Write the unexpected

Writing tips from top Australian children's authors – and how to use them for your young writers

If there’s one thing that writers love more than writing, it’s talking about writing – and, specifically, talking about writing to help other writers.

I am incredibly lucky that my career has combined both of these things for, well, let’s just say several decades. I began my writing career as a magazine journalist, learning the intertwined crafts of interviewing and features writing.

As my writing branched out into newspapers and online content, alongside my first forays into writing novels, I also began to dip my toes into podcasting, first for the So You Want To Be A Writer podcast, alongside co-host Valerie Khoo, and then, of course, into the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast, with my ride-or-die Megan Daley.

All of which is to say I’ve spent a lot of time writing, in one form or another, AND talking about writing, in one form or another.

So, with NAPLAN season underway, bringing with it its many, many discussions about reading and writing, I thought I would draw on both of those things to share some useful writing tips from five top Australian children’s authors.

These tips are all garnered either from interviews I’ve conducted with the author, or from articles the author has written for my blog. I’ve linked to the original source in each case so you find out more (and there’s often SO much more) if you’d like to.

For the most part, the authors were speaking with an audience of adult writers in mind, so I’m giving the tip, and then PRACTICAL ways you can action the tip with the young writers in your life, whether at home or at school.

But first, because I do so very much like talking about writing, I’m going to give you my number one tip for young writers…