Meet the Teaching Artist: Eric Bell on Writing Authentic Kidlit and the Six-Month Mentorship Built Around Your Manuscript
by Writing Workshops Staff
2 hours ago
"Too often," says children's book author Eric Bell, "I read kids' books that are clearly written like a grownup saying 'hello how do you do, fellow children.'" That tonal mismatch is the kind of craft problem his six-month mentorship is designed to solve. The Kidlit One-on-One 6-Month Mentorship with Eric Bell offers writers working in any age category, from picture books through young adult, the kind of individualized instruction that can move a manuscript from promising draft to submission-ready.
Bell is the author of the middle-grade novels Alan Cole Is Not a Coward and Alan Cole Doesn't Dance (both Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins), and his mentees include Meg Eden Kuyatt, whose novel Good Different won a Schneider Family Book Award Honor, and Chad Lucas, whose debut Thanks a Lot, Universe launched a four-novel career. Over six months of one-on-one work, students tap into the authentic voice of a young protagonist, develop a sustainable revision practice, and gain fluency in the realities of children's book publishing. At WritingWorkshops.com, the official education partner of Electric Literature, Bell meets each writer where they are in their draft and helps them bring out their natural storytelling voice.
Here is our Meet the Teaching Artist Interview with Eric:
Writing Workshops: Hi, Eric. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Eric Bell: Hi, I'm Eric. I write books for young people. I teach writing classes and run writing workshops and edit books and work at a library and all kinds of book-adjacent things. You might be sensing a theme!
Writing Workshops: What's the thing you wish someone had taught you earlier in your writing life, and how does this class address that?
Eric Bell: I used to think of writing for young people as an "easier path," something less prestigious or noble than writing for grownups. But that's not true. Writing for young people has such value. Making a difference in the life of a young reader is one of the best things about the job! So for this class, I want students to come away feeling positive about the practice, and also to respect it – it's much harder to write a good children's book than most people think.
Writing Workshops: If a student walks away from this class with one skill or shift in their writing they didn't have before, what is it?
Eric Bell: I'd love it if students come away with a better handle on how to tap into their "inner child" and capture the authentic voice of a young person. Too often I read kids' books that are clearly written like a grownup saying "hello how do you do, fellow children," and I'd love to have my students tap into that well of rich experience for their own work.
"Too often I read kids' books that are clearly written like a grownup saying 'hello how do you do, fellow children.'"
Writing Workshops: What's the last sentence you read that made you stop and reread it? Type it out for us.
Eric Bell: From A Sea of Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez, María Dolores Águila's middle grade historical novel in verse (not a sentence so I'm cheating):
"Everyone thinks
I am too young to know things,
but that is not true.
I am twelve years old,
and I have learned lots
of things.
Like:
Sometimes people say they are happy
when they are not,
sometimes grown-ups get things all wrong,
and sometimes things just happen
for no reason."
Writing Workshops: Describe a moment in a workshop, one you were teaching or one you took as a student, where something clicked for someone. What happened?
Eric Bell: I was teaching a class on writing children's books. On the way into the building I came upon a large maple leaf on the ground. At first I walked away, but then I realized I wanted to talk in class about the childlike sense of exploration often missing in the adult world. So I grabbed the leaf and used it as part of a prompt in that lesson. Several students wrote something around the leaf – it was a great experience!
Writing Workshops: What's a craft move you're slightly obsessed with right now? Not a big concept. A small, specific technique.
Eric Bell: I've been writing a lot in third-person present tense lately, after being inspired by Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land (not kidlit, I know!). It's great at establishing an immediate, punchy voice in a unique way.
The right craft move at the right moment can change a manuscript. Spend six months working one-on-one with Eric Bell to find the techniques your kidlit project needs most.
Apply for the Kidlit Mentorship →Writing Workshops: What's a book you press into people's hands that has nothing to do with writing craft?
Eric Bell: Every book in existence has something to do with craft to me. You can learn from anything. I tell people if they want to write in an age category or genre, read everything you can in that age category or genre. It helps to read outside those parameters too, but reading within them is a great start. I have recommended all kinds of books to people before: No, David!; Creepy Carrots; Me & Mama; Dory Fantasmagory; Poppy; The Crossover; Doll Bones; When the Angels Left the Old Country; Elatsoe; A Monster Calls; Hollow Fires; etc., etc., etc.
Writing Workshops: What's the worst writing advice that sounds smart?
Eric Bell: "Write every day." Not only is it impractical for many people with external obligations and outside factors, it sets up this expectation that's hard to meet and can therefore be harmful. I believe in writing whenever I can, however much I can – I find that being kind to yourself about work output produces better, and happier, results.
"'Write every day.' Not only is it impractical for many people with external obligations and outside factors, it sets up this expectation that's hard to meet and can therefore be harmful."
Writing Workshops: Finish this sentence: "Most writing classes won't tell you this, but..."
Eric Bell: Trends are cyclical. Chasing trends is almost always a recipe for disaster, because by the time you write the book and it comes to print, at least 2-3 years could pass, and by then the trend could be gone. Also, related: many agents and editors don't know what they want until they read it.
Writing Workshops: Who was your first literary crush?
Eric Bell: For me it was Doug Swieteck in Gary Schmidt's Okay for Now that taught me a young protagonist could learn so much, and yet already know so much at the same time. Young people are wiser than we give them credit for.
Writing Workshops: What's your teaching vibe? One sentence, not a paragraph.
Eric Bell: I will help you to find your voice through open discussion and supportive instruction.
Writing Workshops: What would your students be surprised to learn about you?
Eric Bell: I'm on the autism spectrum. Maybe that's not a surprise once you get to know me, but it makes me approach teaching from the perspective of "how can I make this work for everybody? What can I do to make brains of all kinds come together?"
That commitment to making the work accessible for every kind of writer, and every kind of brain, is the beating heart of Eric Bell's teaching. Over six months of one-on-one guidance, edit letters, and monthly Zoom check-ins, students in this mentorship move from stuck to submission-ready with a mentor who has already helped launch careers and award-honored books. Whether you're brainstorming a picture book concept or polishing a YA novel for queries, this is the mentor, and the mentorship, worth applying to.
Six months. One mentor. Your manuscript, closer to ready than it's ever been. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so claim your spot while it's open.
Apply Now for the Kidlit Mentorship →WritingWorkshops.com is an independent, artist-run creative writing school and the official education partner of Electric Literature. Since 2016, we've helped writers strengthen their voice, develop a greater understanding of craft, and forge a path to publication.
