Books for life

Think about the impact of reading from childhood onwards in these creative writing exercises from Jenny Alexander

Last year, in a city park, I came across a children’s book, with a tag that said, ‘Whoever you are, this is for you. Happy Book Giving Day!’ I counted six children’s books in the park that day. International Book Giving Day takes place on 14 February, the aim being to get books into the hands of as many children as possible and promote a love of reading in the young.

Check out their website if you would like to take part, but in the meantime, celebrate your love of writing with these Book Giving Day free-range forays. Stick to the timings – your inner critic really does hate to be rushed.

Memoir

When did you discover the joy of reading? I hardly possessed a single book as a child, but I got into reading in my late teens when I discovered second-hand book shops. I only realised all the great children’s books I had missed out on when I got my first job, in Prestwick branch library, and then I read every children’s book we had.

What particular books have helped or entertained you at different periods in your life? Do you have favourite kinds of book for different circumstances, such as on holiday or on the bus to work?

Starting as far back as you remember, write the story of reading in your life. Take twenty minutes.

This month’s bonus bit: If you would like to encourage the joy of reading in a child, choose a book and leave it somewhere it can be found. Then, for a bonus bit of memoir this month, write for ten minutes on why you chose that particular book, where you left it and what kind of child you hope will pick it up.

Fiction

Stories have two plotlines – the action plot and the psychological plot – and you can start building your ideas from either. In the psychological plot, the protagonist is unsettled by a negative emotion – maybe they feel jealous or unhappy or unfulfilled – and the action of the story brings them to some kind of psychological resolution – at the very least, they come to terms, or learn a valuable lesson.

So, for this story, start with the psychological situation of the protagonist, and imagine a child who feels angry, anxious or sad. Picture them in your mind or search online and choose a photo you can relate to. Write some character notes – their name, age, physical appearance, some things they care about, some things they dislike.

Why is this child feeling emotionally unsettled, and how unsettled are they? It could be a very minor upset or a major struggle that they’re going through.

In your story, the child finds a book on Book Giving Day. Where? Who else, if anyone, is there? What is the book?

You don’t need to know any real children’s books – you can conjure one up in imagination, give it a title and an author, picture the cover.

At the end of the story, the child feels a little better, or maybe a lot. They gain some kind of insight or inspiration. It’s as simple as that. Write the story for twenty minutes.

Non-fiction

A third of children in the UK today do not possess a single book; in the US, that figure is higher. These children are missing out on much more than a hobby, because a love of reading at a young age is linked to higher achievement across the school curriculum.

Dolly Parton is a champion of children’s reading and her Imagination Library has sent over 100 million books to children in thousands of communities across the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and Ireland.

What was her inspiration for this amazing project? How does it work? Do some research. Jot down some notes.

Tell the story in one sentence.

Tell it again in half a page.

And again, in a whole page.

Take as long as it takes – research can lead you down interesting pathways.

Tip: Being able to adjust the length by adding or cutting is an essential skill in all forms of writing. It is often a big part of the work of redrafting – if you write lean in the first instance, like I do, redrafting means putting flesh on the bones; if you write long, the job will often involve paring it down.

Poetry

Every book is a gift from the writer to the reader – that’s why I personally do not post bad reviews, it would feel rude and unkind, like criticising a birthday present.

Imagine you have written a children’s book. Feel the heft of it in your hands; see the style and colours of the cover image, the title and your author name. Picture your reader. What do you hope your book will give them?

What message or dedication would you like to include at the front? Write it in the form of a rhyming poem – children like their poems to rhyme. Take ten minutes.