by Mylisa Larsen

So, I’m off to write a picture book. I sit down at my desk, and . . . nothing. Or something that sounds exactly like me, but not in a good way. Something that’s a whole lot like the manuscript I started last week which was a lot like the one I wrote last month. (Sigh.) Now what?

We all have favorite ways of entering the writing of a picture book. I think of them as different doors. I tend to go in through the door of voice (blue door with a dragon doorknob in my imagination.) But always going in through the door I’m most comfortable with sometimes limits the kinds of picture books that I’m able to write.

And one of the glorious things about the picture book genre is that it is varied and wide-ranging. There are so many doors you could step in through. What if today you go through a door you haven’t opened before?

Here’s some doors you might try.

  1. Concept—a book built around an idea (weather, family, water, etc.)
  2. Rhythm—Can you mimic the rhythm of a process or event? Where does that take you?
  3. Patterns—Set up a pattern and then break it (or pay it off) in a satisfying way. Or try adding a chorus to a picture book you’re writing? Does it make it richer?
  4. The Physical Form of the Book—How could you use the gutter of the book as a design element? Or trim size? Shape? Flaps or folds? Cut-outs? Page turns? Endpapers?
  5. Character—Can you create a book where everything that happens in the book happens because of who the main character is and how she sees life and behaves?
  6. Personification—Can a usually inanimate object tell a story in an intriguing or comic way?
  7. Visuals—even if you aren’t an illustrator, could you “write” a wordless book where the story is told entirely through the visuals? It’s good practice for us word people to think more visually. Make a storyboard and break out those stick figures, if need be!
  8. Dialogue—Can you tell a story only with dialogue? Or letters? Or signs?

One more thing. A picture book may start by going in through a certain door, but the best picture books actually have many things going for them—great story, told in a distinctive voice with unexpected elements that surprise and delight us. So try out a new door, sure. But when you find something that you love, make sure that during revisions you take yourself (and your manuscript) in and out of several doors as you layer elements to make that book as worthy of multiple reads as you can.

Go try out a new door today. Or several. Have fun!

Mylisa Larsen will be giving away a signed copy of her newest picture book ALL THOSE BABIES which started by going through the door of loving odd words (when she found out baby echidnas are called puggles, she was off to the races) but then also went wandering through rhythm and rhyme doors, concept doors, and pattern doors before it was finished.

You’re eligible to win if you’re a registered Storystorm 2024 participant and you have commented only once on today’s blog post.

Prizes will be distributed at the conclusion of Storystorm.

Mylisa Larsen has been telling stories for a long time. This has caused her to get gimlet-eyed looks from her parents, her siblings and, later, her own children when they felt that certain stories had been embellished beyond acceptable limits. She now writes children’s books where her talent for hyperbole is actually rewarded. You can visit her online at MylisaLarsen.com.