184: Finding Your Childlike Voice

When writing for children, finding the childlike voice of your characters is your key to success. Kids are far more discerning than some kidlit writers suspect. They know a “fake kid” when they hear one, so your dialogue must feel like it’s being spoken by a real kid. Also, it can’t include all the pauses and filler words (um, so like, um, what?) that might be part of real speech but would drag the story down. So how do you learn how to write dialogue in a true childlike voice? Here’s a three-step process to help you transform your dialogue when writing for kids.