New Year, New Hope…and a New Author is Born!
A Beginner's Journey in 2024
Embarking on the journey of writing children's books as a beginner is an exciting and fulfilling experience. The world of children's literature is a treasure trove of imagination, where stories come alive and characters find their voices.
This experience was from 2 separated online children’s book writing classes that was held by Benny Rhamdani and Dian Kristiani. Both of them are clearly the expert of tapping into your inner child and let your creativity soar. From selecting themes that resonate with young minds to crafting engaging plots and endearing characters, every step of the process is an opportunity to spark joy and ignite young readers' love for storytelling.
What I learnt from Benny R
The first book of Niko Series was about the experience of the first day going to school. I love 3 actions-stories that Bhenny taught, I excerciced so many scenarios of 3 action-stories with his excellent guidance. I intent to mention a famous persons to introduce a bit of Indonesia's history, such as expressing a wish to be like Mr. Habibie (one of ex-President of Indonesia and a great scientist). Apparently, this is one of Benny’s Not-to-do List!
The 2nd book was originally a story about Niko and Elia who are playing outside school area, but then the story has been developed into 4 friends who are comical, teasing each other and just being children having fun! Thanks to Editor Kanisius Flora Maharani and her excellent expertise, that book “survived” to be rewrite again and again, a lot more than other titles! While I almost gave up and thinking of another story.
What makes story good
The 3rd book was the result of taking another children’s book writing online class by Dian Kristiani. She gave an exercice to write down first a short story before thinking further steps in creative writing. Feel free to express! Her feedback was to add another layer to the story, so that it doesnt feel flat.
Taking these classes was the best start to be a new children’s book author. I would suggest the same for anyone who is interested in pursuing the same dream. And I thank to the experts who guide me: Flora Maharani, Dian Kristiani and Benny Rhamdani, and to Kanisius Publisher who has faith in me for my first published books.