Kids know more than you may think

Bren Macdibble on how to write for children

Hey there, fellow writers, let’s not talk down to young readers in our books. It’s not a good in fiction. It’s useless in humour. Kids feel that oversimplification and they don’t like it. Be clear but don’t reduce the topic.

The thing about kids is, they’re not little rocks unaware of the world around them. They gather information at a rate that runs rings around adults. You can take what most people think children know about the world and double it, but their comprehension of these events, of why these things continue to happen and their ability to articulate their fears, those are full of holes. This is the modern child. Not every child, sure. Many are very articulate. Some can tell you the history behind an injustice. But many don’t get the chance to talk out issues that frighten them.

Children have an inbuilt sense of fairness. They are coached from toddlerhood about the need to share, be kind, don’t hit, clean up after yourself — so how can they then look at our world and make sense of it? How do they make sense of adults fighting, hating, unfair laws, or polluting and trashing the natural world?

Fiction can provide a safe space to examine many issues in a compact, more personal way. Kids are often driven to explore topics that unsettle them. When they empathise with a character they can understand the motivations of the people involved, or find comfort in going there, seeing what might happen and surviving. So we as writers, have a responsibility to make sure our characters survive. We need to reflect the hope children are searching for in their futures.

It’s hard to tell the truth, to be honest about our dodgy environmental future but, as a child, that’s what I would’ve wanted. Our climate will change because rather than acting fast to mediate change, most of the world is still plodding. I show changes, show radical changes, in fact.

My characters are usually poor, and environmental issues impact the poor more than the rich, so I try to be honest about the struggles that may be ahead. But when I think about what we each need to survive after food and water, it comes down to family, safety, love, acceptance, shelter. These things are all available to my characters. These should be available to every child in an ideal world, crisis or not. I show the strength of being loved, and provide hopeful endings. Things will be okay, not just for my characters but for the world. It will endure in some form. Changed or not, as long as the world endures, we have a chance for lives filled with love and hope.

I don’t have to solve the world’s problems.

I just have to provide hope and keep young people talking and thinking. This is why I’m so honest about possible climate catastrophes

— I want to start conversations. Conversations between children and parents, at schools, in the playground, with Members of Parliament. Humans turn away from scary things. They shut down in the face of insurmountable problems. We’ve been doing this too long. The next generations have to face and fix. They have to go against basic human nature. The more we talk about issues, the less we fear them, the more we learn and the more solutions become available. We no longer have the luxury of being able to turn away from climate issues. Brilliant, concerned young minds are what we need.

Don’t underestimate young people, and please don’t terrify them into silence. Offer them hope. Offer them fiction that will help them explore ideas.