My name is Simon Bailey, and I write stories. I become totally wrapped up in the whole process of writing, from the original idea, right through to the final edit.

However, writing fiction wasn’t where I started out some years back.

I have travelled the world, and worked in more jobs than you can shake a stick at.

Some positions were challenging and carried great responsibility, but I now dwell in calmer waters  in Eastbourne, tucked amongst the green hills on the south coast of England.

I learned quite a lot about writing for children during the period when I was trying to coax my son to read.

Overcoming resistance to reading…

I would buy my son books – lots of books – and he would measure the amount he read and ask if I thought he’d read enough.

So I was on a quest to find a story that would engage his mind and excite his curiosity.

I did eventually stumble across a book that worked, and I realised the trick to getting children to read was finding stories that were unusual, entertaining and which made them want more.

That may seem pretty obvious to you, but there are piles of children’s stories published that don’t tick the box marked “entertainment”.

If you give a child a book that’s preachy, or safe and twee, the author may be full of good intentions, but chances are it’s not going to hit the spot.

Stories for children should be pure escapism…

Stories for children should lift them out of the ordinary, and far away from home life and school work. They need to be whisked away on journeys that take their minds off to worlds of excitement. Add a dash of tension, and that keeps them hooked, and stimulates their imagination.

If you look at the most successful children’s stories from the past, you’ll find they’re still popular and being read by new generations of youngsters today.

My own inspiration was Rupert the Bear. He would inevitably nod off, while leaning against a tree, or somehow find himself up to his knees in a crazy dream world… but he reliably managed to find his way back home in time for supper.

On Rupert’s journeys, some very surreal situations would unfold, and I would often read the same stories over and over again. And that’s how I became helplessly sucked into the world of adventure and fantasy, and wanted to have a go at writing in that genre myself.

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CLICK HERE to read some FREE stories

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CLICK HERE to ask me a question

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