Читать книгу Writing Children's Books For Dummies - Peter Economy - Страница 28

Although word count is a wild card, some picture books, such as Monique Felix’s Story of the Little Mouse Trapped in a Book (Green Tiger Press), have no words. We’re of the opinion that less is more. The best picture books have spare, well-chosen text and well-structured stories that complement the illustrations with zero fat (see Figure 2-5 for some examples).

To break into the picture book market, you have to write a stellar story, which involves mastering the elements of writing that we cover in Part 3. When you’re done with creating your masterpiece, make sure that you do the following in your picture book:

 Keep it short. Capture the essence of your story in no more than 500 to 1,000 words, the fewer the better. (If the book is longer than 1,000 words, you risk losing the attention of the youngest of the picture book audience — and hence those who do the reading to them, as well.)

 Make every word work really hard. Eliminate all descriptive baggage and every unnecessary word — especially those words that the illustrations convey.

 Use beautiful words. Replace ordinary words with richer, more evocative ones without getting wordy or too adult.

 Create a relatable main character. Give your picture book a strong, multidimensional main character whom a child can relate to. (We talk about creating great characters in Chapter 8.)

 Follow a clear story arc. Take your main character through a satisfying story arc that includes a beginning, a middle, and an end. (Chapter 9 gets into how to shape your story.)

 Convey concrete visual imagery. Use this imagery in action and dialogue throughout to move the plot ahead.

a) My Dog, My Cat reprinted courtesy of Tanglewood Books. © 2011 by Ashlee Fletcher. b) Is a Worry Worrying You? reprinted courtesy of Tanglewood Books. © 2005 Ferida Wolff. c) An Equal Shot by Helaine Becker; illustrations by Dow Phumiruk. Text copyright © 2021 by Helaine Becker. Illustrations copyright © 2021 by Dow Phumiruk. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company. All Rights Reserved.

FIGURE 2-5: Example picture books.