Plotting Perfection: How to Create Strong Picture Book Stories
Marcy Pusey
This interview will expire in…
In this session, you’ll discover:
Learn the essential elements of a strong picture book plot, how to enthrall children, and how to integrate lessons seamlessly, all from an expert editor’s perspective.
Session Link:
http://miramarepontepress.com/publish
Bonus:
– Children’s Book Publishing Checklist
Comment Below With Your Key Takeaways Or If You Have Questions About The Session.
At different ages, children develop their evaluation skills. Instead of telling them what the problem is for a solution they want, they may require hints so they can at least have that aha moment. Same goes for solutions. It would be helpful to know a little more of the stages with the age groups, and the differences in that development so correct hints can be given along that path.
That’s definitely true in real life! In this case, the children’s book BECOMES the hint… an opportunity to influence their development toward belief and possibility around problem-solving, critical thinking, brain-storming, making mistakes, learning from mistakes, etc. We always want to empower children to believe they are capable of more than most adults allow them to believe (in real life) during whatever life stage. So in this case, again, the book BECOMES that external voice of wisdom as opposed to reinforcing the message that children are incapable of making decisions, learning from those decisions, and growing as a result. I hope that helps!
Interesting tips. I’m not a parent so I don’t relate well with kids. I’m not writing child books either. I have others in my writing groups who have written children’s books that aren’t sell well.
There’s a lot to selling a book that starts from the VERY beginning… the actual storytelling itself, the artwork that partners with it, the title, the cover design, etc. And from there, is the author letting the world know that it exists? Are they showing up where caregivers, educators, and counselors are hanging out? Do they know what those people are looking for for the kids in their lives? Books DO SELL went these things are all considered and acted upon. However, a lot of authors misstep in one or many of these areas.
I loved this. I have so much to think about and to add to my ideas. Thank you for sharing.
Loved Marcy’s content. I practically wrote down everything she said! lol…It gave me more ideas to introduce mini-stories inside the Main story. Example: The wizard of Oz. All 4 seekers of Oz had their own reasons for seeking him.
I have in mind a series of books, main character being a knight. Obviously, subsequent stories will be dealing with different challenges/monsters/etc.
I attempted to download her children’s book publishing checklist and was unable to…I would like to have it to be able to reach out to her later. Thank you.
Aww, Sylvia, that was fun to read! Thank you for sharing that; it’s making me smile. HA! I’m so excited for how you’re empowered to keep moving forward! I look forward to your stories!
As for the guide… I clicked the link under the video and it opened up for me… What specifically was the issue you faced?
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that. Cheering you on!
Rory’s story cubes, they’re great!
YES! That’s them! HA! They’re fun and can unlock our creativity.
Marcy provides some great insight on how to better present our books to children. This presentation is loaded with tips.
Cause and effect, start with action, modeling, thinking in threes, understanding a child’s perspective, quality investment, and more…Great Tips!!!
Thank you
Thank you so much, Larry! I’m glad it was a help 🙂
I love Marcy!!! She edited my 6 (so far) manuscripts, and I appreciate her honesty with the good, the not-so-good, and the not-so-pretty of getting down to the perfection in my stories! Excited to continue sending Marcy my manuscripts for editing!!
This was so interesting and really made me think about a children’s story I am trying to write. I have a story that starts hopefully with a lot of action but when my second and main character comes in on the second chapter, I am not sure she is strong enough for the reader to engage. It is a time thing as the she comes in three years later but that has really made me want to go back and look at it again. Thank you
Lots of good information provided. Thanks, Marcy. I also appreciate that you focused on what kids need in relation to life/survival skills and how to engage their brains to support that and not just how to write a book that sells. Sure, that’s important but you put the impact on the kids first and that’s what really counts/why we write for kids in the first place.
The story dice you mentioned reminded me of similar activity we did at our last SCBWI meeting. Story Engine. It has the same concept but uses cards instead. It helped provide practice in generating “what if” questions and got our minds a bit more focused on possible “slaps”. It was fun.