首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
What Is Good Writing for Children? The children’s publishers will tell you they look for "good writing". What exactly do the
What Is Good Writing for Children? The children’s publishers will tell you they look for "good writing". What exactly do the
admin
2009-12-11
57
问题
What Is Good Writing for Children?
The children’s publishers will tell you they look for "good writing". What exactly do they mean ?
Before you send a story you have written to any publisher at all, your severest critic ought to be you yourself. To have a chance of succeeding in the competitive market of children’s fiction, you should constantly be aware, every single time you sit down at your word-processor, of the need to produce "good, original writing". A difficult task, maybe, but one which hopefully we will help you to achieve.
To begin with, let us try to pin down exactly what publishers mean when they talk about "good writing" for children. A useful starting point would be to take a look at some of the children’s books which won literary prizes last year. Reading these books is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways of: (a) finding out what individual publishers are publishing at the moment, and (b) learning a few tricks of the trade from well-established professionals. It goes without saying, of course, that slavishly copying the style and subject matter of a successful author is usually a recipe for disaster. Nor should you become downhearted after reading a particularly brilliant piece of work, and miserably think you will never be able to match up to those standards. Remember, overnight success is rare—most successful children’s authors will have struggled long and hard to learn their trade. Read these books as a critic; note down the things you enjoyed or admired, as well as areas where you feel there was possibly room for improvement. After all, nobody is perfect, not even a successful, prize-winning author.
Possibly the toughest challenge is right at the youngest end of the age range—the picture book. The would-be author/illustrator is attempting to create an exciting story out of the narrow, limited, everyday world of a young child’ experience—not easy at all. The whole storyline has to be strong enough to keep the reader turning the pages, yet simple enough to fit into a few pages. Another problem for the new picture-book authors is that it can seem that every subject and every approach has been done to death, with nothing new left to say. Add to this the fact that printing costs are high because of full colour illustrations, which means that the publisher will probably want a text that suits the international market to increase sales, and a novel for ten-year olds, with hardly any pictures at all, starts to look much more inviting.
You would be forgiven for wondering if there are any truly original plots left to impress publishers with. But remember that, in many ways, it is the writer’s own personal style, and intelligent handling of a subject that can change a familiar, overworked plot into something original and fresh. To illustrate this, read The Enchanted Horse by Magdalen Nabb. A young girl called Irina finds an old wooden horse in a junk shop, takes it home and treats it as if it was real. Soon it magically starts to come to life ... Sounds familiar? The magic object that comes alive is a storyline that has been used in hundreds of other children’s stories. So why does it succeed here? The answer is that Magdalen Nabb has created a strong, believable character in the lonely, unhappy heroine Irina, and the descriptions of her relationship with the wooden horse are poetic and touching.
So, to return to the question asked at the beginning: What exactly is" good writing" for children? The answer is that it is writing which is fresh, exciting and unpredictable, and which gives a new and original angle on what might be a wellworn subject. But do not be put off if you feel that you simply cannot match up to all these requirements. While there is obviously no substitute for talent, and the ability to come up with suitable ideas, many of the techniques for improving and polishing your manuscript can be learned.
What conclusion does the writer of the text come to?
选项
A、Anyone can learn to write a good story.
B、The subject matter is the most important consideration.
C、If you have the ability to think of good ideas, you can learn the rest.
D、Some published fiction is badly written.
答案
C
解析
文章最后一段指出But do not be put off if you feel that…improving and polishing your manuscript can be learned.由此可知C项为最佳答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/FTAK777K
本试题收录于:
B类竞赛(英语专业本科专科)题库大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)分类
0
B类竞赛(英语专业本科专科)
大学生英语竞赛(NECCS)
相关试题推荐
"Home,sweethome"isaphrasethatexpressesanessentialattitudeintheUnitedStates.Whethertherealityoflifeinthefam
Whichnumbershouldreplacetheguestionmark?
Whendochildrenstarttotalk?Ifyouaskagroupofparentswhenthishappened,mostwillsay"aroundtwelvemonthsofage".Th
Linda:How’syoursister,Mary?Mary:She’sfine,thanks.Asamatteroffact,she’sexpecting.Linda:Oh,isshe?______Mary:
"Opinion"isawordthatisoftenusedcarelesslytoday.Itisusedtorefertomattersoftaste,belief,andjudgment.Thiscas
教授告诉我们,这次面试者将优先考虑有实际经验的学生。(priority)
Alice’sAdventuresinWonderland(oftenshortenedtoAliceinWonderland)isgenerallythoughtofasoneofthegreatestbooksf
对企业而言,员工年龄多样化的重要性要远远超过性别或种族的多样化。企业需要记忆,这明显涉及其分工。【T1】年轻人可以负责短期记忆,因为年老者记不住近期的事情;(takechargeof)老年人则可以负责长期记忆,因为年轻人尚未获得这种记忆。不过,如果我们
我一直在努力为美国创造一个新型的政府:更小、更现代化、更有效率、面对新时代的挑战充满创意和思想、永远把人民的利益放在第一位、永远面向未来。(put…first)
food(录音中提到“Andheintroducesustohisworldashetravelsaround,lookingforfoodtotakebacktohisfamily.”,它向我们展现它到处游走,寻找食物并
随机试题
要想走近历史的“原生态”,首要的是要深入发掘一手的、可靠的原始史料,要真正读懂历史文本,在史学分析时也应重视解释、追寻研究对象的原貌。尽可能地不做________的评论,不带任何偏见。填入画横线部分最恰当的一项是()。
______cavethatGeorgehasdiscoveredinhislifetimeisneartheAlps.
利用扩散原理制备缓(控)释制剂的工艺有
在不具备自动连续监测条件时,二级和三级评价项目每天监测时段,1小时浓度监测值应至少获取()小时浓度值。
在建筑物和岩石接触面之间进行,以加强两者间的结合程度和基础的整体性,提高抗滑稳定的灌浆方法是()。
《中华人民共和国中国人民银行法》明确规定,我国货币政策的目标是保持货币币值稳定,并以此促进经济增长。()
以掌握同类事物的关键特征和本质属性为主的学习属于()。
在一项新的治安工程中,某些邻近地区在凌晨1点至5点通常不使用汽车的车主在车窗上装饰上一种特殊的贴花,并且准许警察在凌晨1点至5点之间拦截带有这种特殊贴花的汽车,检查驾驶员的驾驶执照。结果发现:带有这种特殊贴花的汽车失窃率比从前大大降低了。如果从以上陈述得出
若有说明:ints[2][3]={0};,则下面正确的叙述是______。
Hespeaksso______thatwecouldn’tunderstand
最新回复
(
0
)