I apologize for not posting anything in so long. I really have no good excuse. Anywho, I think it's about time I start writing guides like I promised. This is an active discussion, and I by no means am an expert. I'll just write my opinions on different aspects of children's stories and you tell me yours. Hopefully, it will lead to a fruitful discussion that we can all learn something from. So, this thread's topic will be on imagination in kids stories.

Imagination is something very near and dear to my heart, as it was almost the only thing I wanted to play as a kid. Watching my favorite show Rugrats, I was always fascinated by the episodes that took the children's imagination and drew out the scenes as they saw it. And that I feel is crucial in understanding how to write a children's story. Understand that children (mainly young children) don't see the world as we see it. They will always put their own dramatic spin on everything they see and do.

So how do we write a story as a child sees it? Simple, you use your imagination. If you've always had an active imagination (such as myself), it comes as second nature. If not, it can be learned with practice. Children (at least from my experience growing up) love to place themselves in adventurous situations. They see every everyday objects as a new challenge their hero (themselves) must overcome to reach a goal. The motivations don't have to be complex, and that's important to keep in mind (not every children's story needs to feature a kidnapping for example). Wow. Excessive use of parenthesis.

I find the most enjoyable children's stories to read are those that take some ordinary setting (such as a park) and a simple goal the kids make up themselves. It's all in how you write the situation. Instead of describing objects for what they are, describe them as children see them. For example, when we played imagination as kids, the swings were our horses, the forest was the elf kingdom, the sidewalk was the old road, the bridge a dangerous crossing over a valley, the playground the knight's fortress, and so on. The key is to have fun with it, think back to when you were a kid. It doesn't always have to make sense, just stick to some sort of theme (surprisingly enough, kids generally do when they play imagination).

This technique works best when writing from the child's perspective. For added amusement, switch perspective to the adults and show what's really going on. If you still have trouble with the concept, I'd suggest watching the classic Rugrats episodes where imagination is the key (there's one cowboy one set in a park and one where they chase the Mole people). As always, it comes down to personal preference how much if any of it you use. Hope it helped!

Do you include much imagination in your stories? Do you think it makes for a better read?

Have a Rugrats imagination clip.

3618475 imagination is in everyone, no matter the age.

3618475 In my opinion, If you add to much imagination to the story, it becomes random and hard to understand. Instead, I try to accomplish as much as possible with as little as possible. I don't add another kingdom to the plot if the plot can work without it.

I have plenty of imagination. I day dream half of the time. However, most of the ideas that I have wouldn't be good if I wrote them down.

3618475 My characters have never used their imaginations to anything like the degree the Rugrats do. I've usually got them in situations where they had better darn well be focusing on what's going on around them. The closest thing to applying their imaginations would be creative problem solving. This may change in future stories, as I've started including the Cake Twins in my stories.

I have used imagination to show my OC Quizzical's personal growth. In her first story she's dull as dirt, literal minded, and seemingly without an imagination or a sense of humor (she actually has both of these, but it's all internalized, and she doesn't acknowledge these qualities). By the fourth story she's making up stories, and she's astonished to discover she's pretty good at it. This will continue as Quiz grows.