Naima B. Robert – Children’s Book Bonus Training WHAT to write about! Join the FREE workshop

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.