Naima B. Robert – Children’s Book Bonus Training WHAT to write about! Join the FREE workshop
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This is your sister, Naeema b Robert here,
award winning author of almost 30 books for
children, teens, and adults.
And I have to say right off the
bat that, I do have a weakness for
children's books.
I started out in children's books. I've written
more children's books than anything else, and I
love helping sisters
write books for children because as it happens,
a lot of sisters like you would like
to write for children. So
I decided to put together a little series
where I can share with you
the things that I share with my clients
and with my students. Some of the most
important building blocks for writing
good stories or good books for children. So
today's session is going to be about the
what.
What are you going to write about? Now
before I continue,
I'd like to just make clear that I
do have a specific and special interest.
I am on a mission to create
222 Muslim authors
by the end of the year. And to
be honest, children's authors are, masha'Allah, the easiest
authors to work with, and they get the
most success, masha'Allah.
So with that being said, let's focus now
on the what of your children's story. Yes.
You. We're gonna get started to work right
away.
So what do I mean by the what?
The what is,
what are you going to write about?
There is a plethora
of options when it comes to topics to
write about. So let me break it down
for you so that you can start thinking
right now, you know, what comes to mind,
what possibilities are there in your experience, in
your, you know, in your in your area
right now that you could potentially
explore in a book for children.
So
the most common
way that most of us get into writing
for children is when we come up with
a story idea. K? It could be inspired
by our children and their shenanigans
or something that we've seen, you know, out
there in the street or even just something
that we imagine or we dream.
So starting with a story is a great
place to start. If you have a story
in mind,
start writing it. Now
it's not just stories that can work as
children's books. You can also
pull from
other aspects of your life in order to
create something especially for children. So let's look
at experiences.
Many of us have had all sorts of
experiences as children, teens, and adults
that could
very neatly
be retold
in a way that is engaging for children.
An example of this, I would say, is
my book, Going to Mecca. Going to Mecca
was inspired by my journey on Hajj, and
that was my experience. Right? I experienced the
Hajj, and I decided that
let me try and take this experience and
what I took from the experience, what I
learned, and turn it into a book for
children. And, alhamdulillah,
that worked very, very well.
The other thing that can be
good raw material for a children's book is
your passions.
What are you excited about? What are you
enthusiastic
about? What do you love?
Any one of your passions could be turned
into something really engaging and beautiful for children.
A lot of the time because you are
excited by it, you're enthusiastic by it, and
that will come through.
So if you have, like I did,
a passion for Islamic art and architecture and
history,
you could take that and craft a story
around that.
Alhamdulillah,
I was very blessed to be able to
do that in my book, Journey Through Islamic
Art. It was born from a passion of
mine. And the more I delved into this
passion and understood and learned more about the
different art styles and the different arenas of
Islamic history,
the story came took shape. And, Alhamdulillah, it
was published as journey through Islamic art as
a result of my passion.
Now another thing that you can do and
what you can draw on for a children's
book is your own expertise.
Do you know something? Do you know how
to do something? Are you good at explaining
something?
Because any of those could be used as
the basis of a children's story of a
children's book. So for example, if you are
a really great cook or you're and this
is I'm now basing this on some of
my clients' own books. One of our clients,
her expertise was all to do with recycling,
upcycling.
It was something that she did in her
own life, something she taught her children, something
she used to share with the children in
her neighborhood.
She ended up writing a book called Growing
from Kitchen Scraps, and it was published
in Malaysia.
You may think to yourself,
recycling, upcycling, like, what's that got to do
with children? But, of course,
anything that you know how to do that
you could potentially teach children how to do
could be the basis of a fantastic children's
book. So
look around you. Look around you. Think of
what stories have come to mind for you,
what
expertise, what passions, what experiences
you have that you'd like to pass on
to the next generation. And this is the
key point. Because
as far as I'm concerned,
your children's book is your love letter to
the next generation.
There are children, Insha'Allah,
who will grow up reading your book, who
will grow up loving your book, asking their
parents to read your book to them again
and again and again. It will become part
of their childhood memories and part of who
they are.
So think carefully now.
What would you like to share with the
next generation?
What's the message on your heart that you
would like to be able to share
with the next generation coming up,
earning
sadaqa jariyah along the way and helping us
to build and broaden the range of titles
available for Muslim children.
I hope that gave you some food for
thought. If it did, I'm glad.
Make sure that you follow the series. I
will be sharing a new tip in every
video and I want you to engage. So
let me know in the comments
what was your takeaway from today. And if
you have a book idea, you're not sure
how to develop, and you'd like my help,
feel free to go to naimarobert.com/services
and send me an application.
Tell me more about your book. Tell me
more about yourself, and let's see if we're
a fit to work together. As I said,
I do have a personal interest, and that
is my goal of helping create 222
Muslim authors, and I'd love for you to
be one of them. So until the next
video,
I'll see you insha Allah. Go out there
and look for those ideas.