Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication - Softcover

Paul, Ann Whitford

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1440353751 ISBN 13: 9781440353758

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Master the Art of Writing Enthralling Tales for the Youngest pre-and emerging readers!

Fully updated and thoroughly revised, Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition is the go-to resource for writers crafting stories for children ages two to eight. You'll learn the unique set of skills it takes to bring your story to life by using tightly focused text and leaving room for the illustrator to be creative.

Award-winning author Ann Whitford Paul helps you develop the skills you need by walking you through techniques and exercises specifically for picture book writers. You'll find:

   • Instruction on generating ideas, creating characters, point-of-view, beginnings and endings, plotting, word count, rhyme, and more
   • Unique methods for using poetic techniques to enrich your writing
   • Hands-on revision exercises (get out your scissors, tape, and highlighters) to help identify problems and improve your picture book manuscripts
   • Updated tips for researching the changing picture book market, approaching publishers, working with an agent, and developing a platform
   • All new quizzes and examples from picture books throughout
   • New chapters cover issues such as page turns, agents, and self-publishing

Whether you're just starting out as a picture book writer or have tried unsuccessfully to get your work published, Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition is just what you need to craft picture books that will appeal to young children and parents, and agents and editors.

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Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition

A Hands-on Guide from Story Creation to Publication

By Ann Whitford Paul, Cris Freese, Amy Jones

F+W Media, Inc.

Copyright © 2018 Ann Whitford Paul
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4403-5375-8

Contents

WELCOME TO THIS REVISED AND EXPANDED BOOK, 
PROLOGUE, 
PART ONE Before You Write Your Story, 
1. BECOMING A PICTURE-BOOK SCHOLAR, 
PART TWO Early Story Decisions, 
2. BUILDING A FRAME FOR YOUR STORY HOUSE, 
3. TELLING YOUR STORY Part One, 
4. TELLING YOUR STORY Part Two, 
5. TELLING YOUR STORY Part Three, 
6. DARLINGS, DEMONS, OR A MIXTURE OF BOTH Creating Compelling Characters, 
PART THREE The Structure of Your Story, 
7. DIVING INTO YOUR STORY, 
8. BAITING WITH A SHARP HOOK Creating a Fabulous First Line, 
9. BASIC PLOTTING, 
10. MORE ON PLOTTING The Three-Act Structure, 
11. HOLDING YOUR STORY TOGETHER, 
12. DOES YOUR STORY HAVE A SATISFYING ENDING?, 
PART FOUR The Language of Your Story, 
13. THE TWO Ss OF STRONG WRITING, 
14. RHYME TIME, 
15. MAKING MUSIC WITH YOUR PROSE, 
16. THE IMPORTANCE OF WORD COUNT, 
PART FIVE Tying Together Loose Ends, 
17. PAGE TURNS, 
18. CUT AND PASTE Making a Mock-up Book, 
19. GRABBING THE READER WITH A GREAT TITLE, 
PART SIX After Your Story Is Done, 
20. SHARING YOUR STORY, 
21. SUBMITTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT, 
22. THE BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING, 
23. SELF-PUBLISHING?, 
24. PRIMING YOUR IDEA PUMP, 
25. WHEN YOUR DREAMS TURN INTO REALITY A Publisher Makes an Offer, 
EPILOGUE, 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, 
BIBLIOGRAPHY, 

CHAPTER 1

Becoming a Picture-Book Scholar

"Writing is a craft before it is an art. ..."

— DONALD M. MURRAY

Having your appendix removed doesn't qualify you to then perform an appendectomy, so why should having heard or read picture books qualify you to write one? You wouldn't start creating a software program without first researching computer theory, but some people think they can write a picture book without ever reading or studying contemporary picture books.

Picture books have a unique form and audience. In this chapter, you'll learn what a picture book is and what its audience requires from you the writer. But first I'd like to tell you a true story.

Several years ago, my family was enjoying a pleasant summer supper outside and having an animated discussion about the state of education in this country. With five other eager participants, I couldn't get in a word. Frustrated at being ignored, I pounded my fist on the table: "Listen to me! I have something to say!"

My sixteen-year-old son Alan looked at me incredulously. "Listen to you? Why should we listen to you? You write books for people who can't even read."

We all had a good laugh, and I'm happy to say, they did let me speak my piece. Much later, mulling over his comment, I realized Alan had come up with the perfect way to begin defining a picture book.

A BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T READ

Picture books are usually read by an adult reader to a nonreader. To that end, picture books combine words with pictures that entice the nonreader to listen and help her construct meaning from the words. Picture books traditionally find an audience in young children. Today, some picture books and graphic novels are published for fluent readers, even adults, but this book will focus on those aimed at children ages two through eight.

Such picture books are divided into two categories. The first is books aimed at the nonreader. The second is picture storybooks written for emergent or newly established readers. These have more text and more complicated story lines. Hard- and softcover published picture books are usually thirty-two pages long, but your manuscript, double-spaced with one-inch (25mm) borders, will be considerably fewer pages.

A Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) survey found that picture-book manuscripts range from one-half page to sometimes even fifteen pages. Those at the top range would obviously be for independent readers. The length of the manuscript is determined by the age of the audience and its attention span. Manuscripts for children up to two years old (who tend to have short attention spans) should be between one half and one manuscript page. Usually these are published as board books, where pictures are the most important element. There might be one sentence per page, sometimes just one word. Because pictures are so critical to drawing in the listener, early board books are generally written and illustrated by the same person.

Today publishers are increasingly reformatting popular picture books into board books. Although some feel too advanced for the intended audience, I'm not complaining. My story, If Animals Kissed Good Night, was originally published as a picture book. When it was reissued as a board book, sales skyrocketed.

Children between the ages of two and five can sit still longer, so their picture-book manuscripts are longer — around two to five pages. With roughly 200 words per manuscript page, that means 400 to 900 words total. When this book was first published, if my manuscripts were in the 700-word range, I searched for ways to cut. Now 500 words seems long to me.

Manuscripts between four and fifteen pages are for older children and even adults. The longer the manuscript, the more likely the book pages will increase, always in multiples of eight. One book might be forty pages; another might be forty-eight and so on. A word of caution: Books with higher page counts cost more to produce.

Publishers are wary of spending more money than necessary on an unproven product. And new writers are unproven products. If you've never been published, revise to fit your story into the thirty-two-page format.

Because a picture book is both words and pictures, the writer can limit words to the bare essentials. In Where Do Pants Go? author Rebecca Van Slyke asks where certain items of clothing go. She leaves the look of each item to the illustrator, Chris Robertson, thereby eliminating much text (some pages have as few as three words). An added benefit is that she gives Chris control of color, design, and the overall look of the book.

While we're at it, cutting words: You don't need to describe the house the character lives in, the appearances of his parents, or the breed of his dog. Descriptions, unless vital to your story, should be eliminated. That allows you, the writer, to focus on the action and dialogue of your story.

Picture-book writers, even if they're not illustrators, still must have visual images in their minds, particularly when writing for the very young. Your text should allow the illustrator space for a variety of interesting picture possibilities to keep the listener involved in the book. This may be accomplished through one or all of the following:

1. writing scenes with different actions

2. introducing new characters into the story

3. moving characters to different settings

4. changing the emotional intensity of a scene

In picture books for the two- to five-year-old range, the text requires pictures to tell the story. Writers should strive to leave room in their manuscripts for the illustrator to develop an independent picture story line. For example, read the classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. On one page in the book, Numeroff...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1440353751
• ISBN 13: 9781440353758
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 2
• Anzahl der Seiten: 272
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland