How to get lost in the snow and saved by bears

I have done writing work for clients on e-commerce software, uniform rentals, tool and dye manufacturing, hiking boots, marine navigation software, rheumatoid arthritis, and glucometers. I wrote a Trivial Pursuits style game for a jewelry distributor, an interactive trade show game on irritable bowel syndrome, and interactive training with an animated character who dives into a washing machine. In my line of work, you never know what a client is going to ask you to do.

Today I wrote a children’s Christmas story for the owner of a luxury resort in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The night before last, he sent me a story he’d cooked up with a clown he works with. Yes, clown. But even he admitted it needed some work. I met with him yesterday afternoon and he told me what he wanted and what needed to be included in the story. It will be told live this coming Saturday to children at the resort, most of whom I believe will be there as guests for free because they’re cancer patients. So basically I had today to write a 10-15 minute story. I pretty much threw out the original story, but I think I got the idea of it that he was getting at.

I can’t at this point share it with you, but it involves a boy who misbehaves, gets lost in the snowy woods, is rescued by bears (or maybe it’s a dream), and gets home again by sleigh to be with his family for Christmas. I’ve never written a children’s story before, but it was pretty fun to write.

A couple of days ago, before I got the original story by my client in hand, I went to a bookstore to take a look at some kids’ Christmas books. One I really liked and ended up buying was Jan Brett’s Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve, which is based on a Norwegian folk tale. The story is pretty simple, but it’s beautifully illustrated and told. I liked the way the language uses all the senses – the look of the northern lights, the feel of the cold, crisp air, the smell of woodsmoke, the creak in the roof, and the taste of porridge. It was funny and fantastical. It ended up that the story I had to tell was very different but I remembered to use all the senses. I also picked up How to Write a Children’s Book and Get it Published, which had good pointers in the section on writing fiction for kids – considering plot, characters, suspense, etc.

There’s something about children’s stories. It’s a great exercise for the imagination to try to think like a child and be in a magical world.

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