Timely Tips on Writing a Picture Book
What Children's Book Publishers Want from Picture Story Authors
Oct 26, 2009
One of the hardest things for inexperienced picture-book writers to understand is the delicate balance of words and pictures in the story. The amount of text in a picture book can vary considerably. Some picture books have no text at all. Some have minimal text, and are designed to encourage children to learn to read. Still others have fairly sophisticated text, and are meant to be read aloud by an older person, while the child looks at the pictures.
The following simple guidelines will be useful for anyone interested in exploring the children's picture book genre.
The Balance of Pictures and Text in Children's Picture Books
Most writers who first attempt a picture book start by writing the story, then think about what kind of pictures might 'go with' the story. They think of pictures as an add-on: images that more or less duplicate the story already told in words.
A few hours spent at a library, browsing popular picture books, will reveal that this is usually not the case. Carefully crafted children's books ensure that the pictures actually carry much of the story. It's not necessarily a 50-50 split, either: pictures may carry the meaning of 20 per cent of the story, or 70 per cent of the story. A picture book writer should be able to visualise the characters and their actions very clearly. (This ensures that the illustrator has plenty to work with. It's not easy to illustrate a story in which the main character sits around doing a lot of thinking!) The author might find it useful to create a picture book dummy just to get a sense of how words and pictures work together to tell the story.
An Easy Step-by-Step Method of Writing a Picture Book
- Write the entire story in words first.
- Highlight or underline the parts of the story that could be shown in pictures.
- Write the story out again, using half of each page for pictures. (At this stage, just write "Illustration suggestion" and describe the picture in words.)
- Take another look at the text. At this stage it is quite likely that it needs to be re-worded, now that the pictures are carrying a large part of the story. In addition, try to imagine what is going through the minds of children listening to the story, as they look at the pictures. How might tension or anticipation be introduced to the story, so the child can hardly wait for the page to be turned? Could a repeated phrase be introduced that children will enjoy saying? What 'sound' words could be used in the story, to mimic noises?
- Check sentences for length and flow. Adult readers enjoy dramatizing stories: test the story by reading it aloud. Awkward sentences will be immediately obvious.
Creating the Illustrations for a Picture Book
Should the author illustrate the book? Usually, the answer is 'no' – unless the author also happens to be a talented artist. Editors do not expect picture book authors to illustrate their own stories. Nor do they expect them to find an artist themselves. Publishers have their own stable of illustrators for picture book stories.
Sometimes picture book authors are reluctant to send their books to publishers without illustrations; feeling that the editor might 'get it wrong'. This is not likely to happen. Editors have a very good sense of what the author is trying to say, and illustrators take pride in bringing their own creativity to the project.
Use Published Picture Books for Inspiration when Writing for Young Children
There are thousands of well-written, beautifully illustrated picture books ready and waiting as a source of inspiration for new authors. By studying these, and especially by reading them aloud, it's possible for writers to get an invaluable insight into how to write a children's book.
A classic picture book is Michael Rosen's 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Study this not only to see how well pictures and text can work together in a story, but to see how Rosen and Oxenbury have built in a delicious sense of tension and excitement as each page is turned.
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