Ask the Expert ... Writing for Kids

Question: "What specifics does a screenwriter need to know about writing for different age groups?"

Answer: Writing kids’ television takes the same mastery of plot, structure, character, and dialogue as any good screenwriting. But it also has its own rules and conventions.

The first thing to remember above all else is: Make it fun!

There are lots of different kinds of kids’ shows. For writers, it’s a question of age. What’s the age of the audience you are writing for? That will determine a lot about your approach. Most of this article will deal with pre-school shows and shows that skew younger, since writing for older kids is closer to writing for adults.

Kids are smart. They have excellent B.S. detectors. They know when they’re being talked down to and they don’t like it. Not one bit. They may be new to the world, inexperienced, and shorter than we are, but they are also curious about everything. The shows they watch – that we write – teach them a lot about the world and how to survive and relate to it.

First of all, spend some time with kids. If you don’t have any of your own, visit a young niece or nephew. If you pay attention and don’t try to be “the adult” but be their friend, they’ll help you see the world through their eyes and help you get back in touch with the kid you once were.

Let’s get to the nuts and bolts.

Pre-school: Simplicity in all things.

If you’re writing for the pre-school crowd, then you’d better not approach your Clifford the Big Red Dog with the same angst-driven complexity of the X-Men, which is meant for an older and more sophisticated audience.

The plots and structure should be linear, easy to follow in a “B follows A” progression. That doesn’t mean dumb it down or drop the “B” story. The “B” story is the emotional story that is affected by the plot of the “A” story.

But the emotional lessons of both stories should be easy-to-understand, “kid-relatable” issues. A story where a child learns that sharing is a good thing is always a winner, but a tale where dad is having trouble with his investment portfolio might not get you the sale.

Keep your dialogue very simple and use words that would be in the vocabulary of that age group. That doesn’t mean write, “See Dick run,” but use common sense. Emily Elizabeth wouldn’t tell Clifford, “Clifford, your gargantuan dimensions requires a domicile of vast proportions” She would say, “Clifford, you need a big dog house.” Avoid sub-text. Kids say what they mean and what they feel in direct and straightforward ways.

One very important lesson children (and often adults) need to be shown is that there are consequences for behavior. For every action there is a reaction. If a character breaks a window, even accidentally, running away or blaming someone else will come back to bite that character. How the character deals - and we hope grows - with this lesson is the core of the story.

Also, avoid violent or unsafe behavior kids can imitate. Don’t ever show a child doing something harmful or dangerous that another child could decide to try. Punching another child with fists, baseball bats, tree branches, or anything else is strictly forbidden, as are dangerous games like jumping off of a roof.

Many shows have “experts” on child behavior and psychology who review the scripts and bad behavior that kids can imitate will be an instant note. Also, don’t ever place a character in a pre-school show in immediate physical danger. That’s can cause an even bigger note and possibly be a story killer.

Some shows are fanatical about keeping kids “safe” both emotionally and physically, and that can be a writing challenge. There was one pre-school kids’ show where a writer proposed a story where, through an accident, one child didn’t get a Valentine’s Day card (even though it had been sent to them). The story was rejected because it had an “element of sadness” to it. I’ve often thought that the kids are often smarter than the experts who review kid’s shows give them credit for.

Writing for older kids; let the action and drama begin!

When you get beyond pre-school, things open up a lot. When I was writing shows like the X-Men, I was writing animated drama (or a soap opera with fight scenes) and pretty much wrote for myself. The plots could be as complicated as any prime-time show, loaded with sub-text and characters that could be nuanced and complex.

But even with these shows that are slanted older – and that have a surprising number of adult fans – there are a few limitations since they are also watched by younger viewers.

On X-Men and Spider-Man the fights were still not the kind of martial arts moves kids could imitate. No real punches, hits to the face, or even guns that fired bullets were tolerated. This appears to be loosening but I wouldn’t recommend writing an animated Fight Club for kids. The same attitude of pushing things into a more adult arena, but only so far, can be said for sexual politics. Keep it exceedingly innocent. In the older shows, characters can fall in love, have triangles and even kiss – but that’s as far as it goes.

Putting kids in danger works on a sliding scale. The amount of tolerance depends on the show, studio or network. When I did an X-Men story where Jubilee had to protect a group of kids in a cave from rising water, I was under strict instructions not to have them in immediate peril. You never saw the water up to their waist as the kids, in terror, scrambled to climb the cliff walls, minutes from drowning. In fact, you never saw the kids and the water in the same frame. Jubilee might have been aware of the danger but she was careful to shield the threat from the kids (that became a big part of the story). But, later, I did an episode of Secret Saturdays and Zak, the lead and a kid little older than the group in X-Men, was in mortal danger all the time. So, do your research and know what the network is looking for.

As you can see, writing for children is a very diverse field. One day you can be writing about talking trucks and the next day about super-heroes out to save the universe or about a tween trying to figure out how to fit in.

Writing for kids can be challenging and rewarding. It can take you back to your childhood or at least put you back in contact with your own inner child. And it can just be so much fun.

You have a chance to really influence a young person and help give them a lesson or value they will take with them throughout their lives. You can get them to think and ask questions. It’s a responsibility with potentially great rewards.

There’s one other perk. It will also get you lots of young fans and make you a hero to your own kids or young nieces and nephews. One of my happiest moments was when my young nephew Spenser boasted to his friends that his uncle knew the X-Men. They were so impressed and I was delighted as Spenser just beamed.