childrens fiction | Andrew Ferguson

Progress Update: Project E and Project 🐸

Posted on November 27, 2021 Leave a Comment

If you happen to follow me on social media, you may have noticed amid the non-stop barrage of ads for Penstricken: Collected Stories and brief updates on the second draft of Project E that I recently completed the first draft of something else which I have dubbed Project 🐸.

Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Edition (vol. 2)

Posted on May 23, 2021 Leave a Comment

These reviews reflect nothing but my own personal opinions and impressions, sliced, diced and shredded into a few short sentences. The books I have selected have nothing in common, save the fact that they are all fictional stories for very young children.

Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Books Edition

Posted on April 22, 2021 Leave a Comment

I might have mentioned once or twice before that I have a little daughter….

‘And so,’ my wife suggested, ‘why not write a Super Snappy Speed Reviews post about books for children?’

Writing Non-Human Characters #1: Animals

Posted on February 8, 2021 Leave a Comment

I’ll be spending most of this week dealing with how to write animals in particular (because it’s ever so slightly more complicated), however, no matter what non-human species your protagonist may be, there is one golden rule you absolutely must keep in mind at all times. Ready? This is it:

Your audience is made up entirely of human beings; therefore, your audience must be able to sympathise with your character as human beings.

In other words, you need to anthropomorphise your character to one extent or another. Perhaps only a little, perhaps a lot, but to some extent, you need to give your non-human character certain human traits to make them relatable. At the very least, they will probably need to be able to think like humans in order to work through their goals, conflicts, epiphanies, etc. and possibly will need to speak like humans too (though there are numerous examples of strong animal characters who do not speak).

Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Cbeebies Edition

Posted on August 9, 2020 Leave a Comment

As ever these reviews reflect nothing more than my own personal opinions and impressions, squished, squeezed and diminished into just a few short sentences. The shows I have selected have nothing in common, save the fact that they are all fictional stories for very young children and are all found on Cbeebies.

Author Interview: Megan Pighetti (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on June 7, 2020 Leave a Comment

I had the pleasure of chatting with Megan Pighetti about her writing routine, working with illustrators and, of course, her wonderful new picture book, Fairy-Tailed Wish which is available to buy now.

Author Interview: Megan Pighetti (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on May 31, 2020 Leave a Comment

I had the pleasure of chatting with Megan Pighetti about her writing routine, working with illustrators and, of course, her wonderful new picture book, Fairy-Tailed Wish which is available to buy now.

Throwback Thursday: Writing Non-Human Characters #1: Animals

Posted on March 26, 2020 Leave a Comment

I’ll be spending most of this week dealing with how to write animals in particular (because it’s ever so slightly more complicated), however, no matter what non-human species your protagonist may be, there is one golden rule you absolutely must keep in mind at all times. Ready? This is it:

Your audience is made up entirely of human beings; therefore, your audience must be able to sympathise with your character as human beings.

In other words, you need to anthropomorphise your character to one extent or another. Perhaps only a little, perhaps a lot, but to some extent, you need to give your non-human character certain human traits to make them relatable. At the very least, they will probably need to be able to think like humans in order to work through their goals, conflicts, epiphanies, etc. and possibly will need to speak like humans too (though there are numerous examples of strong animal characters who do not speak).

Super Snappy Speed Reviews: Children’s Edition (vol. 2)

Posted on February 17, 2019 Leave a Comment

These reviews reflect nothing but my own personal opinions and impressions, sliced, diced and shredded into a few short sentences. The books I have selected have nothing in common, save the fact that they are all fictional stories for very young children.