As an author, the question I hear most often is this:

Sands, how can I write my own children’s book?

I don’t blame these aspiring writers for looking for the secret. I remember the days of wanting to see my own words in print and not knowing where to start. I had this idea—a story about a red crocodile that my son and I came up with together at bedtime—and no other clue about how to turn it into a book. But eventually I did turn it into a book. In fact, I turned it into 3 books! From that experience, here’s what I learned.

There is no secret.

The best advice I have for any aspiring children’s book authors out there is just to begin. Open up a Word document on your computer and start writing down your idea. Continue to open that document every day until you’ve finished writing your story. That’s the only way to do it.

There is no secret to writing a children’s book other than to just sit down and write it. Once you’ve done that, congratulations! You are an author.

Are you dreaming about writing your own children’s book? Let me know in the comments so I can cheer you on!