Picture Book University: Midterm Review

After several weeks of classes it’s time for a quick review on –

How to Write a Picture Book

Choose a story trigger. A story trigger is anything that you can use to start a story. It is anything that can be a part of the story, which is… anything.

You will find that some story triggers work better for you than others. Use those.

Some story triggers, such as titles or first lines, should be adapted before used. Change “Gone with the Wind” to “Gone with the Trash”, or “Goon with Wings”, or “Going into the Wind”, or anything else the line leads you to.

Once you have your trigger, start asking questions, any question about the trigger that pops into your mind. What is important about it? Unusual about it? What problem surrounds it? What would happen if you threw another character into the mix? What does it want? Where’s it going? What complicates its problems? Does it have enemies? Who? Does it have friends? Who? Can I fit it into a picture book format or model? And of course, two always useful questions, what’s next? And what’s missing?

Keep asking yourself questions until there doesn’t seem to be anything missing from your story, until it feels complete.

Then, look at the writing and revising rules discussed in previous (and future) posts. Compare them to your story. Does your story follow the rules? If not, is there a good reason?

Once you’ve done all you can to your story, read it to yourself out loud. Several times. Record yourself reading it. Listen to your recording. If you hear any problems, fix them.

Have someone with no sense of rhythm read your story out loud to you. Listen for where they stumble, where things don’t sound quite right. Fix those places.

Have others read your manuscript and tell you what is working, and what is not working for them.

Based on the feedback you’ve received, revise your manuscript one more time.

Then send it off to an agent or publisher, forget about it, and start working on your next manuscript.