Children's Novel Writing for Beginners

A course by Lisa Thompson , Children's Author

Children's Author. London, United Kingdom.
Joined February 2021

Learn to create contemporary and vibrant fiction for young readers, inspired by your memories.

99% positive reviews (76)
1,886 students
Audio: English
English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch

Learn to create contemporary and vibrant fiction for young readers, inspired by your memories.

We are all storytellers, and through children’s novel writing you can dive into your own memories and explore your senses to create a captivating narrative. Lisa Thompson is a professional children’s author and writer of the best-selling book The Goldfish Boy, among others. She has been nominated for numerous awards including the Carnegie Medal and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. She also gives talks and workshops at book festivals and schools.

In this course, Lisa teaches you how to tap in your surroundings, and evoke memories in order to make your stories realistic and vivid for your readers. Learn how to gather ideas and inspiration, establish your main character, connect to your audience, and share your work with the world. Are you ready to spark the imagination of young readers?

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What will you learn in this online course?

13 lessons & 23 downloads

Materials for Writing
3 minutes, 42 seconds
Ideas
12 minutes, 43 seconds
Choosing Your Main Characters
11 minutes, 0 seconds
Finding Material in Your Past
5 minutes, 37 seconds
Planning a Story
9 minutes, 42 seconds
  • 99% positive reviews (76)
  • 1,886 students
  • 13 lessons (1h 39m)
  • 23 additional resources (6 files)
  • Online and at your own pace
  • Available on the app
  • Audio: English
  • English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
  • Level: Beginner
  • Unlimited access forever

What is this course's project?

Write a short fiction story for a young audience using your own memories to make the narrative more realistic and vibrant.

Projects by course students

Who is this online course for?

This course is for anyone who wants to try writing a story for young readers.

Requirements and materials

No previous experience is required.

In terms of materials, all you need is something to write with, this can be pen and paper or if you want to write digitally you’ll need access to word processing software.


Reviews

1,886 Students
76 Reviews
99% Positive ratings
  • More reviews

Lisa Thompson

A course by Lisa Thompson

Teacher Plus
Children's Author

Lisa Thompson is a children’s author from the UK. When she was nine years old she wrote her first book and realized that she could live out her dreams through writing. However, Lisa went on to pursue a career making radio programmes for the BBC for many years before she became a professional writer.

Inspired by creating a sense of mystery in real-world settings, she has written several books including The Light Jar, Owen and the Soldier, The Boy Who Fooled the World, and her best-selling book The Goldfish Boy. Lisa also gives talks and workshops at schools and book festivals, and has been nominated for numerous awards including the Carnegie Medal and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.


Content

  • U1

    Introduction

    • About Me
    • Influences
  • U2

    Finding Ideas and Preparing to Write

    • Materials for Writing
    • Ideas
    • Choosing Your Main Characters
    • Finding Material in Your Past
    • Planning a Story
  • U3

    How to Enrich Your Writing

    • Researching to Connect with Your Audience
    • The Importance of 'Show, Don't Tell'
    • Music and Mood Boards
    • Writing and Finishing Your Draft
  • U4

    Editing and Finishing Your Piece of Writing

    • Editing Your Writing
    • Sharing Your Writing
  • FP

    Final project

    • How to make writing more vibrant for a younger reader

What to expect from a Domestika course

  • Learn at your own pace

    Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.

  • Learn from the best professionals

    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

  • Meet expert teachers

    Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

  • Certificates
    Plus

    If you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.

  • Get front-row seats

    Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.

  • Share knowledge and ideas

    Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.

  • Connect with a global creative community

    The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.

  • Watch professionally produced courses

    Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.


FAQs

Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.

All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.

The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.

You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Children's Novel Writing for Beginners. Writing course by Lisa Thompson

Children's Novel Writing for Beginners

A course by Lisa Thompson
Children's Author. London, United Kingdom.
Joined February 2021
  • 99% positive reviews (76)
  • 1,886 students