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
58
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 do most successful children’s authors have in common?
选项
A、They did not get depressed by early failures.
B、They have learned how to be critical of other authors’ work.
C、They find it easy to think of storylines that will sell.
D、They have worked hard to become well-known.
答案
D
解析
文章第三段提到most successful children’s authors will have struggled long and hard to learn their trade“大多数儿童读物的作家也需要经过长期的努力与磨练才能成功。”
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/XTAK777K
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
Whendifficultpeopleexpressthemselvesorally,theygenerallywantatleasttwothings:they’vebeenheardandthey’vebeen
Whendochildrenstarttotalk?Ifyouaskagroupofparentswhenthishappened,mostwillsay"aroundtwelvemonthsofage".Th
TheOfficialResidencesoftheSovereignandtheRoyalCollectionBuckinghamPalace,WindsorCastleandthePalaceofHolyro
唯一使孩子们觉得重要的是,他们多久才能到他们的叔父的场去。
Shehastenedto______methatthereportcontainednocriticalcommentsonmydepartmentperformance.
A、 B、 C、 D、 E、 B(解答本题首先要了解AistoBasCistoD的含义,即“A对B而言正如C对D而言”。通过观察可知,第二个图形在第一个图的基础上,把四个正方形环环
Alice’sAdventuresinWonderland(oftenshortenedtoAliceinWonderland)isgenerallythoughtofasoneofthegreatestbooksf
Alice’sAdventuresinWonderland(oftenshortenedtoAliceinWonderland)isgenerallythoughtofasoneofthegreatestbooksf
随机试题
在时分多路复用通信系统中,每一路所占有的时间间隔称为()。
Heisalreadyinthebathsodonot______himtoanswerthephone.
某项目有4个方案,甲方案财务净现值FNPV=200万元,投资现值Ip=3000万元,乙方案FNPV=180万元,Ip=2000万元;丙方案FNPV=150万元,Ip=3000万元;丁方案FNPV=200万元,Ip=2000万元,据此条件,项目的最好方案是
在Windows98下要激活一个快捷菜单的方法是()。
健康保险中都规定有免赔款条款,其中,全年免配额扣除的对象是()。
在其他因素不变的条件下,如果一国政府在社会保障政策上降低保障标准,则其财政支出占国内生产总值的比重的变化情况是()。
A公司是一家上市公司,业务量增长迅速,预计每年销售收入增长80%~120%。A公司决定通过新建厂房来提高生产能力,为此需要筹措资金6亿元,其中5000万元可以通过公司自有资金解决,剩余的5.5亿元需要从外部筹资。A公司有关财务数据如下:(1)资产总额为3
()对于家具相当于花岗岩对于()
在某应用软件的安装说明书中指出,该应用软件的运行环境为Windows98 SE。这里的SE是指【 】。
ManyAmericans-perhapsmostofthem-aren’treadyforPresidentBush’s"ownershipsociety".Theideasoundsgood.Employeescould
最新回复
(
0
)