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.

Different Types of Picture Books

There are a lot of different types of picture books and it is important to know the difference when submitting a manuscript to a publisher. It shows you have done your research and they will respect you as a professional.

When we think of picture books we usually just think of a book with words and pictures however there is more to it than that. This is the understanding I have to in defining each book type.

Toy books/Board books
These books usually feature more interactive elements like cloth, pop up and plastic. As they are for babies words are less important and it’s more about the way they are played with or read by adults. They often feature a lot of actions and noises the adult does as reading them.


  


Toddler/Concept books
These books start to introduce basic learning of alphabet, numbers, colours and shapes etc. They have more of an emphasis on words than the toy books however images are still the main attention as this audience cannot read yet. They average around 300 words and often are board books with interactive elements.


  


Early picture books
These books are more about an entertaining story. They feature both words and pictures and average around 1000 words. They are usually paper pages with either a hard cover or paperback. The age group for these is between 4-6 and these children are starting to read the stories themselves so the words used are important.


  


Easy readers
These are the next step up from the previous books they have a higher word count up to 2000 words. They are written so the child can read them all by themselves. They have simple language and usually are told through action and dialog. They still feature illustrations on every page.


  


Early chapter books/Transition books
These books are the transition from picture books to chapter books. They still feature illustrations but not as many and a lot of time only black and white. They feature a lot more words and can have chapters.

  

Best Selling Ideas and Concepts

The first part of creating a children's book is of course the idea. Coming up with an original, clever concept is one of the hardest parts of the process. With millions of children's books published throughout the world it is easy to end up with a similar concept than something that has been done before. In this post I will go over some different strategies for coming up with an original concept and how authors have been successful with these strategies.
The strategy a lot of successful authors use is taking inspiration from situations in their own lives. This can be anything from noticing something interesting while walking down the street to a funny incident or situation they find themselves in. The advantage of using a real life concept is that there is a sense of human truth which automatically relates to the reader. It is easy to make something believable if it has already happened. The problem that can arise from using real life inspiration is getting to attached to the real life version of the story and not experimenting with it and developing it into a stronger plot.

One of my favourite examples of this strategy is an author illustrator from Korea called Baek Heena. Heena now creates and publishes her own fantasy children's books which have been best sellers in Korea and some of them have been published into different languages. Her story 'Moon Sherbet' was inspired by looking out of her apartment at the moon on a boiling hot night. In the story the moon gets so hot it melts then a little old lady catches the drips in a pot and turns it into Popsicles and feeds it to everyone in the apartment building. I think the reason her stories work so well is she doesn't get to attached to reality but is able to keep enough human truth to draw you into the story. If you would like to read more about her work click here

Another strategy that seems to work quite well is taking a very human idea and applying it to another creature or species. For example if you are wanting to create a story around the theme of sucking your thumb. You don't have to have a human sucking their thumb. You could write a bout a baby bear who keep sucking is thumb. The advantage of this method is you automatically broaden you market. Now every little girl or boy can relate to the story as there are no cultural or social indications in the characters and setting. As with featuring humans you have to bear in mind the race and culture of the characters. If you were writing a book about a possum your potential market is limited to the places possums live. However some animals will be recognised and understood by children everywhere like an elephant or bear.

There was a best selling children's book in New Zealand in 2010 about dealing with a death. The book was written around a family of huhu grubs. The whole topic of death is a very tricky thing to write about for children however by changing the characters to huhu grubs it worked. The book is called 'The Old Hu-Hu.'

Another great example of this is  a book called Uncle Bobby's Wedding. It is about two male guinea pigs getting married. It is automatically more appealing to young readers because its written around animals not humans.

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.