Children's Writing

 by Colin Davies

 It's quite a funny thing to say “I write for children” when to be honest, I actually write for me. Even though I enjoy 90% of a Stephen King novel as much as the next man (or woman), it is the stories that are reported as being written for children that I have always found the most intriguing.

This might be because once you cut out the swearing and any sexual reference (unless you're writing for teenagers, but I'll talk about the dangers of dating a vampire while dick-teasing the local werewolf another day) you can pretty much write about whatever you want.

It's like total escapism. Jumping through holes that take you to the magical yet sinister lands; secret platforms to catch trains to mystical boarding schools; making a complete mess while cooking after you've been told not to; making more of a mess while trying to clean up the first mess; trying to keep the carers of the children's home away so they don't know what you've done.

Spike Milligan used to write children's poetry and published a number of books. Roald Dahl wrote with a dark yet exciting style to entertain his granddaughter, while writing a James Bond script (You Only Live Twice) and helping to invent a life saving artificial heart valve (WRT Valve). Even J. R. R. Tolkien had a fascination with old nursery rhymes that had been handed down through the ages.

So, as I was saying, I don't see these as children's writers. I view them as writers of high imagination, with the skills to create images in my head by feeding me just the right amount of information that my own imagination can use to create the worlds with such vivid colours and smells and textures that I believe in them wholeheartedly.

From the nonsense

Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!

(Lewis Carroll)

To the silly

A hundred hair scavengers,

Sitting down to lunch.

Gobble, gobble,

Glub, glub,

Munch, munch, munch.

(Spike Milligan)

Basically, texts advertised as children's literature are nothing more than writings that adults will enjoy reading to their little one.

Nooks and Crannies

Look inside a Nook,

In the shadows of the wall

See if you can find a Cranny

Who won't do you harm at all

But do not disturb,

The Slinth on guard.

With big sharp teeth,

And bite, real hard.

Or place your hand

on a slumbered Wozat

Who's skin oozes slime,

Under it's tiny top hat.

Or Fix the gaze

Of a hiding Oodare

That'll take the sight from your eyes

with it's granite like stare

And avoid the attentions

Of the sneaky Abgroblit

With his sticky fingers

Will steal from your pocket

And never let your guard down

Against a Bull nosed Snerr

With a stench like rotting toe nails

So you'll know that it's there.

Stay clear of nasties,

Avoid critters as you look.

For the harmless Crannies,

Under shadows, in a Nook.

Colin Davies is the author of the successful children's book, Mathamagical: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mathamagical-Colin-Davies/dp/1905949006  

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cotton blanket gloaming grey

leather boots' unblinking eyes

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wooden bear with cub in tree

sugar glass stained blue and green

wool retrieved from chalky bones

salty chocolate, cherry scones

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If Not Now, then after I’ve finished messing around for another half an hour or so

 by Ashley Lister

I’ll be honest here: my schedule is replete with displacement activities, all of which I justify with psychotic vehemence.

At the start of this year I was commissioned to produce a novel about dragons. The story was based in a pre-medieval version of the UK. Consequently I was looking at sites about dragons and the fantastic. I was reading similar literature and delving into essays on Tolkien and the relationship between the complementary genres of fantasy and science fiction. I was brushing up on my pre-medieval history. I was watching movies about dragons and wizards. I was even playing PC games based on medieval battles.

Notice how, in the paragraph above there is no mention of my writing the novel.

I justified the above activities under the rubric of ‘thinking time’. In my own mind I qualify it as opportunities for research and reflection. A part of me thinks it would be more honest to call it ‘not writing time’.

But I have to wonder – are these really displacement activities or are they valid exercises in research and reflection?

The dragon book is now complete and with the publisher.

I was particularly pleased with the level of historical detail I’ve included because it’s accurate without being boring or intrusive. I couldn’t have achieved any of this without all the online research I did or the visits I made to areas of historical interest.

I was also pleased with the approach to magic in the story. Arthur C Clarke (Clarke’s Third Law) says, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ I’d encountered this sage piece of wisdom before I started writing the most recent opus but it was at the forefront of my mind when I encountered the writings of the 1930’s editor of Astounding Stories, John W Campbell.

Campbell dealt mainly with SF stories and advocated that those fantastic elements of the future that made SF so appealing to readers should be treated as if they were everyday objects or occurrences by the characters in the story. It’s a technique where characters perceive the marvellous as mundane.

Applied to the genre of fantasy, the magic in my story is not treated as miraculous, making it seem (I think) more credible.

All of which is my way of saying I don’t believe my displacement activities really are displacement activities: I do think they are genuine opportunities for research and reflection.

And the only thing that niggles at the back of my mind is the knowledge that I’ve spent time writing this blog post when I could have been working on outlining a sequel.   

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