If you’ve started writing your book, you may have noticed one thing: when it comes to writing (aside from grammar), there are no rules. You have to figure out what works best for you…and that may be a process you constantly have to tweak.  In 2010, Margaret Atwood, author of

1. Take a pencil to write with on airplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can’t sharpen it on the plane, because you can’t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils. 
2. If both pencils break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass type.
3. Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do.
4. If you’re using a computer, always safeguard new text with a ­memory stick.
5. Do back exercises. Pain is distracting. 
6. Hold the reader’s attention. (This is likely to work better if you can hold your own.) But you don’t know who the reader is, so it’s like shooting fish with a slingshot in the dark. What ­fascinates A will bore the pants off B. 
7. You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there’s no free lunch. Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ­essentially you’re on your own. ­Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine.
8. You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You’ve been backstage. You’ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a ­romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.
9. Don’t sit down in the middle of the woods. If you’re lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong. Then take the other road. And/or change the person. Change the tense. Change the opening page.
10. Prayer might work. Or reading ­something else. Or a constant visual­isation of the holy grail that is the finished, published version of your resplendent book.

These writing tips originally appeared in The Guardian (2010), inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing in the New York Times (2001).

What writing rules do you live by?

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Know Your Demographic.

Believe it or not, it’s just a cliche to say you’re writing a book for all ages. That book just doesn’t exist.  The way you tell a story to a two-year-old is a lot different than the way you tell a story to a twelve-year-old. Figure out important demographics of your target age range: their vocabulary level, attention span, what they’re focused on developmentally…there’s a lot of audience research that should happen.

The hero needs to win.

There’s a time and a place for existential crises and twist endings. A children’s book, however, is not one of them. Kids are learning how stories are told, how to make predictions, and they get emotionally invested in characters. Children’s books are not for tough love. They’re not for teaching kids that the world is cold. They’re for letting kids believe that, if they do everything right, there is such as thing as happily ever after.

Have a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end.

You’re dealing with limited attention spans. Subplots and flashbacks aren’t for children’s books. Figure out what story you want to tell and tell it as simply as you can.

Be unique.

The book market is oversaturated with stories about princesses and superheroes. How can you stand apart from the others?

Find the right illustrator.

Kids’ books need pictures. If you’re writing for toddlers, you need a lot of bright colors, simple shapes, and common items…think yellow ducks, red cars,  white milk bottles, and brown cows. A book for a ten-year-old may not need a photo on every page, but it still needs something to help the reader imagine what is going on. Choose an illustrator who understands your audience.  And don’t be afraid to communicate your vision.

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