Steve Voake

Steve Voake is the award-winning author of more than 20 books for young people including The Dreamwalker’s Child, The Starlight Conspiracy and Blood Hunters. He is senior lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.

You don’t have to tell young readers as much as you think

Genre: Fiction, Film & TV, Writing for Children & YA

There is sometimes an assumption that younger readers won’t understand what’s going on unless the plot and the characters’ feelings are explicitly spelled out to them. But children are often more sophisticated readers than adults think they are and, like...

Steve Voake

Inside the Shed

Genre: Fiction, Film & TV, Writing for Children & YA

Sometimes we are really keen to tell our readers everything, to make sure that they understand what it is that we are trying to say. But in this case a useful piece of advice might be: ‘Think really hard about what it is that you are trying to say, then go o...

Steve Voake

Developing a character

Genre: Fiction, Writing for Children & YA

Imagine that there is a young character in your mind, waiting to step forward and tell you their story. You might have an idea of their age, whether they are male or female, perhaps some sense of what they look like. The following series of questions will help...

Steve Voake

Don’t talk down to younger readers

Genre: Fiction, Writing for Children & YA

Don’t think that all children want to hear about is fluffy bunnies, naughty elves and lessons to be learned. Some do, of course, depending on their age, but what matters most is giving them a story they can believe in. And in order to do that, you need to re...

Steve Voake

Steve Voake

TUTORING AT

67 . STARTING TO WRITE CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULTS’ FICTION

Dreaming big

Writing Tips and Exercises

You don’t have to tell young readers as much as you think

Inside the Shed

Developing a character

Don’t talk down to younger readers