By Penny Nolan
1. Universal Truth First things first. You need a universal truth in your story, such as honesty is the best policy, or treat others the way you want to be treated. Something everyone can relate to, a lesson to be learned but not in-your-face preachy. Kids don’t like that. Everything in the story should relate to the universal truth you are writing about. In my book Maverick’s Ride, the main character, a horse, wants the freedom to be himself. So, the story shows his struggle to be free and what happens when he gets his freedom.
2. Theme It’s great to have as many as possible. It makes your book more marketable because it will appeal to more people. Maverick’s Ride’s themes are horse lovers, the freedom to be yourself, learning to say no, and standing up for yourself.
3. Fresh Idea Keep it fresh. Write about something that has never been written about before or a fresh twist on an old idea. Check online to make sure your idea hasn’t been done before. I wanted to write about a chicken that wanted to fly but when I checked there were lots of them.
4. Need/Want Your main character must have a need and a want. He/she wants something but really needssomething else. For instance, a frog who wants to jump the highest to get attention but, in the end, learns he just wants people to like him for who he is.
5. Problem There must be a problem to be solved, typically involving the main character. In Maverick’s ride, Maverick is restricted by his carousel pole and must get free of it.
The rule of threes works well. Try three times to fix the problem, but none of them will work, of course. It’s not until the main character has learned his real need, that the problem is solved. Grown-ups should never solve the problem!
6. Memorable Character Make your main character unique or relatable. He/she must grow/learn something by the end of the story.
7. Emotional Connection Readers want to feel something. Pull at their heartstrings. Or make them laugh out loud.
8. Setting Where does your story take place? This can be a quick mention at the beginning if you want. “Maverick was the most beautiful horse on the carousel.” He’s on a carousel in a park. Boom. Done. Or it can be more detailed. Whatever it takes to make the reader feel grounded in the story.
9. Strong Voice Simply put, the voice is the way you write the story. Agents are always looking for a strong voice. It makes the story unique. It’s like recognizing an artist’s style of painting only with writing.
10. Tension A suspenseful plot would help but that’s not always the case. But you can add tension in other ways. Make the reader anxious to turn the page to find out what happens next. Try raising the stacks, throwing in a surprise or twist.
11. Resolution This is an obvious one. The reader wants an ending. They want to feel satisfied. But keep in mind that the main character needs to earn the resolution. The ending shouldn’t come easily. Make the ending more than was expected. Surprise them.
Your ending can be a mirror of the beginning. That’s when you start one way and end it there but better off. Maybe a character starts in a time machine and at the end of the story comes back in the time machine much better off having learned a universal truth.
12. Surprise, Delight, Amuse I heard an agent say that this is what she wants in a story.
13. Art Notes Otherwise known as Illustration notes to the artist. These day agents are looking for the writer/illustrator combo, one person who is both. So, if that’s you, awesome. [Art note:] is bracketed. You want as few as possible. The rule of thumb is, only make art notes when absolutely necessary to tell the story. Don’t tell the artist how to draw. If you think about it, the book becomes yours and the artist’s once it’s finished. The words are important but the pictures are selling the book too.
14. Word Ok, you’re ready to write. I recommend writing in a Word Document. It seems to be the industry standard. I have seen it required many times. An editor will most likely send you edits on a Word Doc. Save and date all your revisions. You may want to refer back to them later.
15. Word Count A picture book should be about 500 words! Don’t faint. Less is even better. A little more is ok. Attention spans are shorter than they used to be and getting shorter. Plus, moms and dads are both working, are tired at the end of the day, and want a quick story to read at bedtime. I know it’s tough but you can do it. This doesn’t apply to nonfiction picture books. They can be longer.
Just write out your story. You’ll cut down the word count down later. It can be a mess, mine always is. Don’t be fussy yet. That is what critique groups and workshops are for.
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