- 1). Visit your local library or bookshop and read children's picture books. Note how they are written, and identify the theme or conflict in the stories in order to give you a clearer idea of what is expected from a picture book author.
- 2). Think about what kind of story you want to write about. If you lack inspiration, don't wait for it to come to you. Observe people and life around you, or look for alternative sources of inspiration from magazines, comics, newspapers, film, books or from pictures which could possibly trigger a potential idea. Carry a little notebook so you can note an idea down to ensure you will not forget it.
- 3). Plan your book by writing background notes on who your characters are, what they do in the story, how the conflict or problem starts and affects them, and how they resolve the problem by the end. Consider that conflict can be as simple as a character having to make a decision about something, either trivial or important. The story should follow your character's journey and how he resolves the problem.
- 4). Write your story with a beginning, middle and an end. As you are writing a picture book, the pictures play a key role in conveying the story visually to the young reader and showing some aspects of the story that are not expressed through words. Make room for the pictures in your mind's eye and tell your story in brief, snappy sentences that offer the skeleton of your plot, as it should not read like a fully developed story that can stand on its own. Write brief dialogue that could be inserted into speech bubbles rather than keeping it in the main text.
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