Writing for Kids: Dare I dream?

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."  ~Sylvia Plath

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       I have been writing for pleasure since I was 14. I'm 31 now. My best friend Julie Woodward and I, discovered that we could write awesome "novels" and escape to a world that we wished we lived in. Christopher Pike/R.L. Stine style. The stories were that of a teenager's dreams; inheriting tons of money from a crazed grandpa, shackin' up with the boyfriend in a multimillion dollar mansion, speeding around town in expensive cars, dropping out of school... You get the idea. We didn't expect to win any Pulitzer prizes for our stories, but they were definitely fun to write...and read! We would write and write and then exchange our chapters to let eachother read what we had written. I can't describe how much fun that was. I don't know if Julie continued her writing after those teen years, but I know I did. Soap operas on paper. 

       As I got older, and the size of my family grew, I wasn't able to find much time to write. I was always coming up with new ideas for stories, whether it be from daydreaming while taking a bath, or in my real dreams as I slept, but never had the time to invest in finishing an entire story. Nor did I have the patience, to be quite honest. I decided to put my writing on the back burner until my kids were completely self-sufficient because believe it or not, you have to stay focused to be successful in writing.

       Even though I have sort of given up on writing novels for the time being, I still have this crazy imagination that won't give me a moments peace. I have used blogging as a bit of a creative outlet but it's just not the same as the fictitious yarns I'm so good at spinning. My life is nowhere near as interesting as the characters' in my head.

       So I have decided to try my hand at writing children's books! They are not nearly as time consuming to write and maybe I'll be good at it considering the fact that I have been a mom for 12 years and pretty much know what kids like. The problem, however, is that I have no idea how to get started doing this. I know that it's a lot easier to self-publish these days, but I'm so clueless when it comes to that sort of thing. I'm writing this blog post in the hopes that someone has all the answers! So please, if you know anything about writing children's books, give me a holler! You can email me directly or leave comments; I'd be happy either way. jessicarscott81@gmail.com

       Thanks in advance for any help y'all can provide and wish me luck!

~XoXo Jess