Not short of something to say: Writing a children's book

Contact details

As well as being a freelance writer I am also a qualified counsellor and I work for a low cost counselling service in Exeter and for the NHS Gender Clinic also in Exeter.

Simultaneously, I work as a Disability Member of the First Tier Tribunal, Social Entitlement Chamber sitting on disability benefit tribunals on an ad hoc basis.

As a writer I specialise in writing about disability and health.

My articles have been published in the Guardian, Times, OUCH! [BBC disability website], Disability Now, Broadcast, Lifestyle [Motability magazine], The Practising Midwife, 'Junior, Pregnancy & Baby', Writers' News, Able, Getting There [Transport for London magazine], Junior, Community Care, DPPi [Disability, Pregnancy & Parenthood International]. I have also had articles commissioned by Daily Mail.

For more information about me and for examples of my writing please see below.

If you would like me to write an article for your publication, about any aspect of disability, please do get in touch:

emma@emmabowler.co.uk

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Writing a children's book

I'm kind of wanting to simultaneously - alongside writing more articles, looking after 2 small children and trying to have a life - write a Children's book.

Consequently I was a little bit gutted today because I snatched a few moments to do a bit of "what's hot and what's not" on the children's book front only to find a book called "Little Archie"; in fact not just a book, a whole series of books about how a boy gets shrunk to a few inches and then gets into all sorts of trouble.

OK it's not exactly the idea I had but it's probably too similar for me to get away with writing any sort of story about a little boy called Archie who gets into big trouble....

The question is whether I can make my idea sufficiently different. I have ordered one of the offending titles and will see what it has to say for itself before I deduce whether or not it's back to the drawing [or is that writing] board or not. The perils of publishing.

3 comments:

S D Everington said...: Good luck with it! Have you looked at Scope's In The Picture campaign for inspiration?

Shanta; January 28, 2008 at 6:55:00 AM PST
Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; January 29, 2008 at 2:19:00 PM PST
EmmaB said...: Thanks! Yes I've come across the In The Picture campaign. The best book I've read so far on writing for children is "How to Write Books for Children - and Get Published" by Louise Jordan. Watch this space...; January 29, 2008 at 2:21:00 PM PST

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On becoming a writer

After over 10 years as a BBC TV programme maker working on disability, documentary, entertainment and children's programmes I left to have 2 children.

Having decided that the full on lifestyle of programme making and being a parent wasn't for me I decided to utilise the skills, experience and knowledge gleaned from my BBC career to became a freelance writer.

Because of my personal experience of disability I chose to specialise by writing about all aspects of disability – from parenting to sport, clothes shopping to legislation, what’s in the news to specific aspects of particular impairments.

All too often the media portrayal of disabled people and disability issues doesn’t quite hit the mark, the tone is off, the language is wrong; the overall effect leaves the public none the wiser.

As a disabled writer my aim is to be positive, informative and accurate, that doesn’t have to mean dry and boring – a bit of humour can go a long way!