In this article we will discuss how to develop your ideas to write children’s books. Let’s begin with a simple test to determine what exactly you feel passionate about. Once we have that, you can start polishing a story idea.
Imagine you walk into a bookstore with a large magazine selection. Where do you go first? Crafts magazines? Photography? Sports? Cooking? Your answer will give you a tremendous starting point for your first story. Start with your passion and writing will seem much, much easier!
Combine this passion with what we’ve just learned about age groups and you might start seeing a clear picture of your first manuscript. Is it middle grade story about a young photographer? Or a chapter book about a boy who dreams of being a famous chef? Or maybe a picture book about a little girl who idolizes race car drivers and wants to be one? It’s all up to you!
After you have explored your interests and discovered that you’re drawn to picture book biographies for example, or middle grade novels, or silly easy readers, you’ve probably got some ideas itching to be developed. So the next step is to see if they are really ready to be turned into books.
First, sum up your idea. Write the general concept for your story or nonfiction book in one to three sentences. You are not going to get every nuanced relationship or plot point into those three sentences, but you should be able to convey the essence of what makes your idea unique. You may not know much about your idea at this point, so write what you know. Maybe you know your main character and his/her problem, and have some ideas about how that problem might be solved. Perhaps you read an article about new research being done on how dolphins communicate, and think the topic would make a great picture book.
Sum up your idea in a few specific key points that give your idea some shape. “Dolphins” is not specific enough. “How dolphins communicate, and new research that suggests dolphins actually have a meaningful language” is a starting point for a book. “Jeremy gets a new baby brother,” is not anything special. “Jeremy tries to sell his new baby brother at the neighborhood garage sale” is the basis for a plot. If you’ve been reading books for the age group you’re interested in writing for, now you can compare your idea to published books and judge if it is right for your audience. Does your picture book idea lend itself well to many different action scenes and illustrations? Or does it rely heavily on dialogue and internal character development that is best expressed through thoughts and emotions? If the latter applies to your idea, it’s better suited to a novel.
Since it’s still just an idea (and not the whole first draft of your manuscript), you shouldn’t be too invested in keeping it exactly as it first came to you. In most cases, published books are the result of ideas that have evolved past the initial spark of inspiration. So now is the time to brainstorm and play with the concept. Ask, “What if?” What if the main character were a boy instead of a girl? What if I used my idea as a springboard for a more complex story for young adults? What if I changed the time period from the present to 1975? What if I took my serious topic of global warming and added some humorous sidebars? Or, what if I created a child character to “host” the book, who lives in the future after many of the climate changes have taken place? What if I wrote the entire book as free verse? What if my picture book looked like different pages from a character’s web site?
Think big. Get weird. Reach for the most outrageous concept you can, then dial it back until it makes sense. The one thing that will keep your idea from ever getting published is if it is ordinary. A predictable, safe, run-of-the-mill book simply won’t justify the publisher’s substantial financial investment to bring it to print. Your book doesn’t have to be shocking, or violent, or disturbing, but it does have to be fresh, interesting and surprising. It has to be something the editor’s never seen before. And chances are, your first idea won’t fit these criteria.
Study authors who have charted new ground with their books. Look at Pirates
by Lauren Myracle (young adult story of three high school girls written as Instant Messages); Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered
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