Picture books are short narrative works that heavily emphasize colorful pictures to tell the story. A great deal of variety and potential can be found in picture books, which are often geared toward children. While writing a picture book yourself requires a great deal of work, it can be a lot of fun if you have a creative streak. Publishing children's books professionally is much more difficult than most people imagine, but you could even earn some money if your work is up to the task.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Planning the book
Step 1. Read some picture books
In case you are new to picture books in any way, it is recommended that you read some. You should read them cover to cover and be sure to take note of the tone and theme, as well as the techniques (rhymes, color palettes, etc.) that the author used to craft it. You don't need to invent anything new, but tricks that other authors have used may be useful for your own purposes.
An excellent picture book you can read for inspiration is Where the Monsters Live by Maurice Sendak. The story is simple yet captivating and has beautiful visuals to go along with it
Step 2. Come up with an idea that is interesting
In the case of a picture book, one of the first and most important factors as to whether it will be successful is a fascinating idea. If you like the idea, this will be reflected in the illustrations and writing. Similarly, if readers like the idea itself, they will be much more interested in reading your book. Come up with an excellent, simple and succinct premise around which to build your book. Aliens, animals, fairy tales or even history are some possible themes.
- Picture books most of the time are aimed at readers between the ages of 1 and 8, so keep this in mind when formulating your story. Children are unlikely to appreciate the presumptuous references to Marcel Proust as much as they will appreciate the straightforward narrative.
- Recognize the limitations of a picture book. In order for your story to fit in a picture book, it needs to be very simple, and this could be challenging if you are used to longer forms of writing.
- In case you have a hard time finding a perfect idea, you can go for a walk or read some picture books that already exist. If not possible, sometimes talking to a child can result in surprisingly useful creative input.
Step 3. Plan the layout
Picture books are usually 32 pages long, but only 24 of them will correspond to the story itself, since the others are usually designated to things like the title and copyright information. In case you are going to write a homemade book, you will not have any limitations, although in any case it is necessary that you have a clear idea as to the number of pages that will be necessary to tell the story. Draw a basic storyboard of what you'd like the story to look like, and find ways to expand or contract the ideas as you see fit.
Writing a picture book is much easier if you know clearly what each page should be about from the beginning
Part 2 of 4: Write the Story
Step 1. Make an outline of the story
The best picture books are the ones that tell simple but somehow profound stories. Consider the books of Dr. Seuss, whose stories were always very simple, but used ideas that carried great weight. Come up with a simple and succinct premise that relates to something that a wide variety of ages will like.
- Try to avoid turning the story into a morality tale, even if you are tempted to do so. Very few readers will have a genuine interest in reading an underhanded lesson in etiquette or behavior.
- If you are more inclined towards illustration than storytelling, you can always illustrate a story that already exists. You can find countless picture books on the market that are based on classic fairy tales.
- Inspiration for stories can be found by immersing yourself in the media. Movies, music, and books are ready-made templates for your own stories.
Step 2. Come up with some characters
In most stories, you need to populate the action with interesting characters. After spending some time coming up with a plot, the characters should come to you relatively naturally. You should have a basic idea of the role that each character will play in the story, but it is important that each of them have a personal flavor. The best characters are those for whom it is easy to imagine a life of their own beyond the constraints of the narrative.
- As you ideas the characters, you also need to consider how they will look in your illustrations. Characters that are visually drab but have a rich psychological profile are likely not suitable for a picture book.
- It is very popular to use animals in picture books for children. These are universally attractive and, for some readers, less offensive if anthropomorphized to play human roles. Also, in general, it is more interesting to draw animals.
Step 3. Write a draft of the story
In a word processor, write the story as you see fit and clearly divide it into a beginning, middle, and end. For this stage of writing, you don't need to worry about choosing the right words, just trying to fit the ideas into a basic infrastructure. From there, you can incorporate a writer's tone and improve your puns.
The word count should be kept to around 500, as it will be difficult for something greater than this to fit in the book, as well as distracting from the illustrations. The best thing is that your choice of words is tactical and efficient
Step 4. Divide the draft into pages
Once you have written the whole story, you need to divide it into the number of pages you have for the story of your book. In each panel there must be at least one action. You will be fine with 1-4 sentences per page.
Step 5. Edit and finalize the draft
After your work is divided into smaller sections, it will be much easier to edit. Focusing on one section at a time, transform whatever template you have into writing with form and style. The details will actually differ based on your tone as a writer and the subject, but in the case of picture books, it is often essential that they remain concise and poetic.
- The language you use should be simple and effective and should benefit the illustrations that you are going to include. While simple rhymes are helpful, avoid building your writing specifically around them, as mediocre rhymes are worse than not rhyming at all.
- An easy trick is alliteration, plus it makes your writing sound more melodious.
Part 3 of 4: Draw the Illustrations
Step 1. Sketch a storyboard
When it comes to illustrations, it is necessary to take into account the dimensions of the pages so that you can make the most of them. This includes leaving enough room for your text and making your pictures large enough to take up an acceptable amount of space on the page. If you want to understand it better, it is recommended that you create miniature "storyboards" as a way to visualize the size that certain objects on the page should be compared to others.
An ambitious option if this is your first picture book is to do double-page illustrations (in which a panel of the story spans two pages so that you get a larger image). However, it's perfect for climactic parts of the story that somehow require more than a single frame
Step 2. Organize and develop your ideas for the illustrations
Before even seriously putting them on paper, you need to have a very clear idea of how you want your illustrations to take up space on the page. It is much more preferable that you have a separate notebook where you plan and develop your ideas by hand than that you go to work directly on the picture book spontaneously. When planning illustrations, you should try to be as close and applicable to writing as possible. Whenever you are in doubt, consult what you have written in the story.
Make an effort to keep the tone and style consistent throughout the book. A picture book that makes the same point consistently is much more likely to make an impression than one that is very sparse
Step 3. Design and practice drawing the characters
The vast majority of stories revolve around the exploits of the characters. For most traditional stories, you need to be very good at drawing (and redrawing) a few characters. It is advisable to spend some time practicing character designs after you have a basic infrastructure for the story. The more you draw the characters, the more likely you are to get their appearance right and make changes if necessary.
Visual design is extremely important to the characters in picture books. In case you have difficulty visualizing what the characters in your story look like, you can try meditating and letting the story unfold in your mind. If this is not possible, you could study character designs in other books as a way to get the inspiration you need
Step 4. Add dimension to illustrations
In case you are writing a homemade book, there are a number of things you can do to spice up your art. You don't have to rely solely on the pen and markers, but you can use other things, like tape and glued construction paper, to turn your picture book into three-dimensional art. If you want to create depth perspective backgrounds, you can cut out shapes from construction paper and carefully glue them to the background. 3D crafts are particularly effective if you are trying to craft things like mountain ranges or hills.
If you like this type of craft work, you could make all the illustrations this way. However, keep in mind that it will take a much greater degree of skill to achieve the smallest details with masking tape or construction paper
Step 5. Draw the finished illustrations on good quality paper
The planning must have taken a long time if it was done correctly, which will make the illustrations much less guesswork. Use your plans and storyboards as a starting point and carry out the illustrations as well as possible, leaving a clear space to place the text. In case you do a couple of pages and you don't like how they look, you can either start over or practice again before trying again.
- Before starting to draw the book itself, it is very important to practice. If the images progressively improve over the course of the book, you will convey to the reader that the book was more of a learning process than a finished product. Regardless of what you do, your illustrations should remain consistent in tone and relative quality.
- Take care that the illustrations are as colorful as possible unless the content of the book suggests otherwise in some way. Above all, picture books need to be eye-catching. Monochrome sketches will not make as much of an impression as whole, colored images.
Step 6. Draw a cover
It should be bold and intense, capturing the tone and essence of the picture book while hooking readers to what may be in between its covers. Take the extra time to make the front cover as solid as possible and the best demonstration of your illustrative skills. Also remember that the title itself should be large and prominent on the page. Ultimately, you want people to know what they are going to read.
- Professional picture books have a front cover and a separate cover. In the case of a homemade book, you should combine both into one.
- It is always advisable to place your author credits near the title of the book, even for homemade books.
Part 4 of 4: Assembling the book
Step 1. Make a lid and a tenderloin
It is perfectly reasonable to leave individual pages as they are, as long as they are numbered and collected in one place. However, if you want to make an authentic book, you should at least consider the physical packaging to some extent. The possibilities are endless when it comes to binding, but for the most part, a hard cover is preferred for picture books, which you can do at home by folding a thin piece of card stock with a small, wrinkled strip in half. in the center for the loin. Then, cut the card stock to fit the size of the picture book and glue the cover and last page to the corresponding sides of the card stock.
In case your specific intention in writing the book is for a publisher to physically distribute it, you won't have to worry about your own packaging but just make sure the pages are as well maintained as possible and digitally scan them if necessary
Step 2. Punch and bind the pages
If you want the pages to turn into a book, you need to bind them all in some way. The style of the material you are testing for your picture book will determine how you approach binding. In case you want the content to stand on its own without packaging, you can punch a hole in the upper left corner of each page, thread a piece of string through it, and then tie it at the ends. If you think that the book will be manipulated a lot, it is preferable that it has a more meticulous binding using a winding.
- It is advisable to number the pages from the beginning, as there is nothing that messes up a book faster than putting the pages in the wrong order.
- If you've opted for your book to have a spine and a hard cover, you can glue the ends of the paper to the spine by folding the long edge of the paper back one centimeter and applying a thin strip of glue.
Step 3. Create a digital version
Nowadays, it is actually much easier for a new author to publish their picture book digitally online. Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft are recommended use programs in case you choose this route. You should scan the finished pages of your book and arrange them as you wish in the file.
If you finish your book digitally, this has certain benefits. You will be able to write the title and text on the scanned image in case you have not done it by hand yet. Also, if you have a basic understanding of graphic design software, it is possible to edit the size and dimensions of the illustrations
Step 4. Display your new picture book
As some would say, a book does not really exist until it is read and enjoyed. In the age of the Internet, you can display your work in many ways. By scanning the images and compiling them into a PDF file in e-book form, you can distribute your work (and perhaps sell it) at no overhead. Also, websites like StoryJumper provide a platform for people to promote their picture books. On the other hand, it may be more special to leave the book as a unique copy and give it away.
Advice
- Most professional picture books are produced in groups. Some people prefer to write than to illustrate and vice versa, so it might help you to team up with a collaborator or a group and specialize in certain areas.
- Your picture book should be kept reasonably short. Most professionally made picture books are around 32 pages long. Ideally, it should be something that can be read cover to cover as a single goodnight story.
- Feel free to change your writing to match the illustrations if necessary. It can be said that the illustrations are more important than the writing itself.