Essentially, when you are looking at show, don’t tell, you are looking at a way of conveying mood and how your story is going. For example, what if you are writing a frightening Halloween story. When the monster shows up, you would not simply say that it was scary, and leave it at that! What is the monster doing that makes it scary? Is it large and hairy and does it have long teeth? Is it growling at the characters and frightening them, or is it simply sitting there, waiting to see what they are going to do next? Remember that this is what your audience is relying on, for you to describe to them.

When you are writing children’s books, you know that you need to draw a vivid mental picture for your audience to follow. An audience needs something to latch on to, and unless you do this, you will find that you are not hooking their attention nearly as strongly as you can. Moreover, when you tell your story instead of showing it to the audience, you are committing an example of lazy writing. It is far easier to tell a story in this fashion than it is to show it, and when you learn to write, this is not a habit that you want to get into!

Think about the fact that children’s books are all about single images, fast movement and interesting scenarios. Children do have a shorter attention span than adults, and if you simply tell them a story, you are going to find that you are going to be losing them as an audience much faster than you think you would. Take some time and think about how you are going to be able to hold their attention and what your options are going to be when it comes to letting them experience your story. What are the sensory details that are going to help them out?

If you want to learn to write for children, remember that being a good writer is important. Take some time and consider how you are going to be able to let them really experience the story and remember that showing and not telling is something that you need to have at the forefront of your mind. If you want to write for children, make sure that you are creating a story that they can feel and really experience!