- 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book
- Picture book standards: 32 pages
- Putting the Picture in Picture Books
- Write the Frist Draft of a Picture Book
- The Dual Audience for Picture Books
- Did you Write a Picture Book or Something Else?
- Picture Books: Those Confusing 32 Pages
- Check Your Picture Book’s Story Arc
- Shakespeare Helps You Write a Better Picture Book
- Options for Picture Book Characters
- Playing with Words for Picture Books
- Picture Book Settings
- How to Mock-up a Picture Book
- 5 Ways to Make The Reader Turn the Page
- Revise the Picture Book Text
- The Biggest Mistake in Submitting a Picture Book
- Voice for Picture Books
- How to Create a Read Aloud Friendly Picture Book
- Picture Books: Folk Tale or Modern Story?
- How to Write a Rhyming Picture Book
- How to Write a Creative Non-Fiction Picture Book
- How to Write a Picture Book Biography
- How to Write an ABC Book
- How to Write a Poetry Collection Picture Book
- How to Write a Picture Book Mystery
- The Illustrator Doesn’t Tell YOU What to Do
- 10 Suggestions for Picture Book Titles
- 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid!
- What Kids Think is Funny
- Page 32
- Messages, Morals and Lessons in Picture Books
- Effective Picture Book Subtitles
Image via Wikipedia When you have a full text of a picture book, it’s time to PLAY! After all, this is just a story for kids, right? Here are two ways to play with your story. You’ll be amazed at what you find out about the story when you do this:
Cut in Picture Book Text in Half
Count the number of words in the original. Write the story with EXACTLY half as many words as the original. Write it again with EXACTLY twice as many words. Notice what happens when you compress or expand a story.
Some things you might discover:
- You don’t need a character, a scene, a piece of dialogue.
- You cut out prepositional phrases in favor of adjectives.
- You cut adjectives and adverbs in favor of stronger, more exact nouns and verbs.
- The story is stronger when it’s shorter.
- The story lacks the emotional punch when it’s shorter.
- Cutting totally changes the story (for better or worse).
Pastiche or Borrowing from Others
Look around for picture books you admire. When you find one, rewrite your story in the same voice and style as the admired book. Do at least once, but repeat as many times as you can and
Be ready to discuss the experience.
Some things you might learn:
- Your voice is bland, or excitable, or unique.
- The story changes because of a different voice/style.
- The appropriate age of the reader changes as the voice/style change.
- Your default style has too much (adjectives, to be verbs, visual description, etc.)
See Also: 30 Days to a Stronger Novel
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