The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing Children's Books

New and emerging writers often make the same mistakes over and over. It's because they don't fully understand the principles of real storytelling.

We weren't taught much in high school that would make us great storytellers, but one thing was (almost) right.

The story outline. *Gasp!*

The outline I mean looks like this; Introduction --> Rising Action --> Climactic Event --> Falling Action --> Resolution

This outline is actually based on ancient storytelling principles and human psychology. It's step by step and it's duplicable.

Here are the 7 Biggest and Deadliest mistakes writers make:

Deadly Sin #1 Pictures Do NOT Tell the Story

Deadly Sin #2 Show Don't Tell

Deadly Sin #3 Marry Logic With Creativity

Deadly Sin #4 Action, Action and More Action....

Deadly Sin #5 Don't Make Assumptions

Deadly Sin #6 Create a Real Story Around the Lesson

Deadly Sin #7 A Few Words on Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation

The Extra Sin: An All Encompassing Example

BONUS: The 8 Most Popular Kids Book Themes

By simply avoiding these 7 common (and deadly) mistakes, you'll instantly write a better children's story.

You'll even see examples from manuscript critiques the author has given her clients.

So get ready for clarity in your writing process. It takes work, but this process will get you there faster by helping you to avoid the most common mistakes new children's book authors make.

I wish you many imaginative tales. Red Robbin

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Release date

Audiobook: 19 September 2025