Help find the cure

Writing Picture Books

by Rick Walton

Contents

• Becoming a Better Writer
• Picture Book Format
• Types of Picture Books
• To Think About Before You Write
• Writing and Editing

The Big Picture

Sections

The Words

• Look at Your Manuscript Another Way
• Resources

Internet Sites

Information For Writers

Writers Guidelines

Books

Becoming a Better Writer

1. Read as many picture books as possible. Study the books you like best.
2. Read books on writing for children.
3. Read other kinds of books, see movies, think, travel, gain experience and get ideas.
4. Record any ideas you may get. Keep them accessible.
5. Attend writing workshops. Take classes on writing.
6. Join a writer's group.
7. Join the Society for Children's Book Writers ($60)

   22738 Vanowen Street, #106, West Hills, CA 91307

   818-888-8771, www.scbwi.org.

8. Learn to use the Internet for writing resources, writers discussion groups, and free writers newsletters
9. Learn to use a computer word processor.
10. Collect good reference books.
11. Pay attention to kids. Notice what they like, how they talk, how they act, everything about them.
12. Get in touch with the child in you.
13. Write, Write, Write, Write, Write.

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Picture Book Format

32 pages, (maximum 64--multiples of 8) 25 of text

word count--0-1000, most common 100-400

1 or 2 sentences per page, 1 paragraph per double-page spread

Each spread should:

Be consistent in its mood and pace

Take the story a step.

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Types of Picture Books

• Storybook--tells a story (needs variety of rhythm, ebb and flow)
• Informational Book--like an encyclopedia article for kids

If you want to use a story to give information, focus first on the story. If the story doesn't work, it doesn't matter what the information is.

• Concept Book--focuses on an idea

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To Think About Before You Write

1. Write about what interests you.
2. Write about what you know (you can get to know things though through doing research or through imagining)
3. You can write about anything, as long as you write so that children will understand.
4. Avoid cliches. If you use them, make them "unique".

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Writing/Editing

Plot your story.

..Does your conflict make the story interesting?

..At key turning points, consider other directions the story could go.

..Can you summarize your plot?

Know your story.

..Write the pre-history of your story

..Write the post-history of your story

..If you have trouble writing the pre- and post- histories, then you probably don't know your characters well enough.

See the shape of the story.

..Understanding the shape of your story will help you see if there's anything that doesn't belong. Knowing the shape beforehand will also help you write the story.

..Draw the shape of your story.

Make sure every effect has a cause.

..Make a cause-and-effect line of your story. Make sure there is a good motivation for everything that happens in your story.

Stick to your story. Don't digress.

Create real characters.

..Are any of your characters stereotypes--race, gender, profession, age, etc.?

..Does each of your characters seem like a real person to you?

..Name one thing that makes your character stand apart from the other characters.

..Is your character neither perfectly good nor perfectly evil?

..Is each of your characters interesting to you?

..What do your characters want? What motivates them?

..Use specific detail to make your characters come to life.

Choose characters' names carefully.

..No allegory names--Samuel Justice, Dorothy Love

..No distracting names, unless you want the names to distract, as in slapstick or bizarre humor.

..Are your names easy to tell apart? (Dan/Van)

..Are your names stereotypical? (Mary, Joseph, Sam, etc.)

..Avoid alliterative animal names, i.e. "Charlie the Chipmunk"

Limit description.

..The illustrations will provide most description.

Show, don't Tell.

Keep a consistent point of view.

Stick with either reality or imagination. Don't go back and forth between the two, unless you make it clear what you're doing.

Consider your audience.

..Don't talk down to the child.

..Don't worry about vocabulary level. After you've finished, then if you think a word's too difficult, you can fix it then.

..Text should also appeal to adults.

..Don't date your piece. Make it universal.

Keep a unified tone and style.

Keep messages subtle. Don't moralize.

Only use poetry if the story demands it.

..If you use verse, make it fresh. Don't write doggerel, don't imitate Dr. Seuss.

Jump right into your story.

..Does your beginning get right into the story? Does it set the mood? Introduce the main character(s)? Establish the problem or conflict?

..Would your second or third paragraph make a better beginning than your first?

Write an effective ending.

..Does your ending tie up the strings? leave the reader feeling satisfied? feel like an ending? ramble?

..Don't rush your ending, but don't drag it out. Your ending should be proportional to the movement in the rest of the story. (A short manuscript will have a short ending, and longer episodic manuscript will have a longer ending.)

Organize your story, and each section, logically.

..Organize according to the logic of time, space, and degree of specificity.

Keep episode, paragraphs and sentences to the point and unified.

..Each section should suggest a clear scene.

Get rid of unnecessary sections.

..Shorten or remove any scene, section, paragraph, character, or sentence which doesn't move your story forward.

..If you hesitate giving up your great writing, set it aside and use it another piece of writing.

..If a section doesn't carry its weight, but is necessary to move the story forward, can you summarize it and move on?

Make all sections strong.

..Find the strongest part of your story? What made it strong? Go back through the rest of your story and edit it so that it's all as strong as the strongest part.

Vary the length of sentences, paragraphs, and chapters.

Make effective transitions.

Use dialogue effectively.

..Make sure the reader knows who is speaking.

..Give each character his or her own "voice".

..Give your characters realistic speech patterns.

..Edit "lifelike" speeches to work on the printed page.

..Ensure that dialogue is always appropriate to the speakers involved.

..Allow your characters to reply to implied as well as direct questions.

..Don't let conversations go on and on.

..Don't let your characters "run away" with the story or hold up the action."

Write a catchy title.

Shorten or remove superfluous, ineffective, or redundant sentences and words.

Replace longer words with shorter ones.

Limit modifiers. Use effective verbs and nouns.

..Look at all adverbs and adjectives. Do you need them? Can they be replaced with more specific verbs and nouns? (Does the modifier add important meaning to the story, or is it superfluous detail?)

..Use specific nouns and verbs.

..Keep verbs active.

Keep verb tenses consistent.

Make sure the remaining words are the right ones.

..Pay attention to nuances. Think of different ways to say something. What does each way suggest? What are it's nuances?

Use all the senses.

..Mark or write down all your uses of the senses. Do you use all the senses? Does one sense rule?

Use figurative language.

..Use simile, metaphor, analogy, personification, hyperbole, and allusion.

Use poetic devices.

..Use alliteration, assonance, rhythm, interior rhymes, repetition, refrains, accumulations, contrasts, onomatopoeia.

Avoid unjustified obscenities, sexisms, excessive dialect, cliches, and jargon.

Avoid things that kill emphasis: excessive exclamation points, passive verbs, abstract or indirect language, intensifiers, cliches, and overexaggeration.

Put important things anywhere but in the middle.

Vary sentence length, form, and internal pacing.

Watch for common misspellings and incorrect usages.

Use spaces, pauses, and special typography, including italics, boldface, and page layout. (But be careful not to overdo it.)

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Look at Your Manuscript Another Way

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Resources

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators: The organization that most professional children's writers and illustrators in the country belong to.

Children's Book Council: Lots of information on children's literature, and links to many other related sites, including the websites of many children's book publishers.

The Children's Literature Web Guide: Great place to start when looking for information on anything having to do with children's literature--authors, publishers, critiques, etc.

My Web Site: Check it out.

Writers Guidelines

Children's Book Council Writers' Guildelines

Writers' Digest Writers' Guidelines

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