How to write a Picture Book

So you have your plot ready to go. You know who you main character is and the events that will unfold leading the story to a conclusion. Now it's time to start writing the book. The most important thing to remember is that your story can always be better so keep working on it. You should have at least 20 drafts before it is ready for publishing. Show as many people as you can and get as much feedback as possible. Make sure you show an editor before publishing it.

Firstly you need to have an idea of the number of pages in your book. This gives you a good guide for how long your story should be. The most common quantity of pages for picture books is 32. The number of pages must be a multiple of four because of the way they are printed and bound. Bare in mind that all 32 pages will not be your story. Usually 8 pages are taken up by the book ends, title page and copy right page. So you should aim for 24 pages.

Your word count will be anywhere from 500-1200 words depending on the reading level. But make sure you know what this is before you start writing as the vocabulary and words should suit your target market. The more advanced the reader the more advanced the words can be.

With this in mind you should be able to figure out roughly how many words or sentences to write per page. This gives you a structure to work with. Obviously you can have different lengths on each page but it’s good to have a base.

With a picture book the illustrations and page turns have a major influence on how the story is told. Keep this in mind while writing and try to make the page breaks enhance the story. Have things reveal themselves from page to page. Use the sense of surprise and mystery as to what is on the next page.

Tips

Make sure the problem or aim is clearly stated in the first few pages.

Make sure the audience can tell who the protagonist is and that they routing for them.

Use the element of surprise to keep the audience interested.

Make sure everything in your story relates to the plot, goals and aim of the story. Don't lose track of what you’re writing about.

Good luck

How to Write a Strong Plot

The plot of your story is the most important thing when it comes to any book. Without a strong plot your book simply will never capture and involve the reader. The basis of a plot is the idea and the message. What are you trying to communicate through your story? With children's books it’s not enough to simple write a sequence of events that end with something funny happening. There needs to be a message or something you are trying to say or teach through writing the story. Think back to all ancient fairytales and folktales they all have strong moral messages and teachings that was the reason they were created.

Publishers look for specific things when choosing manuscripts to publish.
The more of the following elements your story has the more likely it will be published or sell when self published.

Moral
Multicultural
Entertainment
Funny
Lesson
Niche Market
Age Specific
Universal Theme

It’s good to have this all figured out before you start writing your plot. A plot is a plan for the story that has yet to be written. You should create a brainstorm before the plot.

(1) Brainstorm
(2) Plot
(3) First Draft

Now that you have the message or idea you are trying to communicate you need to figure out how. This is where the plot is created. The first plot you figure out might not be the plot you end up with for you final manuscript or story. Plots can change a lot as your story develops so don't get too attached.

A basic plot consists of the following:

Main character is introduced and sets a goal or aim

Main Character runs into obstacle or problem that jeopardises achieving the goal or aim.

Main character triumphs and resolves the obstacle or problem and achieves the goal or aim.

The way to make this structure work best is to have layers of ideas within the story. Try to make each event relate to the next and connect elements throughout the story that later reveal themselves. Be clever and try to use things like metaphor to add meaning. The basic story must be simply understood however there can be many elements that add to the story both in the text and illustrations.

This is a basic story structure that can be used in millions of ways. This seems to be standard for any children's book or story written in English speaking countries. However this was not always the case and there are many other countries who write for children in a different way. Most of the original folktales and fairytales did not have happy endings but they have been adapted over time.

While at the Bologna Children's book fair I was fortunate enough to see an exhibitions and presentation on Korean children's books. Their plots were completely different they didn’t follow the structure above at all. They addressed serious issues with no happy ending, amazing sensitivity for the reality of events and amazing creativity. Just something to think about. Be warned though when approaching publishers they are usually only interested in a plot structure like the above.

How to Write a Successful Children's Book

Writing a children's book is not as easy as it seems. Many people make the mistake of thinking because the language for young readers is so simple that anyone can do it. When I look back at my first attempt I am embarrassed to say I was one of these people. In fact I would say writing for children is harder than writing for adults as there is a lot more to consider.
Here are some key points I think improved my understanding of children's writing the most.

Firstly young readers are not only developing there understanding of reading and words but they are also developing there understanding of the world in general. There is a lot that goes over their heads. The age group you are writing for is very important. A lot of publishers have very narrow age groups or reading levels for each book. The development of learning to read is a very fast process so the books need to fit the exact market they are aimed at.

The things children are interested in are a lot different from what adults find captivating. If you have no children in your life it might be a good idea to spend some time with some before you start trying to write. A lot of the ideas you will have should be worked at a lot before you end up with the final story. Try not to get to attached to your story at the beginning, allow it to develop fully.

There are a lot of writing tools that are used to create an interesting story. The plot is the most important part of your story and it is something a lot of writers get wrong. There is an art to creating a successful plot and it is something worth getting right. I found going to libraries and book stores and reading as many children's books as possible helped me understand the importance of a strong plot.

My advice to anyone wanting to start writing for children would be to do your research. The reason so little people end up with a successfully published book is because most people are to lazy to do the appropriate research. A couple of books I read which I feel gave me a great starting base of knowledge were:

Writing Children's Books For Dummies
This book covers all the aspects of writing from the idea through to the finished manuscript. It was easy to read and I feel it gave me an overall view of the types of books out there.

How to Write a Children's Book and Get It Published
This book was quite helpful, I think it give a pretty thorough overview of the process and how to go about producing your own storybook.

Writing and Illustrating Children's Books for Publication (Writing & Illustrating Children's Books for Publication)
This book is a lot different than the other two, its a bit older and a completely different format. It is more like a story book with lots of coloured images and examples. I found it very easy to read but some of the advice might be a little outdated.

I hope this helps everyone get started and begin their journey wrting for children. Feel free to comment on this post with other usefull books you have found.