Kids Forum / Focus Group

awhyley · May 15, 2009

Does anyone here read their stories/articles to kids in order to obtain their feedback?

I read to my cousin yesterday, and gauged her reaction, to see whether she was interested from start to finish, and whether or not she could remember basic parts of the story, but I'm not convinced.

What kinds of questions do you ask that help in editing?

How is it, in terms of getting honest feedback (i.e. as kids will usually tell you what you want to hear)?

Thanks in advance!

jane cooks · May 15, 2009

yes I do!

I am working on a cookbook for kids ages 10 and up. I'm not hiding healthy foods in muffins - it's straight up classics and each chapter show how to make the dish, step by step. To help me develop each of the recipes, I held a series of kids cooking classes and showed them the pages, let them read what I had written and then asked them what they thought. I got a lot of "It's Great!" but there were 2 kids who really gave me great feed back. One told me she wouldn't pick the recipe because it had too many ingredients and it scared her off and the other said he wanted more detail. Both great things to know even though I still think the ingredients I listed weren't too overwhelming. I would see if you can read a few chapters to a class of kids at the age you are targeting. If they love it, odds are you are on the right path. But what do I know? I'm just a chef-

Amarie · May 15, 2009

I had my son read mine before querying, and I knew from his reaction the pacing was right. My agent actually had her son read my manuscript before offering to rep me, so getting kids' reactions is really a good thing, particularly from kids who will be honest with you.

Angela_785 · May 15, 2009

Just remember that kids will tell you if the story is good. Critters will tell you if the writing is.

fringle · May 15, 2009

My 7 year old goes at my WIP with a pen and marks it. I'm not kidding. She's something. She fills notebooks up with her own stories. I found one the other day and she said, "Don't read that one Mommy, I wrote it before I learned about plot charting. And there aren't any good descriptive words in it." I nearly died.

Angela_785 · May 16, 2009

Wow! Sounds like you've got a built in editor..and a soon-to-be author one day!

wyntermoon · May 16, 2009

I read two of my stories to my daughter's second grade class, then asked them to draw me a picture of their favorite. It was a blowout of one over the other so I knew I was on the right track.

scope · May 16, 2009

I write nonfiction and I always read my "finished work" (or ask them to read it) to a variety of kids from all walks of life. Before doing so I make sure that these kids represent the target audience for my work. I think that's critical.

Of course I'm interested in everything they have to say, but I ask them to please pay careful attention to anything they don't like. For example, words, and if appropriate, illustrations, pictures, concepts, ideas, explanations, and whatever else. I also ask them to tell me if I left anything out which they would have liked me to include. Is there anything they don't understand? Anything too long or short? Anything bother them? Anything not clear? What did I miss that they want to know? And so on and so on.

I'm interested in the negatives far more than the positives, although of course I have to come away feeeling that it's a book they like, need, and want.

I also run the manuscript by a number of responsible adults, groups, organizations, and experts (other than those who have already endorsed the work).

Eldritch · May 17, 2009

Yep. I print out my story and read it aloud to my kids. As I'm reading, I watch them from the corner of my eye. Whenever they laugh or lean in closer, I know I got it right. I pencil in a short notation on that section. When they start to fidgit or get distracted, that's when I know that particular piece is boring. I make a notation there too.

I don't bother asking them if they liked the story or thought it was good. I'm Mom, of course they're going to tell me it's great. It's their body language, not their words, that tells me the truth.

MsJudy · May 17, 2009

The problem with any focus groups, kids or grown-ups, is that it's hard to find ones with standards as high as those of a professional agent or editor. My son and several of his friends read my first manuscript. I asked them to point out any parts that were confusing, boring, slow... They liked everything.

None of the agents felt the same way...

So now I take their opinions with a grain of salt.

Tallent · May 20, 2009

I read some chapters of my stories to my kids, and sometimes I torture their friends. All I get is general info. I usually ask my son for a synopsis of what I just read. This tells me if he listened all the way through (was the chapter interesting) and what the sticking points are. The biggest indicator of how good the story is, is if they ask for the other chapters. They have turned into agents and demand new chapters all the time.

You've got to be tough enough to handle the disinterest when the story is bad.

Trish · May 22, 2009

I live in Australia and one of my writing buddies is from Texas. She has a nine year old granddaughter that’s read some of my writing. I received fantastic feedback from her in a message. She told me the parts she liked and pointed out the parts she thought were funny. She said she laughed so much she nearly cried at one part. I couldn’t have been more thrilled when she told me the funniest part of all was the ending. I’m so happy about that because the ending had been worrying me.

I also give my stories to some local children and my nieces. They let me know if some parts are confusing or boring and tell me what makes them laugh.

I'm not published yet, but one of my re-written (full) manuscripts has been with a publisher for a month now. My fingers and toes are crossed yet again.

renaissancewoman · May 23, 2009

I have only shared parts of my WIP with my kids. I am still re-writing and polishing so I don't want them to have to read the same scenes over and over. I don't want the actual story part to get old. I know they are not interested in the mechanics of writing yet, they just want a good story and I don't want to blow it with them too early. After I am done with rewrited and editing, then i will let them read and crit. Plus by that time they will be closer to the MG age,

my oldest is 10 right now

I have asked them about a small part. I was trying to work out how a mermaid described breathing underwater and I discussed it with my 9 and 10 year old. They had some great, creative ideas.

Stijn Hommes · May 27, 2009

JudScotKev said:
My son and several of his friends read my first manuscript. I asked them to point out any parts that were confusing, boring, slow... They liked everything.

None of the agents felt the same way...

So now I take their opinions with a grain of salt.

Well, unless your own kids are like fringle's daughter, it's going to be hard for them to be critical. After all, who wants to tell their parent they did something wrong?

Tallent · May 27, 2009

Stijn Hommes said:
Well, unless your own kids are like fringle's daughter, it's going to be hard for them to be critical. After all, who wants to tell their parent they did something wrong?

Huh, do you have kids? They love to let you know when you've screwed up and ruined their lives.

Anyway, yeah, they are careful about hurting their parent’s feelings sometimes. You can’t ask them about mechanics of the story and expect a literary agent’s answer from them.

The questions I ask are:
1) Should I write more of the story?
2) Can I give this to your friends to read?

If the answer is NO to either one, or both, then you have some fixen’ to do. Also, if you asked them if they liked it and they say something like, “It’s okay”, it means you have problems.

But nothing beats a beta reader who understands kids writing and is willing to read your stuff for a beer.

MsJudy · May 27, 2009

Stijn Hommes said:
Well, unless your own kids are like fringle's daughter, it's going to be hard for them to be critical. After all, who wants to tell their parent they did something wrong?

well, they complain about everything else I do....

Stijn Hommes · May 28, 2009

Tallent said:
Huh, do you have kids? They love to let you know when you've screwed up and ruined their lives.

Anyway, yeah, they are careful about hurting their parent’s feelings sometimes.

My exact point. They usually love to complain (I know I did) but when it comes to something your parents really care about, kids tend to be a lot more careful in their response -- writing is one of those things.

fringle · May 28, 2009

JudScotKev said:
well, they complain about everything else I do....

Yep. My daughter claimed I ruined her life yesterday because she wanted a peanut butter sandwich and I gave her a Nutella one. Actually, I made her the pb sandwich, but I accidentally switched her bag with her sister's. Her sister's bag has princesses on it, which is not cool when you are in the 2nd grade. One dumb-mom move and I was already down 2 strikes. I should have put a love note on her napkin too, just so I could get all 3 strikes out of the way.

And about writing, yeah, she'll tell me in a nice way. Once she said, "Don't worry about it Mom. A lot of stories have boring beginnings." haha!

Angela_785 · May 28, 2009

fringle said:
Yep. My daughter claimed I ruined her life yesterday because she wanted a peanut butter sandwich and I gave her a Nutella one. Actually, I made her the pb sandwich, but I accidentally switched her bag with her sister's. Her sister's bag has princesses on it, which is not cool when you are in the 2nd grade. One dumb-mom move and I was already down 2 strikes. I should have put a love note on her napkin too, just so I could get all 3 strikes out of the way.

And about writing, yeah, she'll tell me in a nice way. Once she said, "Don't worry about it Mom. A lot of stories have boring beginnings." haha!

Haha on the sandwiches. And OUCH on the story crit. Boring beginings? Tough crowd, lol.

Trish · May 28, 2009

That's funny, Angela.

My grown up kids get a little tired of all my re-writes. My mother is my best listener and she's eighty this year, but a child at heart.

Kids Forum / Focus Group

awhyley

jane cooks

Let the Dogs In

Amarie

carpe libri

Angela_785

fringle

always abroad

Angela_785

wyntermoon

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

Eldritch

MsJudy

Tallent

Trish

renaissancewoman

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...

Tallent

MsJudy

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...

fringle

always abroad

Angela_785

Trish