Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Party Favors: Some interesting thoughts....

Can't believe the first day of our party is over! :( Well, on to the second...

I thought I'd share a few thoughts I've gathered throughout the past few years I've been writing seriously. Sort of party favors, if you will. The first of these is parts of a picture book. Many people have many different ideas of what parts build a picture book. I've whittled down all of my notes from classes, theories passed along to me by authors, and information from conferences to the following. Please take a look and let's chat about it on the FB page.

The first three pages of your picture book are front matter.

Pages 4 & 5 are the beginning of your story, which is 10% of the story. It's here that the backstory is set, characters are introduced and the setting is "painted". In these two pages, the reader should also get a sense of what the problem will be as well as a hint at the resolution.

Pages 6&7 Begin the story, and the problem or challenge is introduced.

Pages 8 & 9 Where the quest to solve the problem is begun. This is the first attempt to overcome the challenge.

Pages 10 & 11 These are the pages that describe how the first attempt ends in failure, but suggests something that leads to a plan for a second attempt.

Pages 12 & 13 Discuss a second attempt to solve the challenge.

Pages 14 & 15 Describe the failure of this second attempt and suggest something that will lead to a third attempt.

Pages 16 & 17 This is the place where the problem/challenge is rethought and strategies are planned for a third attempt to solve it.

Pages 18 & 19 Hope is introduced here that the problem is surmountable, and a third attempt at solving happens.

Pages 20 & 21 The third attempt fails.

Pages 22 & 23 These pages set in motion a shift and the start of events that will lead to a solution.

Pages 24 & 25 The main characters look inward here to find a solution within.

Pages 26 & 27 The character(s) prepare to begin their final attempt at solving the problem.

Pages 28 & 29 This is where the characters make their final attempt at resolving the issue.

Pages 30 & 31 End of the story where the problem is successfully resolved.

Page 32 Like the Beginning of the book, this part is only 10 % of your total word count, but this one is a crucial part. Here is where you'll place your "twist" or a suggestion of more....

So, after reading this and looking at some of your own manuscripts, what do you think? Do your stories fit this outline? Hop on over to the FB page and let's chat about it!


3 comments:

  1. Excellent post full of great information! Beth, you rock!

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  2. Excellent post full of great information! Beth, you rock!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beth, thank you for the excellent summary. It will be fun to run a few mentor texts against this formula. Love the party favors. :-)

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