by Josh Funk

Hiya, Storystormers! January is winding down and you’ve filled your notebook with so many ideas! Great work! (unless you’re still trying to figure out how to register, in which case, you can find the answer here)

Storystorm is all about idea generation. And marketability should be a large part of the ideas you pursue writing come February 1st. Chances are good that not all of your ideas are blockbuster sure fire hits. But maybe they could be with just a little twist.

When I lead workshops about writing picture books, I often joke that you should “stay away from the farm”—and by that I mean, don’t write books about farm animals. We’ve had picture books about farm animals since the beginning of picture books. We don’t really need any more. (the same applies to woodland creatures)

Unless, that is, your farm animal picture book is so special that it will stand out from the decades-worth of picture books about farm animals that came before it. But how do you make that happen? Maybe the cows learn to type. Or maybe the animals start a punk rock band. Or maybe it’s a girl power celebration.

I’ve always been a fan of mashing up ideas, as Teresa Ho Robeson suggested last Sunday. But what if instead of taking multiple ideas and smashing them together, you took a single idea and threw it in a blender: change a critical piece of the story such as the genre/setting/time period.

For example, Jessie Sima’s SPENCER’S NEW PET is about a boy and his new dog (one of which happens to be a balloon). Sounds fun, right? But you know what makes it even better? It’s told in the style of an early 20th century silent film – wordless, monochromatic illustrations, title cards breaking up sections.

Do you have a fairy tale retelling on your idea list? Deborah Underwood & Meg Hunt created a Cinderella retelling where she’s a mechanical fix-it whiz. Could it have taken place in traditional fairy tale times? Sure. But instead, they moved it to futuristic outer space, making INTERSTELLAR CINDERELLA stand out even more in the crowded fairy tale retelling market.

I recently read a YA titled MURDER FOR THE MODERN GIRL by Kendall Kulper and it takes the cake for genre mash-ups (and it was a very good book, too). The best I can describe it is a Gatsby-era, historical fiction, murder mystery(ish), serial killer, legal, political, medical, young adult romantic thriller with hints of an X-Men origin story (not in the ‘hero’ sense, but in that the two main characters each have ‘special powers’) – so I guess you could add fantasy to that list, too? And none of that even spoils anything.

What about me, you ask? Well, thanks for asking. I’ve had a lot of luck changing the genre of each book in the LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST series.

Book 1, LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST, is a race (for the last drop of syrup).

Book 2, THE CASE OF THE STINKY STENCH, is a mystery.

Book 3, MISSION DEFROSTABLE, is an action/adventure spy-thriller (it’s actually more inspired by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade than Mission Impossible, but MISSION DEFROSTABLE was a better title).

Book 4, SHORT & SWEET, is a sci-fi comedy/magical-bodyswap (think Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Freaky Friday or Big).

Book 5, THE GREAT CAPER CAPER, is a Las Veggies heist (it’s basically Ocean’s 11 in the fridge).

And this fall, book 6, which I am officially announcing right now, will finally be available. It’s an alien invasion titled …drumroll please … ATTACK OF THE SCONES!

(sorry for the tease, the cover reveal will be revealed next month, but you can preorder it now—out on 9.3.24)

So today, I suggest coming up with some genres you enjoy, or settings you like to read about, or time periods you’ve always been fond of—and jotting those down as ideas.

Then scan over your nearly complete list of ideas you’ve generated this month and see if any of those genre/setting/time-periods might just make some of your ideas stand out even further.

Who knows? Maybe a few years from now we’ll finally get to read your superhero detective farm animal picture book set in winter during the French Revolution on Mars (and if someone does write that book, you better dedicate it to me).

Josh Funk is offering one of either a picture book critique or a signed copy of any of his books to THREE lucky winners.

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.

Photo Credit: Carter Hasegawa

Josh Funk is a software engineer and the author of books like the LADY PANCAKE & SIR FRENCH TOAST series, DEAR UNICORN, DEAR DRAGON, MY PET FEET, the ​IT’S NOT A FAIRYTALE series, the HOW TO CODE with Pearl and Pascal series, the A STORY OF PATIENCE & FORTITUDE series, and more.

Josh has written a comprehensive “Guide to Writing Picture Books” that’s available for free on his website’s Resources for Writers section.

For more information about Josh, visit him at JoshFunkBooks.com and on social media at @joshfunkbooks.