Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Tips on Writing Children’s Books




 The one thing I’ve learned as I continue to read picture books to my daughters is that the story needs to appeal not only to the child, but the parent as well.  Think about whom is the one actually reading the book.  This is tricky, because as a writer you are trying to entertain two completely different age groups.  I’ve found that a lot of the entertaining for adults can be things written in the illustrations.  They may not be part of the text, but they are concepts the adult will understand and help the book have humor. 
Try not to over complicate the story.  Young children have very short attention spans.  If the story is so complicated that it’s a challenge for the adult, it’s even worse for the child.  Follow the KISS acronym: “keep it simple silly”. 

The text needs to be short!  Picture books should not be more than 500 words.  Any more than that and you might as well turn it into a chapter book and move up a reading level.  As a parent I have struggled with very-long-wordy-picture-books.  Before I can even finish what is written on the page, it’s being turned by an impatient little girl.  It is true the story must be big enough to be a story, meaning it needs a plot (a beginning, a middle, and an end), but it must be short.

Speaking of Plot.  Here are a few extra tips when creating your story line.  By page 1of the story the reader should be able to identify who the narrative voice is and who the main character will be.  By page 4 the problem the main character is going to deal with should be pointed out.  The first attempt to solve the problem should be on page 6.  The main character is then going to make a series of attempts to solve the problem and fail.  (This is a basic concept for any story plot, although you can make other attempts at creating a children’s story this is the main plot devise I have seen.)  As the attempts continue the down falls need to get worse and worse until by page 20 the main character has lost all hope of what to do.  But just when everything looks like the story will end in disaster, the main character figures out what to do and they save the day.  By the end of the story the reader is cheering along with your main character because they succeeded.  It’s then always nice to end with a surprise or a twist at the end.  A great example of this plot is Katy Duck Makes a Friend, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Henry Cole (Illustrator).  If you haven’t read it, then I suggest you do.

Speaking of reading, if you want to write a good picture book, then you must read a lot of picture books.  Fortunately for me I have two little girls that have an appetite for picture books.  Another tip is to read the picture books aloud to children.  You will find out very quickly what is working and what isn’t.  Children will show you when they are uninterested.  There is so much more I could share on this topic, but this post is already too long.  Those are my keys on writing picture books.

7 comments:

  1. I've read--I don't know how many--years worth of picture books to my two sons every night before they went to bed. Not once did I ever think about writing and illustrating a singe book for them during that time. Weird, since I'm an artist. Maybe I couldn't imagine competing with Dr. Seuss, which they loved. If I wouldn't know someone like you back then, I might've been a famous children's book illustrator right now--and rich beyond distraction. *sighs*

    Great tips, Mikey and Brooke!

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    1. Thanks Debra! You still have time to be a famous children's book illustrator. Go for it! And one day I figure out how to separate both mine and my wife's names. We share Blogger accounts but she has her own blog, but for some reason it connects us. But you probably caught on to why my pseudonym is Brooks. :)

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  2. I have four or five ideas I've thought of, that could be picture books. I am not an illustrator however. We come up with all sorts of ideas at my house for picture books. We LOVE them! Great info Mikey! Thanks... :)

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    1. I'll have to do a post on finding an illustrator. Finding the right one is very important. Ive read some indie picture books that I feel could have been so much better with the right illustrator. Not everyone is a perfect fit for everyone, because each artist has a different style. The images in a picture book should reflect the story and more. Because the images are what tell the story for the child reading it, they are so very important.

      I encourage you to write out your story ideas. They are hard to do, especially with such a restricted word count, but they are so much fun. Good luck in your work! And thank you for your positive feedback!

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  3. I have an artist friend who worked for Disney for 12 years. He is an amazing artist. His problem is his amazing ego. I don't think I could work with him. I can only handle him in small amounts as a friend so I just don't see it as a working relationship. It's pretty much his way or no way. I think that's what happened with him an Disney. I think they just got sick of dealing with him even though he's brilliant.

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    1. My suggestion: find a new illustrator. Although working with friends can be fun sometimes it's not. Egos can get in the way. I think sometime the respect for you as the creator of the project can be ignored. I believe the best way to find an illustrator you like is to think of it as dating. You check the person out. If they look good to you you ask around. If this furthers your interest then you ask them out. Remember no one commits to marriage when they are soliciting a first date. If the date/review/interview goes well then you propose. Remember too, that as the write seeking an illustrator, you're the boss. You wrote the story. You call the shots. If a writer is no into what I do I try my best to fix it. If it still isn't working out then it probably never will, but I'm not going to not try my best to make I work. Like any business relationship it should be like a real relationship.

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    2. Typing long responses on my phone always messes up what I'm trying to say. Please ignore the typos in that reply. :)

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