprinted in the board book format, thus widening the audience. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (Philomel) is an example.

As we continue our writing lesson plan, we step up to a slighty older age group:

* Easy readers -- Also called "easy-to-read", these books are for children just starting to read on their own (age 6-8). They have color illustrations on every page like a picture book, but the format is more "grown-up" -- smaller trim size, sometimes broken into short chapters. The length varies greatly by publisher; the books can be 32-64 pages long, with 200-1500 words of text, occasionally going up to 2000 words. The stories are told mainly through action and dialogue, in grammatically simple sentences (one idea per sentence). Books average 2-5 sentences per page. See the "Amelia Bedelia" books by Peggy Parish or other "I Can Read" books published by Harper Trophy.

* Transition books -- Sometimes called "early chapter books" for ages 6-9, they bridge the gap between easy readers and chapter books. Written like easy readers in style, transition books are longer (manuscripts are about 30 pages long, broken into 2-3 page chapters), books have a smaller trim size with black-and-white illustrations every few pages. See "The Kids of the Polk Street School" series by Patricia Reilly Giff (Dell) or the "Stepping Stone Books" published by Random House.

* Chapter books -- For ages 7-10, these books are 45-60 manuscript pages long, broken into 3-4 page chapters. Stories are meatier than transition books, though still contain a lot of action. The sentences can be a bit more complex, but paragraphs are still short (2-4 sentences is average). Chapters often end in the middle of a scene to keep the reader turning the pages. Look at the "Herbie Jones" books by Suzy Kline (Puffin) and the "Ramona" books by Beverly Cleary (Morrow).

* Middle grade -- This is the golden age of reading for many children, ages 8-12. Manuscripts suddenly get longer (100-150 pages), stories more complex (sub-plots involving secondary characters are woven through the story) and themes more sophisticated. Kids get hooked on characters at this age, which explains the popularity of series with 20 or more books involving the same cast. Fiction genres range from contemporary to historical to science fiction/fantasy; nonfiction includes biographies, science, history and multicultural topics. Check out some middle grade novels from the list of Newberry Medal winners at your library to get you started.

Our final stop for this writing lesson plan is one of the hottest areas of publishing:

* Young adult -- For ages 12 and up, these manuscripts are 130 to about 200 pages long. Plots can be complex with several major characters, though one character should emerge as the focus of the book. Themes should be relevant to the problems and struggles of today's teenagers, regardless of the genre. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton defined young adult when it was first published in 1967; the Newbery Medal award list also contains many worthy titles. A new age category (10-14) is emerging, especially with young adult nonfiction. These books are slightly shorter than the 12 and up category, and topics (both fiction and nonfiction) are appropriate for children who have outgrown middle grade but aren't yet ready for the themes (fiction) or who aren't studying the subjects (nonfiction) of high school readers.

Back with Step 2 of our writing lesson plan soon! In the meantime, visit http://cbiclubhouse.com to learn about the right way to write stories and submit them to children's book publishers.

Writing Lesson Plan - A Children's Writing Lesson Plan For Beginners
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Laura Backes is the Publisher of Children's Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Book Writers. Want to learn how to become a successful children's book author? Come hang with the Fightin' Bookworms at http://cbiclubhouse.com Whether is writing picture books, chapter books, young adult novels, finding children's book publishers -- or anything else -- you'll find all the answers at the CBI Clubhouse!

Writing an RFP (Request for Proposal)

A while back, a potential client provided me with some general details of the writing work he wanted me to do for his company. Then he asked me to send him a proposal.

Proposal?! I panicked as I tried to confirm with him what he meant by that since I had never done one before, at least not as a freelancer.

I must've not really wanted to pursue this opportunity since I didn't bother to do research or follow up with the company after submitting a contract instead of a proposal. A little time passed, I came across an article on writing RFPs (Request for Proposal). Ding! The light bulb went on. This guy verbally gave me his RFP and wanted a written response.

Writing an RFP (Request for Proposal)

When a company needs a project to be completed by a contractor or outside source, they write a RFP. This is a formal document describing the project, how the contract companies should respond, how the proposals will be reviewed, and contact information. Often, the company documents the submission guidelines to make it easier for them to compare responses. There are no specific standards or guidelines for creating the RFP, but government agencies usually strict standards they follow when conducting the proposal process.

Outside companies read the RFP and write a proposal (a bid) explaining how they can best provide and meet those needs. When writing the proposal, the company should closely follow the guidelines established in the RFP to avoid being removed from consideration for the potential project.

A typical proposal contains:

Executive summary - summary of the entire proposal Statement of need - why project is necessary Project description - How project will be implemented and evaluated Organization information Project schedule Budget Conclusion

My situation was an informal version of all this. The client gave me a high level overview of what I might do for him. If I knew then what I know now, I would've written up a description of the client's needs and how I would complete the work in meeting those needs.

Small businesses would likely do a proposal in between the one I got and the complex government required ones. Most small businesses will be prompted to write a proposal when approaching a client. The client may ask you to submit a proposal outlining what you can do for them. In this case, write a proposal including the elements of a typical proposal and keep it short and to the point especially if the client is not a large company.

There are examples of RFPs and responses peppered throughout the Web, but which one you can learn from depends on the type of work involved. A proposal can be two pages or as big as a book. Rely on your favorite search engine and do the research to create an unbeatable proposal.

Writing an RFP (Request for Proposal)
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Meryl K. Evans, Content Maven, is Editor-in-Chief of eNewsletter Journal and The Remediator Security Digest. She's a slave to a MarketingProfs weekly column and a Web design reference guide at InformIT. She is the author of the popular e-report, How to Start a Business Blog and Build Traffic. Visit her site at http://www.meryl.net/blog/ for free newsletters, articles, and tips.

What is SEO Article Writing? - SEO Copywriting Explained

Many freelancers have questions about what is SEO; what is SEO copywriting; what is SEO writing. This article explains - in detail - what this is. And, how to make money from it as a freelance writer.

What is SEO?

SEO is an acronym for the phrase "search engine optimization." Search engine optimization is all about doing specific things to your website to drive more traffic to it so that you can increase online sales - and traffic.

What is SEO Article Writing? - SEO Copywriting Explained

What are some of these "things?"

There are many, but here we will discuss what it is as it applies to freelance writers. And, this means writing text in a certain way so that web surfers (ie, internet users) can land on a particular site.

What is SEO As It Relates to Freelance Writers?

What freelance writers need to be concerned with is keywords. What are keywords? Keywords are the words and phrases that web surfers type in when they search for things online.

For example, let's say you were interested in starting a foreclosure cleanup business. You may not know anything about it other than foreclosures are hot in the news right now and you are interested in starting this kind of company.

So, you log onto your favorite search engine, (eg, Google, Yahoo! MSN, etc.) and type in the keywords "foreclosure cleaning business" or "foreclosure cleaning" or "foreclosure cleanup" or some other relevant keyword phrase.

Note: When you type words into a search engine to find something on the internet, the words you type in are called a keyword (one word) or a keyword phrase (two or more words with commas in between).

How Businesses Get to the Top of Search Engine Results

When you type in these words and hit "ENTER", a bunch of sites pop up and you start to surf (ie, click on the results) and start investigating the sites to see if they have the information you need.

The sites that pop up are the results that search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, et al think are the most relevant to the keyword phrase (aka search phrase) you typed in. Companies pay a lot of money to be among the first two or three pages in the results that search engines return.

Why SEO Copywriters are So In Demand and How They Make Their Money

One of the ways they get to pop up in the first two or three pages of results is to have relevant text that contains the proper keyword phrases. And, this is where you as an SEO copywriter can make a lot of money. You write the text that their site needs to pop up high in search engine results.

Many times, companies will simply give you a bunch of keyword phrases and let you write what you want -- as long as it's a certain length (usually 300-500 words).

There are many freelance writers - hundreds of thousands, if not a few million. BUT, only a tiny minority know what SEO is and how to write this type of copy. And, this is why they're so in demand.

SEO copywriters have an in-demand skill. And, as more and more companies move larger portions of their advertising budgets to internet marketing, there is an even greater demand for their skills.

In the SearcheEngineWatch article, The SEO Copywriter: Wordsmithing the Web, William Flaiz, underscores the importance of an SEO copywriter. He writes:

"The role of the agency SEO copywriter is unique because.... Suddenly, the writer must optimize press releases, craft articles for social news, monitor social network communications, and develop wiki content.... a strong SEO copywriter is adaptable and capable of internalizing a lot of new information extremely quickly. These unique individuals have fast become the backbone of many SEO engagements. If content is king, then they [SEO copywriters] are the kingmakers."

And this is why SEO copywriters can charge a premium for their services. If you're looking for a way to start or maximize your income as an online freelance writer, then SEO copywriting is they way to go.

What is SEO Article Writing? - SEO Copywriting Explained
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Check For Cookbooks Best Sellers 2012 Discount OFFER!
Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

About the Author: Yuwanda Black heads New Media Words, an SEO content writing and distribution firm. She is the author of the best-selling ebook, How to Make 0+/Day Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles. Ms. Black says, "You can work from home as a freelance writer in your PJs, getting assignments via the internet. I do it every day." Learn more about how to start a successful SEO writing career.

Article Writing Tips - How to Write an Opinion Piece

You know what they say about opinions. Everybody has one. And that's why writing an opinion piece can be an exercise in futility if it's not done correctly. You're probably thinking, "How can an opinion be correct or not correct?" It can't, but there are better ways to approach opinion pieces than others. In this article, I'm going to give you my opinion on what the best way is to write an opinion piece, based on my personal experience.

There is a lot of irony in this article, wouldn't you say? I'm giving you my opinion on writing opinion pieces. The key to this however, is that I am giving it based on my personal experience. Also, quite ironically, there is your answer in a nutshell...experience. It's hard to argue with somebody when they are speaking from experience. I've been writing for over 30 years and my best articles, at least the ones that got the most feedback, were the ones where I was writing from experience.

Okay, but what if you don't have personal experience with a subject? What if you're writing an opinion piece on whether the government should pass a certain law or not? Let's say the law had something to do with a certain type of crime, calling for stiffer penalties. If you've never broken the law, or been a victim of that crime, you can't speak from experience. So then what do you do? That's where you move onto the next best thing. Back up your opinion with some statistics.

Article Writing Tips - How to Write an Opinion Piece

For example, let's take that newly proposed law. Certainly there has to be some statistics that support the passing of the law. Seek them out and present them in your article. Give your opinion that the law should be passed and point out these statistics, whether it be people murdered, raped, robbed or whatever. By showing how the current law is not much of a deterrent, you make your case for the new, tougher law. It's not rocket science and it works very well.

When you give your opinion and back it up with either your personal experience or some solid facts, it's hard to go wrong with your article.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Article Writing Tips - How to Write an Opinion Piece
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Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Want to write articles that get people's attention and can earn you up to 0 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html - This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

Writing Articles For Publication - What You Should Know

Most articles are written for publication, either online or in print. Many people are writing articles for publication, especially on the Internet. Some of these articles are great to read; others are just total waste of time for those who write and those who read them. Some of these horrible articles come about because writers refuse to follow certain basic rules regarding writing articles for publication. Here are some of these basic principles.

Draft your articles first

The first thing to do when writing articles for publication is to draft them. The draft could be done in any format: as a text file, word file or handwritten (which is actually getting outmoded). This allows you to put down all the ideas in your mind quickly as they come to you. You then have them ready for editing and proofreading. You must always resist the temptation of publishing your articles prematurely. This temptation is great because publishing articles on the net could just take a few minutes.

Writing Articles For Publication - What You Should Know

Edit and proofread

The next step is to edit your article and proofread them. This should not be done immediately after drafting your article. It is ideal that you wait for at least a day or two before editing your article. This is because the ideas are still fresh in your mind, and you are somehow excited just after finishing drafting. You will not be critical in your reading. But after a day, you will be able to discover the omissions and spelling and grammar mistakes you made. You will even realize that some of your sentences should be redone. If you don't want to wait, then you can let someone do this for you. You cannot avoid this when writing articles for publication.

Make articles interesting to read

When writing articles for publication, you should bear in mind that the reader is not obliged to read. It is an essay for your High School or College teacher who must read whatever boring piece you produce in order to award you marks. You will have to entice your reader to read. This means that your article should be fun to read. You must know how to capture your reader and make him/her stay with you until they finish reading. Even if you are writing about very serious topics, you can still find ways of adding fun to it.

Your style should match your content

The style of writing you choose is a very important part of writing articles for websites. There are certain topics such as "How-to's" which will demand the use of the conversational/instructional style. You can't write pieces of this nature in a third person neutral style. Your style makes the article easy to understand.

Remember that writing articles for publication is a serious business. If you want to improve your readership, then you can't take the above points for granted.

Writing Articles For Publication - What You Should Know
Check For The New Release in Health, Fitness & Dieting Category of Books NOW!
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Check for Top 100 Most Popular Books People Are Buying Daily Price Update!
Check For 100 New Release & BestSeller Books For Your Collection

Stan Ashton is a marketeer and specialists in the marketing and supplying of high quality information products to entrepreneurs and small businesses globally. A management consultant since 2003 I also have a Diploma in training and development.

Article by Stan Ashton. Did you like this article? Then I'd like to offer you my free report on 7 ways to profit with articles. Grab your free copy here: http://www.profitswitharticles.com/