by Maria Marianayagam

Hey there, fellow writers and storytellers!

Doesn’t it feel like the quest for the next idea is a journey we’re constantly traveling? It feels like we’re always looking up, down, and around, searching for a spark to get us moving on our next story. Today, rather than looking around ourselves, I want to talk about looking within—using our own unique identities as the spark for our next literary masterpieces.

I’ll be sharing insights from my own upcoming works and shining a light on how our personal experiences and the beautiful mix of our identities can serve as the ultimate wellspring for new and captivating stories.

First, I like to think of the many aspects of my identity and make a list:

• Tamil-Sri Lankan • Canadian • Woman • Mom (Amma) • Daughter • Sister • Wife • Engineer • Writer • BIPOC Catholic • Recovered OCD sufferer • Immigrant • Traveler • Mom of mixed-race children • girl-mom • foodie • STEMinist • time-travel enthusiast • and more

Then I mash them up to see what story ideas I can generate. Here are a few examples:

THE AMAZING POWER OF GIRLS, illustrated by Skylar White (Sourcebooks eXplore, 2024)

  • Identities: Woman x Engineer x STEMinist x girl-mom

My debut picture book, a STEM-based, girl empowerment personifies girls as forces of physics—gravity, friction, magnetism, and more—to explain the science of forces, as well as trying to showcase the wonderful characteristics of girls. As an engineer who worked in a male-dominated industry for a decade and a mom to young girls, I wanted a story that would embolden girls to consider a career in STEM.

CURRY MEANS MORE, illustrated by Geeta Ladi (Astra Books for Young Readers)

  • Identities: Sri Lankan-Canadian x foodie

My next picture book delves into the cultural significance of food on identity. I was made fun of smelling like curry as a child and I wasn’t sure why. Drawing from my personal encounters, this story showcases what curry really is, while reflecting on its many meanings to a child.

WAIT TILL YOU’RE OLDER (Sourcebooks eXplore)

  • Identities: Sister x Engineer x time-travel enthusiast

Another picture of mine focuses on a sibling relationship with a time-travel backdrop. I read a nonfiction book about time travel by Paul Davies in high school and it still remains one of my favorites. In this book, he explained how a person could actually travel time. I wanted to create a story that shared this information with the youngest reader, but in an approachable way. Using a classic sibling argument and the age-old adage of “wait till you’re older” helped spark this SEL/STEM mashup.

BABY VIRTUES BOOK SERIES, illustrated by Kat Uno (WorthyKids, 2024)

  • Identities: BIPOC Catholic x mom

Finally, in 2024, my debut board books, BABY HOPE and BABY COURAGE, stemmed from two desires: (1) to distill these big values into simpler concepts that young kids could relate to and (2) to showcase diverse kids as Christians since I never saw this in books growing up. Thus, the Baby Virtues series was born!

Your turn!

  1. List your identities. Think about cultural and faith background. Think careers. Think upbringing. Think about your mental and physical abilities.
  2. List your passions. Ex. baking, traveling, STEM, soccer…
  3. Think about your WHY. Why do you want to write for kids? To inspire, educate, comfort, make a child feel seen…
  4. Mix and match identities and passions. Examples: OCD + STEM, sisters + baking, immigrant + traveling. Your WHY can help you come up with the scaffolding for the story. Ex. I want an immigrant, traveling story that inspires (the premise for an unannounced PB!).

I hope this blog post and exercise showcases just how powerful introspection can be in crafting meaningful stories for young readers. I suggest looking within to find your next story idea!

Maria Marianayagam is giving away a PB critique with career consultation (20 min Zoom).

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.


Maria Marianayagam is a Tamil Sri Lankan-Canadian children’s book author. Maria is a former chemical engineer who fell in love with children’s books (again!) after becoming an Amma (mom). Maria enjoys writing lyrical picture books centered on STEM, faith, and South Asian culture, as well as high concept middle-grade grounded in culture. The first two installments of her debut board book series, BABY HOPE and BABY COURAGE (WorthyKids/Hachette), and her debut picture book THE AMAZING POWER OF GIRLS (Sourcebooks eXplore) release in 2024.

When Maria is not writing, she can be found traveling the world, devouring books, and spending time with her wonderful family. She resides in Alberta, Canada, with her husband and two daughters. Sign up for her newsletter for more writing tips (and giveaways!) and follow her on Instagram @msmarianayagam.