What's Wrong with My Picture Book?
Whether you’re just starting out on your writing journey, or you’ve been working on picture books for some time, at some point you’re likely to ask yourself, “What’s wrong with my picture book manuscript?”
Maybe you’re a complete beginner, and you’re just not sure whether your story is really working or not. Will kids find it a satisfying story? Does it have any chance of getting published? What makes a publishable story anyway?
Or maybe you’ve been learning and revising for a while, but you just can’t quite put your finger on why you keep getting rejection letters. You’ve rewritten and revised and tweaked. You have fabulous, appealing characters, the language sings, and the hilarious gags only underline your theme. You had some POV issues, but you’ve fixed those now. It might be something about the pacing, but the story seems to move along Ok. It must be something about the beginning… or perhaps it's about the end…
So, just what is the problem?
If you can't put your finger on what’s wrong, it’s quite likely your story’s skeleton has a weakness. The basic narrative/character arc is your story’s skeleton. It is the structure upon which all else sits.
Let’s stretch this analogy to its limit: characters are like vital organs, their characteristics and the setting are muscles, and the events within the story are like the tendons to push and pull them. The language and style are the skin, and dialogue is like clothing. Correct grammar and spelling are like fine jewelry. (Proper formatting of your manuscript is a waft of intoxicating perfume. If it stinks, an editor/agent may want to get away. If it’s pleasing, we may want to get closer.)
But it doesn't matter how fancy the clothes or how fine the jewelry—if the skeleton isn’t strong and symmetrical, the story simply won’t stand up. And that equals a slew of rejection letters or a self-published book that probably won’t sell.
This is an excerpt from Module 1 — Narrative Structure in my downloadable Writing Picture Books course*.
A weak or problematic narrative arc is one of the main reasons picture book manuscripts are rejected. Module 1-- Narrative Structure is the first of several modules I'll be offering for picture book writers.
This 22-page instructional module is designed for beginner and intermediate picture book writers. It contains:
- a discussion of narrative structure
- clues to why your story’s structure may need development
- a picture book checklist
- three narrative tools specially designed to help you define, refine, and perfect your story’s narrative arc
- instructions for making and using a storyboard
- Bonus: a 20% discount on one round of future editing (developmental/substantive, copyediting, and proofreading) and/or a critique of your picture book (under 1000 words) once you have revised your story based on this material.
I’m offering Module 1 at a special introductory price for a limited time only via my Word Bird Studio Shop.
*I have been editing picture books and teaching aspiring writers to craft them since the early 2000s, including nine years at the Rhode Island School of Design CE, where many of my students are also aspiring illustrators. I have developed this material and the narrative tools over the course of these many years, determining what works, what doesn’t, and how I can best teach my clients and students what it takes most of us years to learn.