Case Study: Part 3, PLOT DEVELOPMENT

This is the third post about the children's book I am creating titled 'Catch that Fly.' I will be writing about every step of the process and all the resources I use along the way so you too can create your own book.

In my previous post I created a draft and sent it to a manuscript assessor. I have taken the constructive feedback on board and had another attempt at developing the story.

The first problem was that there was no real reason for mum wanting the dinner to be perfect. So I decided a good reason would be if someone is coming to dinner. I introduced another character 'Grandma.' There are plenty of reasons a mum gets stressed about a grandmother coming to dinner and she’s a great character that every child can relate to.

Next was figuring out a way to make the scenes more interesting and animated throughout the story. I have now created more descriptive text about each family member trying to catch the fly. I have also written more about the fly’s direction and objective.

The story was still feeling a little dull so I have tried a few more things to bring it to life. I have added rhyme which is not recommended for beginner writers however I had some help from a talented song writer. Here is a sample of one of the spreads.

The fly keeps buzzing against everyone’s wishes

Under the table and over the dishes

Into the lounge past the television

Avoiding everyone with great precision

After figuring out the problems with the narration I started to think of interesting visual ways of telling the story. One of the things I through would work well is if when the fly finally buzzes out the window we can see grandmas car pulling into the drive way.

I will continue working on the story development and post about my progress very soon. Feel free to give feedback and comments.

Case Study: Part 1, IDEA

I have decided to create my own children’s book and publish it online using all the tools and skills I write about in my blog. This is the first article where I will explain my idea and how it came about.

'Catch that Fly' is the name of the story I have written. I grew up on a dairy farm and anyone from a farm will know about the frustration of having a fly inside. My mum would constantly be chasing them around the house trying to either catch them or shoe them out the window. I recently moved home for a while and realised how appropriate this idea was for a children's book.

The idea seemed to work on a comical level, however I need to transform into an interesting meaningful story as well. I drew inspirations from books like 'The Cat in the Hat' where the story revolves around trying to get rid of something. It forms an interesting plot with the ending a celebration because they finally succeed.
 

This seemed to work well for my story. I decided to theme it around a family sitting down to dinner only to discover there is a fly inside. Every member of the family try something different to get rid of the fly then in the end one of them just lets it out the window.

This seemed pretty basic and I felt it needed more layers. I then thought it would be more interesting if as each person tried to catch the fly they broke or ruined part of the dinner. So by the end when the tiny fly finally escapes they are left with a great big mess. This idea that one little fly can cause so much ciaos is quite funny.

I wanted to create a story that was fun to read. As an illustrator I have images in my mind of the scenes as I write them. This story has a lot of action and sets me up to create some very energetic, dynamic illustrations.

I was worried about not having a strong moral within the plot. However I feel that the little fly winning in the end gives the message that the small can win against the big sometimes. I also tied in a line at the end where the family sit down in the mess they have made and still enjoy their dinner. Sending the message that it doesn’t matter if everything is not perfect the dinner still tastes great.