To really round out the character, give them a personality that stretches beyond the story itself. Are they making progress towards their goal, or making things worse? You can explain the character's methods and evaluations-why they act the way that they do, the choices they make, and how it drives the individual forward. It allows you to explore their fears, weaknesses, and motivations and to define their purpose. Think pictorially and cut out what you don’t need (even if it’s your favourite piece of writing if it’s not serving the story, then it has to go!).Your character's backstory describes the journey they have taken up to this point. Is there enough in your words for an illustrator to picture – changes of place, time? Is there too much detail? You don’t need to describe clothing, scenery, etc, in any detail because it will be in the pictures. Don't forget the picturesĪ picture book is a collaboration between an author and an illustrator (unless you’re one of the few who have the skills to be both). Keep the humour broad – irony’s a waste of time! 5. It’s not easy, but you need to entertain them both. Remember you are writing for an older reader (a parent or sibling perhaps) and a child listener. More important are rhythm and repetition – how the story sounds. Only use rhyme if you are sure your story needs it and every word is moving the story on. Like a poem, a picture book is written to be read aloud, so make the language sing. The type is large and pictures need space so you don’t have unlimited words (a max of 600-700, but preferably fewer). There’s nothing wrong with throwing in the odd unfamiliar word but too many and you’ll lose your reader. They need to have “appeal”, even if they behave badly! 4. Characters are the most important element of any story so it’s vital to get them right. You might go even further and make your main character an alien – or set the story on an alien planet. They also have more universality – for example, in a picture book story an elephant is just an elephant, we don’t think about its ethnic background. Who is your young reader going to identify with? You might decide it should be a girl or a boy (never an adult!) – but maybe it could be an animal instead: a bear, a cat, a monkey… Animal characters often are used anthropomorphically (acting as a child would), but sometimes are chosen for some particular natural trait they have – chameleons change colour, skunks make a stink. You’ve got an idea and a theme, now you need a character (or two). So why would any child who doesn’t know you want to listen to your story? The theme doesn’t have to be original – the same ones come up time and time again (a favourite toy, fear of the dark, love between child and parent, common childhood experiences) – but the way you treat it does. What's the point?Ī story told to a specific child has its own value, but if you want to take it further it needs to have a wider resonance. You might well find you reject a number of ideas before you come across one that really works for you. Or perhaps it’s something that you recall from your own childhood. If you have young children (or grandchildren), keep a notebook handy and jot down things they say and do and are interested in. The first thing you need to write a story is an idea. No, writing a picture book isn’t easy, but it’s very rewarding. But you’d be wrong! A really good picture book, as you’ll know if you’ve ever read and shared one with a child, may seem satisfyingly simple but will probably have taken years and many drafts to create. You might think that picture books must be easier because they are so short. I’ve written many stories for children of all ages – from picture books to young adult fiction.
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