Naima B. Robert – Children’s Book Workshop
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of diversity within the industry and the need for representation in children's literature. They emphasize the need for diversity within the publishing industry and offer advice on writing for children. The speakers also discuss the importance of writing for children in the face of global challenges and the importance of writing for children in the context of the global challenges. They provide examples of how writing for children is a combination of both fiction and non busier writing, and emphasize the importance of knowing one's unique perspective and learning from them in creating a sense of rhythm in writing. They also provide tips for writing a story and recommend attending a master class for children with a history of writing poorly at the start.
AI: Summary ©
And then we're gonna record it as well,
so there'll be a replay for those who
were not able to attend.
So just bear with me. Just give me
a couple of minutes, guys. Looks like we're
in.
Fantastic. Right, guys. We are live in Zoom,
and we are live on YouTube. And we
will probably go live elsewhere as well. But
for now, I just wanna say a big
welcome to everyone.
We're gonna record this.
Hi, guys.
So, guys, welcome to
the children's book workshop. I am super, super
excited to be sharing this with you because,
hey,
it's a it's a workshop that I've done
many times before.
I enjoy doing it so much because I
actually love children's books.
Children's books gave me my first
taste really of writing and of being published.
So I have such a special place in
my heart for children's books you would you
would not believe. So I just wanna take
a moment to just thank every single one
of you who is here, who's watching this,
either live or on the replay because I
know that you have so many demands on
your time. And I know it's a Thursday
night or whatever night it is for you
when you watch this. And I know we're
all busy. Right? But I want to thank
you for making the time to be here,
and I want to commend you
for taking out this amount of time
to focus on your dream,
to invest in your dream. Because
I have a hunch that the reason you
are here in this master class, in this
workshop,
is because you have a dream
of writing for children.
And that just makes me so happy
because it's so doable. And that's why, you
know, if you signed up for this workshop,
then you will know that
the whole point of this workshop is to
show you
how you can take your
experiences,
passions, and expertise
and write a really compelling of these 4
children's book. Right? So with no more ado,
I wanna welcome everybody.
You know, kick your feet up. You know,
get your water.
Get ready to take some notes. Okay? Because
today, what we're going to be doing is
looking at,
a,
why now is the best time for you
to write your children's book? Alright? I'm gonna
share with you how to turn those experiences,
passions,
and your expertise into a book for children.
I'm gonna show you how that you can
create engageable
engaging, relatable, and authentic
children's stories.
And I'm gonna share with you the habits,
tips, and techniques that I share with my
clients that get them fantastic results. So if
you are down for that, give me a
comment. Give me a yes in the comments.
Give me a yes in the chat. I
want to see you engaging.
I will be throughout this workshop asking you
to respond. I will be asking questions. It's
not a monologue. It's a dialogue, and this
is an interactive space. So fire up that
chat. Fire up that comment section. I want
to see you guys paying attention and here
with me. Okay? Yes. I'm seeing lots of
yeses coming through. So that's fantastic.
Alright. Before we get started,
I need to introduce myself in case you
don't know me.
My name is Naima b Robert, and I'm
an award winning best selling author of books
for children, teens, and adults.
Some of you may be familiar with some
of my books. Today, I'm not doing the
slides thing. I actually want to teach, like,
live.
So
you're gonna see everything with my lovely light.
But some of you may be familiar with
this book maybe. If you are, then just
comment in the chat if you've got this
in your home library
or if you've read this book to your
children or if indeed you were read this
book when you were younger. Ramadan Moon is
just one of them. I've got another one
here that I've put to the side going
to Mecca.
And these books are very much,
a part of
how I made my mark
in the children's book space. Because the reason
I started writing for children was
that my son, my eldest, and I, we
would go to the library every single week,
and I would take out, you know, copious
amounts of books, like 15 books at a
time.
But and and I love them, and I
still love them to this day. But what
I noticed when I was going to the
library is that they were so there were
no books
about
Muslims or about Islam, certainly not at the
level
of the other books. They were nowhere near
as interesting, nowhere near as beautiful.
They just didn't have the emotive quality. They
didn't they weren't compelling.
And I and I was concerned about that
because I wanted my children to be able
to see themselves
in the books that they were reading.
And that's really the reason I started writing
children's stories because I wanted my children to
have access
to beautiful poignant stories, you know, well told
stories, well told prose,
you know, that kind of
reflected
their reality.
Alhamdulillah, I was very, very fortunate because I
got a publishing deal very, very quickly.
And I was able to, my first book
was called The Swirling Hijab.
And from there, I went on to write
so many other books, you know, on different
topics. But I would say my niche is
probably
multicultural children's books.
Certainly, that's what my my name is recognized
in conjunction with multicultural children's books. And this
was kind of before the days of diversity
and representation, etcetera. So I was kind of
one of the front runners, But that's really
how front runners. But that's really how I
got into this space. And I'll tell you
now,
right in those early days, I didn't know
any children's book authors. I had never
thought about this as something that could be
done.
And I I wasn't sure, you know, which
way to go or kind of how to
get started, but the good thing was that
the Internet was already a thing. So I
actually spend a lot of time
reading and learning and kind of studying
from people who were teaching
the craft of writing for children, the business
of writing for children. So I remember spending
like a good year to 2 years when
I didn't really get any manuscripts published because
they weren't good enough, frankly, but I was
learning. You know? I was learning.
I was studying the craft. I was studying
the professional, studying the industry, and I was
learning. So by the time,
I I got into a groove and I
was actually writing, you know, fairly
fairly good manuscript and I was, you know,
in touch with a few publishers that liked
my work, I I I understood the industry.
Right? So when I come to you and
I'm talking to you about children's books, trust
me, I've been in this space since
2000.
Yeah. So that's fairly long time, over 20
years.
So because I've been in this space for
about 20 years,
I can tell you now that
this is one of the best times
ever
to be a Muslima writer.
Okay? Because we are now in a space
where
the need for diverse voices
is widely accepted.
The need for diversity within the publishing industry
is widely accepted.
The need for for, you know, representation
in children's literature,
again, widely accepted.
Publishers are actively
looking for authors outside of their usual,
actively looking for stories that reflect minority perspectives,
actively looking to support
own voices,
pouring money into it, setting up competition. Some
of them even setting up separate imprints especially
for those voices.
Not only is mainstream publishing
open to, you know, much wider variety of
voices than it was before,
But the Muslim publishing industry has grown exponentially
as well. So not only do you have,
you know,
children's books being produced by Muslims and and
published by Muslims at a rate that they
were never
20 years ago, you have more publishers doing
it. They are putting more money into it,
more care into it, and you've got
the established
Islamic publishing houses doing it as well as
so many independent publishers who are also in
the space of children's books. And the great
thing about, you know, children's books is that
very, very often,
your market is a lot broader than you
think. This is something I always tell my
clients. You know, you may think to yourself,
okay. If you're in the UK, you think
Cube. Okay. Cube is the only one. If
I don't get accepted by Cube, like, what's
gonna happen? But trust me, sis.
Indonesia
and Malaysia,
their economies
in terms of sort of Muslim books, Islamic
books,
far bigger than anything the UK or the
US or Canada could even hope to offer.
So I always talk to my clients about
making sure that when they do get to
the stage where they're looking for a publisher,
that they cast their net really wide and
try to at least make contact with those
publishers that are in the Middle East, in
the far east, you know, in in Nigeria,
for example. Huge markets of Muslims there. So
anyway
so basically,
this is the best time
to be a Muslim writer, somebody who would
like to write books that are somehow in
keeping or in line with her faith or
with her culture and her own background. Right?
Now
just a caveat.
This is okay. Firstly,
if y'all understand what I'm saying, if you're
picking up what I'm putting down, please give
me a yes
in the comments. Give me a yes in
the chat. Okay? This is a very important
point because many people
ask themselves the question,
well, why would anybody want to hear my
story?
Right? Why would anybody want to hear a
story about my family? You know? We're a
minority. We're this. We're that. We're this. And
I'm here to tell you that there are
a lot of people now who want to
hear those stories. They know that we need
to hear those stories, and they are paying
attention, okay, in a way that they were
not 10 years ago, in a way that
they were not 20 years ago. So
now is the time, ladies. This is what
I'm saying. K?
So with that being said,
let's just talk about the role of your
your religion and your culture in your writing.
Okay?
So I like to kind
of give books like a grading, if you
like, when it comes to Islamic content. Okay?
Because as you guys know, in the world
of children's books and just in general in
the world of books, we have fiction and
we have nonfiction.
Fiction being make made up stories. Okay? And
nonfiction being fact. Okay? Being not made up.
Alright?
Now even within fiction and nonfiction,
there are levels of
Islam
inside
both of those areas. Okay? So let me
explain what I mean. So Islamic nonfiction,
which is like the highest level,
would be
anything that is taken directly from the sources
and made applicable to children.
So in this, you'll find, like, books of
Dua, for example. Okay? Books of tafsir of
Quran,
books of ahadith.
Okay?
Stories of the prophets.
This is like top tier Islamic nonfiction.
Yeah. Give me a thumbs up if that
makes sense. Top tier Islamic nonfiction
is
taking directly from the sources. Right? And typically,
the goal of
those books is didactic. Okay? It's to teach.
It's to nurture. It's to inspire kind of
curiosity and love in the child. Alright? Top
tier Islamic nonfiction.
Now
when it comes to fiction,
you will find that the top tier Islamic
fiction
is a story.
It's a story. Right? But it's a story
that's built around Islamic principles.
Somebody said that they were reading the book,
the 2 my 2 angels. Okay? My 2
angels, perfect example of that. Ramadan moon, perfect
example of that. Going to Mecca, perfect example
of that. Okay? It's a story, but it's
a story that is built around Islamic principles.
It's actually built
in order to teach an Islamic
principle, to share an Islamic idea, whatever the
case may be. Again, its primary motive is
didactic. So top tier Islamic nonfiction
to teach. Top tier Islamic fiction also to
teach. Now,
of course, not every book is Islamic
in the sense that it's there to teach.
Sometimes it can be there simply to give
information. Okay? Simply to, to present facts. So
I would say 2nd tier is not is
like Muslim nonfiction. I'm not gonna use the
word Islamic anymore. I'm gonna say Muslim nonfiction.
This is where, for example,
a book like Ramadan Around the World.
Ramadan Around the World is nonfiction. I hope
you guys are familiar with that. I'm afraid
I don't have a picture of it. But
Ramadan around the world is a nonfiction
children's book that explores
the rituals and traditions and cultures
of Muslims celebrating Ramadan around the world. Okay?
It's there. It's it's a fun it's a
beautifully illustrated book.
It's a lot of fun, lots to see
in it, you know, lots of things to
notice.
It's very diverse. It really shows the diversity
of the ummah.
And it really is like a feel good
book. And it has layers of geography and
and and and history and culture, and you
notice that people's different clothes and the way
that they eat and all those kinds of
things. So it's much more almost anthropological in
a way than Islamic. Right? Because it's not
really teaching a particular message, but it still
has a grounding within the Muslim tradition.
So that's that's the 2nd tier
Muslim nonfiction.
Okay?
2nd tier Muslim fiction
is where the characters are Muslim.
Okay? The characters are in a Muslim context,
but the story itself
is not teaching
Islamic principles
per se. Alright? This is very, very, very
common where you find that it's more on
the diversity
side of the spectrum. So a lot of
the Muslim authors that you see being published
by mainstream publishers,
they write 2nd tier Muslim non Muslim fiction
or Muslim nonfiction. Right? A book like Muslim
Girls Rise. Okay? Or,
you know, a 1000 and 1 Islamic Inventions.
Those are all second tier. Okay? Because their
primary aim is not dawah. It's not it's
not teaching Islam.
It's telling people about the context. It's exploring
the ideas. It's exploring the context
without an aim to teach.
Similarly, with stories where the may the characters
are Muslim,
but they are not there to kind of
teach or to preach a particular message. They
are there. Maybe their Islam is something that
is simply a part of their identity. It
could be part of their cultural backdrop. Maybe
the story is simply about a little boy
who goes to school.
He happens to be called Ahmed. His mom
happens to wear a scarf. Okay?
Now I know that I've said a lot.
So please, could you just give me a
yes if you understand
the difference between, a, fiction and nonfiction,
and, b,
the 2 tiers that I've mentioned, like the
two levels, the top tier, like, you know,
top 1st tier, 2nd tier. Okay?
The reason I'm saying these is because I
want you to know
the the the the breadth
of options that you have. Okay? Obviously,
those fiction and nonfiction and the two tiers,
they have different audiences.
Right? And different publishers
gravitate towards
different,
you know, the different sections. So as I
said, mainstream publishers in general, they're gonna go
for 2nd tier.
Why do they go for 2nd tier? Because
their main market is not Muslims. Okay? It's
not Muslims who want to learn about Islam.
Their main market will
probably be schools and libraries and then the
Muslim population. And then, you know, parents who
want to expose their children to other cultures
and kind of give them a more multicultural
library,
that's their market.
So if you have a story that is
universal in its appeal, but you want to
kind of ground it in a Muslim family
or a Muslim character, then you're probably going
to go to a mainstream publisher with that
type of title because that's the kind of
thing that sells well for them. That's the
kind of thing that they like and it
makes sense.
If your book, the one that you're gonna
tell me about,
is
is more didactic, it's more to teach an
Islamic principle,
then you'll find that the ready market for
those books and those stories is the Muslim
market. It's the Islamic market. So you're more
likely to go to an Islamic publisher, a
Muslim publisher, or simply self publish because that's
where you'll find your readers.
Alright?
Getting involved with a publisher and getting a
yes from a publisher is about 3 things
coming together.
1, the right book.
2, the right time.
And 3, the right publisher.
I know a lot of people feel like
if they get a a rejection from a
publisher, it means it's because their story wasn't
good enough. But a lot of the time
I mean, I'm not saying that I can't
say because I haven't seen it, but you
will find that if any one of those
three elements is out, you will not get
a yes. So it could be a fantastic
story,
beautiful story,
amazingly written, everything. But if this is not
the type of story that this publisher typically
publishes,
wrong publisher.
It could be a fantastic story. It could
be a right fit for the publisher, but
they could have already published a book similar
to that the year before. In which case,
it's the wrong time.
It could be a publisher that is so
open to the idea. It could be that
the right the time is now, but your
idea just doesn't click with them. Okay? Or
maybe it's just not well developed enough. Whatever
the case may be. Just know that reject
if you're going down the publishing route, rejection
is a normal part of the deal. I've
been rejected.
Every single author you can think of has
been rejected. I do believe that JK Rowling
received 27
rejections for Harry Potter,
with very, very, very scathing
remarks from the publishers and the editors who
thought that it was a load of garbage.
Well,
we all know how that turned out. Right?
So
okay.
So we've covered, you know, quite a bit,
but I wanted to give you a a
kind of a a piece of that just
so you understand.
There are so many options because not only
do you get to choose and we're going
to do this later on because I want
to do some actual workshopping with you. But
not only do you get to choose between
fiction and nonfiction, not only do you get
to choose sort of like, you know, whether
it's gonna be top tier, you know, 1st
tier or 2nd tier,
You also have the option of writing for
different age groups. And this makes a big
difference to your manuscript. It makes a big
difference to the story. Because if you're writing
a book for toddlers on Ramadan,
it's gonna look a particular way. Right? It's
gonna have a certain length.
The story is going to be you know,
in terms of simplicity, it's gonna look a
particular way. The language is going to be,
you know, quite specific.
You know, that the concept itself is going
to be geared towards that age group. Whereas
if you want to write a book about
Ramadan for middle grade readers, okay, so 9,
10, 11 year olds,
completely different ballgame.
Same topic,
different age group, completely different approach.
Similarly, even with picture books which are typically
3 to 6 year olds. Okay? Between a
picture book and an early chapter book, 7
to 11 year olds, completely different. Okay? Even
if the topic is the same. Even if
the storyline
is very similar,
a picture book only has a 1,000 words,
whereas a, you know, a a a an
early chapter book or early reader, for example,
can have, you know, 5, 10, 15, 20000
words.
So this is really, really important. This is
something I teach in the master class. So
if you didn't manage to grab the children's
book master class when you signed up for
this, make sure that you get it. I
will put a link in the description so
that you can just grab that at the
discount because the children's book masterclass literally walks
you through all of this. Okay?
So
what have we covered? Why now is the
best time?
We've talked about, you know, the the different
ways, you know, that you can approach writing
a story for children. And the thing is,
when I say about taking your experiences,
your passions, and your expertise,
and turning it into a book for children.
What I invite you all to do is
to really
think like a children's author.
Children's authors see ideas everywhere. Okay? I'm gonna
show you some examples of books based on
these different things. Some people think the only
way that they can write a children's book
is if they have an idea for a
story. For example, there's a character, something he
wants something, something happens, etcetera, etcetera, the beginning,
middle, and end. And and that's that's kind
of the extent of it. But actually writing
for children, especially successful children's books, there is
a formula to it. Okay? There is there
there are principles that underpin
successful children's stories. Okay?
And one of the the ways that I
teach that in the master class but what
I'd like to share with you is sort
of my experience of using, for example, experiences
to write children's books. So this book I
showed you earlier, right,
this way.
So going to Mecca,
this book
is a it's it's really a prose poem.
Okay?
And
it's there's no kind of story read it.
So, like, no main character.
There's no dialogue.
Okay? It doesn't have, like, a a mom
and a dad and a kid and that
kind of thing. It's actually a prose poem,
and
it was based on my Hajj experience. I
wrote it as a poem when I came
back from Hajj.
And
the way that it was written, I just
knew that it would work really well,
as a as a children's story. I'll I'll
read you parts of it, and let's see
what I mean.
Now if you have this book
and if you do take the master class,
I would like you to read this book
and see
how I've used the principles that I teach
you in the master class. Okay? So I'll
give you we'll just do a a short
excerpt. Okay? And I will show you what
I mean. So
come with the pilgrims as they set out
on a journey,
a journey of patience
to the city of Mecca.
Some call Hajj a journey of a lifetime.
Fly with the pilgrims
as they make their way there.
Dress with the pilgrim as he stands barefoot,
a sheet around his shoulders, another round his
waist.
Now he is the same as thousands of
others, no riches or status to tell them
apart.
Call with a pilgrim as she utters a
prayer
and says the words that will make her
draw near.
Here I am, oh my lord, here I
am.
And above and around her, thousands of others
are making the call exactly like her.
Now even as I'm reading this,
can you hear the cadence?
This is not a poem that rhymes, is
it? Who can hear the rhythm of the
words, the cadence, the way that the beat
drops?
If you can, say yes in the comments
or say beat in the comments or whatever.
But if you can pick out the rhythm,
I'm gonna tell you a little secret. It's
something I've never said to you. I haven't
really told anybody before.
When I read this,
I can hear very clearly
where I was inspired
to write this in this way. And there's
a book called Walk With A Wolf, and
it's it's part of a series by Walker,
I think it was, non creative nonfiction.
And the author, I think her name is
Karen Wallace, and she she wrote a book
about wolves. Okay? And it's like a day
in the life of a wolf just to
show, you know, how wolves live.
And the thing is that it's called walk
with a wolf,
and the way that it the the cadence,
the rhythm of it, I can hear it
coming through in this book. Okay?
And this is this is fun. This is
the result of
imbibing good children's literature. Alright? When you read
good children's stories
or children's stories that kind of touch you
and and and and and make an impact
on you, it comes through in your writing.
That's why one of the things that I
teach all my students and clients is, you
know, read what you want to write.
I'm dropping gems here today, guys. I hope
you're taking notes. Okay?
Read what you want to write because if
I hadn't read that book by Karen Wallace,
I wouldn't have been able to to do
this book. And so how it goes,
you can hear the repetition,
something I talk about in the master class.
Come with the pilgrims,
dress with the pilgrims,
cool with the pilgrim,
gaze with the pilgrim,
stand with the pilgrim,
reflect with the pilgrims,
walk with the pilgrims. You guys get the
gist. Okay? The point is
these are tips and tricks and tools that
you can use
to create a sense of rhythm in your
writing and a sense of of of
of being tied together,
and children just love that. Yeah. I mean,
I love it personally, and, and children love
it too. They they really do. So,
what was I saying?
So that was that's an example of a
children's book that came out of an experience.
Okay?
And
an example of a children's book that came
out of a passion
is actually one of my client's books,
and she
had an idea. She was very interested in
explaining to her child
about
birth and death and how Allah created us,
etcetera.
So she wrote this on her own, but
she came to a workshop with Zanubia Arsalan.
You may have seen her on on social
media.
But she was always has always been interested
in, like, the science of creation and things
like that. So when she was writing this
book, she went and she wrote about what
she was passionate about, what she wanted to
share with her children, you know, the kind
of things she wanted them to be interested
in, the kind of things she wanted to
be able to make accessible
for her own children. That's an example of
you taking your passion, your interests,
and shaping it into something that is now
relevant to
children. Similarly,
I worked with Mufti Menck on his first
children's book called Let It Go, and this
is it here. We've seen it. Oh, glad
I've seen it. There you go. Let it
go. And how I did that was I
just took if you know,
then you'll know that he has a passion
for helping people to cope,
right, with this world
and to stay grounded and stay connected to
the creator and just to be able to
get through stuff. Right? That's one of his
passions. And if you see on his social
media, that's pretty much
a lot of the time, that's what he's
talking about.
So I took his book, motivational moments, and
I went through it and I lifted
different concepts from his book. And from that,
we were able to shape a story. Okay?
Again, an example of taking somebody's passion and
turning it into, you know, a rather charming
story for children
down to passion. Okay? Again, to be honest,
the passion came first. The idea of teaching
children forgiveness came first, and then the story
came up afterwards. I had no idea
about the characters. I didn't even think it
was gonna be a story, actually. I thought
it was gonna be more like a prose
poem, a bit more like Ramadan Luke, but
this is what came out of it.
So, you know,
I'm not I'm not mad.
So passion.
Now expertise.
Expertise
can be something that, you know, you have
studied,
you work in right now. Okay? Something that
you have deep knowledge of. And you can
take your expertise, whatever it is that you
know,
and put it into story form, put it
into prose form so that it becomes something
that children can consume, that children can relate
to. Okay?
So don't ever think that, you you know,
writing for children has to look one way.
You know? Another example, actually, I'm do I
have it here? I thought I had it.
Yes. Yes. So my good friend, Fatima,
she is a study she's a student. She's
in Alema. Right? And so she had always
had a passion,
and also to her field of study. Okay?
Sira. Right? She's always had a passion for
sira, Islamic history, and also she's studying that
at the moment. And so when she decided
to write this book, Khadija, which is not
a children it's not a picture book. It's
actually a, you know, middle grade novel.
But she was able to harness
her passions and her expertise and use them
to create something really, really special for children.
Let me know in the comments
if that makes sense.
And then I would like to see what
ideas
you have come with today.
Do you have any story ideas? Do you
have anything that you've been thinking about to
say, it might be nice to write a
story about this or that. I wanna see
it in the comments. I wanna see it
in the chat. Let me know. I wanna
see what we're working with here.
Because one of the things that, you know,
is is really, really important to understand is
that, you know, we have this idea sometimes
that, oh, you know, there's already so many
books out there. Like, how can I come
with something new? Or, you know, so many
writers out there who are way better than
me. Like, what's the point of me writing
something? Or I wanna write a story about
Ramadan, but there's so many Ramadan books already.
But
if you see that there are lots of
books in Ramadan, and there are, there are
like a ton of books about Ramadan. But
you will see that for the most
part, every one of those books has a
different approach.
Because that's another thing that I teach you
in the master class is how to take
your own
unique
spin
on a topic.
Because every single one of you is unique,
Every single one of you has a unique
perspective and has lived a unique life. So
even if I tell all of you, every
single one of you, the story you're going
to write today is about aid,
trust and believe. Every one of you will
come up with a different concept for the
story.
Whether it's, you know, whether it's gonna be
fiction or nonfiction, whether you're gonna write it
for toddlers, you know, for as a picture
book, as an early years, as a middle
grade novel,
you'll all be different. Whether it's gonna be
top tier, sort of 1st tier, or second
tier. What the actual story is going to
be? Is it gonna be traditional story with
a beginning, middle, and end? Is it gonna
be a prose poem?
If it's a story, what's gonna happen in
the story? Every single one of you will
come up with something different. Right? So really
the key is knowing, okay.
I can approach a topic from any angle
that I like. But now how do I
take a topic
and actually turn that into a viable story
or into a viable prose poem or into
a viable something. Right? That's the stuff that
we teach in the master class. So it's
it's it's it's it's really important to know
that. So we've got some ideas here. We've
got a book for younger children about respect
and obedience, and I can guess what the
reason is. Something to do with one's own
child. Right. So now a story about respect
and obedience, I personally would go for, you
know, a story approach on that,
because you can you can kind of hide
the message a bit better if it's a
story. And when you're writing a story, this
is something I teach in the master class
as well.
You wanna make sure that the child is
the hero. Okay? A lot of Muslims when
they first send stories to me,
make the mistake
of casting the adult as the hero and
the problem solver.
So the child has a problem. And in
the story, the child goes to an adult
and the adult teaches the child everything that
the author, meaning the parent, wants the child
to know.
And
while it's a it was okay to do
that maybe 10, 20 years ago, because our
children are so used to reading stories from
the library, from school, etcetera,
They're used to the child being the center
of the story, being the protagonist. Okay? So
the conventional way and the the way that
certainly publishers expect you to approach
it is that the child
must have a journey. The child must go
on a journey within the story. The child
must do the growing.
If possible, the child should find the solution,
find the answer. Even if they are guided
by a parent or they're kind of given
some kind of advice, etcetera, by an adult
or, you know, an authority figure.
We want the children who are reading to
go on the journey with the child. Right?
So that child, that protagonist, who's the main
character,
that main character has be the one. If
it's if it's a story about the child,
of course, you know, if you're writing about,
you know, the prophets, etcetera, then there is
no protagonist, but that's a different type of
story. Right? So if you're going to write
a story for younger children about respect and
obedience, think of how can I
how can I frame a story around this
concept?
How can I
teach my child
through a story
showing and not telling?
Very important principle in writing, showing and not
telling. Okay. So,
we also have an idea for a du'a
book for 4 year olds.
Yes.
Amazing idea. Again, this is our Islamic nonfiction.
Okay? Top tier. Or it could be a
an Islamic fiction top tier where the story
is there
to teach the duas. Right? Great idea,
I love that.
We also have another idea of a mommy
and son driving to school during rush hour
and discussing why he hasn't lost his tooth
yet. Oh, I love that.
I wonder what the answer will be. Fantastic.
Would either like to write top tier nonfiction
or fiction type books. I write poems, so
would like to use those within a book.
Fantastic.
Again,
you know, poems can work really, really well,
you know, as children's books. Obviously, it depends
on the topic,
which needs to be something that's of interest
to children. Right?
So,
one of my favorite quotes is,
one of the attendees says, we only have
a pixel and God has the entire picture.
I love it so much. I want to
write a children's book on this concept. That's
a fantastic image,
and a fantastic concept.
So, yeah, these are some great ideas. So
really what you guys need to be doing
is thinking, okay. So I have a topic
idea. They're all very, very different as you
can see.
Now I need to start asking myself those
questions.
Which age group is it for? Is it
gonna be fiction or nonfiction? And then is
it gonna be a story, a conventional story,
or is it gonna be more an explorative
poem kind of thing? And then writing that
first draft, you know, and and sort of
imbibing from other children's books to see what
you like and what you don't like and
sort of building up your arsenal,
okay,
of being able to to actually express for
children.
We have another idea here about writing about
Allah's names in the form of stories to
show what they really mean and how they
connect to our daily life. Fantastic. I love
that. I would see that slightly older than
picture book. I think that should be like
an early reader,
early chapter book potentially.
Or you could just take a few of
the names and create a picture book from
it. That would also work really well.
Okay. So
as you can see, lots of great ideas
here, wonderful,
you know,
new approaches
and new topics to kind of bring to
the the the libraries of Muslim children everywhere.
So with that being said,
I want to just give you guys a
few tips for your own personal writing. Okay?
As I said before, children's book writers should
always be on the on the lookout for
ideas.
You know? See the world through the eyes
of a child.
Allow yourself to be in awe,
and to to have that open nature of
children
when they see the world around them, that
curiosity,
it really, really helps to tap into the
inner child when you're writing for children. Even
though, of course, we know that we are
adults and we're probably writing it for our
own kids, but it really does help if
you're able to kind of tap into your
inner child and really,
yeah, express your story in a way that
you know would have delighted you as a
child. Okay?
The other thing that I ask of all
my clients and all my students is, you
know, write a story that means something.
Write a story that elicits some kind of
response.
Okay?
If you're going to go to publishers, we
need a book that's got some drama, that's
got a bit of risk, that's got a
little bit of a journey to it. Yeah.
I know I know a couple of independent
Muslim publishers, you know, personally who if you
send them this generic story of, you know,
a a child woke up, he did this
during the day, and he went to sleep,
No stakes. You know? It's it's not compelling
enough,
and they want to see more action. They
want to see more kind of what's gonna
happen. What's he gonna do? You know? Is
it gonna happen? And then the payoff. So
these are obviously things that, you know, you
need to learn, which is why you need
to get into that master class.
Right? And for those of you who did
not pick up the master class,
I will put the link in the description,
and I will put the link in the
chat because it is available at a discount,
and it's a fantastic offer at the moment.
And, you know,
it's doable.
It's doable,
especially your first draft. You know? Your first
draft and just to be bear in mind,
you know, I have, like, a whole book
of stories that I wrote when I first
started out, and they were terrible.
They were absolutely terrible.
I cringe when I read them now, but
that's okay
because that's part of the deal. Again, just
like rejection can be is part of the
deal,
writing badly at the start is also part
of the deal, and you should not be
afraid of it.
And you should not shy away from it,
and you should welcome criticism because that is
what's gonna help you to get better. That's
what's gonna help you to write better. That's
what's gonna help you to build up to
the stage where now you are writing, and
every time you write, it actually it comes
out comes out really well.
I have one of my clients,
who was who was with me. She did
the master class. She was in the incubator,
and we worked on a children's story about
her her her grand her grand her child
losing her grandfather.
And I just got the fantastic news that
she it's coming out, and it looks absolutely
gorgeous, and it was such a beautiful story.
The original story was wonderful. You know, the
edited version was even better, and it's out
now in the world. And this is somebody
who's never read written a book before. She
didn't studied creative writing at school, anything like
that. She literally just she took the master
class, and she worked with me and coach
Hind, and her books come out. Another lady
similarly went through the incubator. She literally just
sent me check my Instagram. You'll see it.
She literally just sent me a message saying
that she's been accepted. She's been granted publishing
deals from 2 publishers
for stories that she had developed with us.
So the stuff is happening. You know? It
works when you work it. So my advice
to all of you is if you didn't
grab the offer for the master class, grab
it now.
Get yourself in there. Watch the videos. Take
notes. Practice.
Write and write and write and write until
you come out with something that you're like,
you know what?
This is actually really good. Okay? Because just
like, you know, so many sisters before you
who've never written a book before, never ever
thought that they would be
an author,
they put in the work, they put in
the effort, and
the results are there. So I wanna thank
every single one of you for for being
with me tonight.
Before we leave this space,
I would like every one of you just
to get clarity on, you know, the story
idea that you have. And you've already mentioned
in the chat, but I just wanna make
sure that every one of you has an
idea about their story,
about whether it's gonna be fiction or nonfiction,
you know, whether it's gonna be the the
first level, second level,
with, you know, how you're going to explore
the story, what age group. Because these are
the questions that I get my clients to
ask. If you're already in the master class,
then you know it's the 5 w h,
right,
as as what we call it. But,
getting clear on those things will help you
because when you sit down to write, for
example, if you've chosen that it's going to
be a fiction, it's gonna be a story,
and it's gonna be a picture book, then
you know that you have a 1,000 words,
and that's it.
If you want to write a story and
you want it to be for 7 to
11 year olds, then you know a 1,000
words is not gonna cut it. And you
also know that a picture book is not
going to cut it because picture books end
at 6. And 7 to 11, now we're
getting into longer books, you know, mini chapter
books, early readers, that kind of thing. Right?
Middle grade fiction and all of that. So
you know now, okay. If I'm writing for
a, you know, an older age group, I
need a more involved story. I need a
more, you know, more sophisticated vocabulary. I need
characters that are more complex, etcetera, etcetera. But
I don't wanna preempt the master class because,
hey, I'm sure you're all gonna go and
get it and jump in there, and then
you will be able to have me on
a video teaching you all these things
in bite sized portions. Okay?
So
make sure that you've sat down and you've
done that.
In terms of the recording of this, those
of you who registered, you will get the
recording. It's also available to view on YouTube.
And any other questions that you have, you
can easily email me and, you know, ask
me anything that you want about the process
of writing for children.
If you are looking for an editor or
you want help with publishing or launching your
book, please just pop a message below in
the comments.
Send me an email. This is the work
that we do. We love supporting authors, and
we absolutely love to see our students and
our
clients going on and becoming award winners and
bestsellers,
which is amazingly what they are doing. K?
So guys, my job here listen. My time's
almost up. Okay? Because I've been in this
game for 20 years, and I'm about out.
Okay?
It's time to pass you the baton.
If you haven't done it yet, jump in.
Okay? If you haven't taken a class yet,
jump in. If you haven't taken a course
yet, jump in. If you haven't started writing
with writing prompts,
jump in. Now is the time for you
to start. If you have a dream of
writing for children, there is no better time.
So my advice to all of you is
that I'm passing you the baton. You can
say, yeah, I took a class with my
mother, and that's what made me start actually
writing and putting some some energy and some
effort into my writing. And then a year
later, here is my book, and I wanna
celebrate that with all of you. Okay?
So like I said, my email's there. Let
me know if you want to you need
any help in any area. I'll be more
than happy to help you. We're gonna wrap
this up now, and I'm gonna thank you
all for working with me. I will see
you
in the next workshop that we have and
hopefully,
in the master class itself. K? Take care,
everyone.