When you think about a children’s picture book, you might think that it has to be a cinch to write. After all, the vast majority of the book is pictures, not words! However, it takes creativity and imagination to create a children’s picture book that kids – and parents! – will actually want to read.

Now, if you’ve fallen in love with a classic picture book while reading your kids a bedtime story and thought to yourself, “I could write one of these, ” today’s blog post will help you do just that by providing you with three helpful tips to get you started writing one of your own.

Do your research

We might sound like a broken record; however, no matter the genre, doing your research and seeing what’s out there will help you hone your vision and write the book that makes the most sense for you. When it comes to writing a children’s picture book, you’ll want to peruse a variety of other popular titles. All of this information will help you pick up on themes and writing styles that are commonly used in the genre. From there you can take what you’ve learned and apply it to your own story.

Choose a topic

The topic is what guides your story, so it’s important that you pick one that can hold children’s fleeting interest from start to finish. We encourage you to think outside of the box and come up with one that you haven’t seen on the bookshelves yet. Be original, and consider the reason behind why you’re writing this book. Do you want to write a bedtime story? Do you want it to be educational? Do you want to write it solely because of personal reasons? Whatever the driving force may be behind your book, find a topic that helps you reinforce it, then make it your own by adding your own unique, creative spin on the content.

Tell a story

A children’s picture book is unique in nature as you can rely on pictures, in addition to the words, to help tell your story. That’s why, as a general rule of thumb, your picture book should be less than 1,000 words. In most cases, shorter is better, because we know that our kids’ attention spans tend to be rather short. When it comes to the actual writing of your picture book, you’ll want to keep in mind that the main purpose is to tell a cohesive story. Work with your topic and keep in mind the pictures that will be used to help tell the story in order to point your writing in the right direction. Writing a children’s picture book is like writing poetry: Let the creativity flow, do not force rhymes, and create something that’s powerful and engaging.

The most important tip that we can offer you is to not give up. Writing a book is difficult, and it takes time, patience and creativity to turn your idea into a published book. That’s why it’s imperative to take your time and enjoy the process!

Copyright Dorrance Publishing, 2017