Here are three of my favorite things to do to generate picture book ideas. Pick one and try it out!
1) One of the first things I do is look at problems I’m dealing with in my own life to see if I can turn them into a story. For instance, my husband and I sometimes have “disagreements” about how tidy things need to be. I am, well, a bit of a messy person. He is a neat freak. I have had this problem with neat freaks my entire life. (Why do they always think they’re right?) Anyway, I decided to turn this problem into a book titled BORIS AND BELLA. It’s about a very messy monster named Bella LeGrossi who lives next to a very tidy monster named Boris Kleanitoff. Nothing has more emotional resonance than writing about your own problems. I wrote ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MOLE after experiencing extreme stage fright. I still get stage fright every once in a while, but at least I’ve gotten a book out of it, too, and it’s a lot cheaper than therapy!
2) I love picture books. Being surrounded by them feels like home. So I’ll often read all the books on the Barnes and Noble picture book wall. Reading them leaves me feeling buzzed and ready to create my own great book. I also like to see what books moms pick out for their children and what books the kids themselves want to buy. I’ve heard some writers say they don’t read picture books because they don’t want to be influenced by other writers. I think that if you’re writing enough you won’t have that problem. Read the new books and the classics. Keep up with the genre. And if you find a book you love, buy it, take it home and type it up. You discover all sorts of things about a picture book when you do this.
3) Keep an Image Board. I have dry erase board in my office. I stick greeting cards, magazine clippings, poems and titles on it. It sits right in front of me as I write. Whenever I find a card that seems like it might have the seed of a story in it I buy it and stick it up on my Image Board. I may not think of a story for it for years, but the act of collecting inspiring images is just plain fun and it fills the well. Even if you don’t want to make your own Image Board, I encourage you to look through the greeting cards at your local drugstore and buy a few for inspiration. The illustration style is often very similar to picture book illustration style, and of course they are usually about major life changes.
If all else fails, go for a walk! Ask yourself at the beginning of the walk for a story idea and see if you get one by the end of the walk. I get ideas this way all the time!
Have fun!
Carolyn Crimi writes about things that make her laugh, or about things she loved when she was young. Sometimes that leads her down strange, twisted paths, since the things that she loves, like monsters and Pop Tarts, tend to be a bit odd. In addition to writing books, she also teaches adult education courses on writing for children, visits schools for Author Talks, and writes stories and articles for children’s textbooks and magazines. Her picture books include HENRY AND THE BUCCANEER BUNNIES, THE LOUDS MOVE IN (one of Tara’s favorite picture books), WHERE’S MY MUMMY? and many more. Check them all out at CarolynCrimi.com.
writing is therapy, right? loving the picture board idea. My mom used to make scrap books and then tell little stories about the pictures in them.
thanks for the reminder.
Great ideas! I never thought to look at my own life for ideas, except when it comes to getting ideas from my kiddos. I’ll be paying closer attention to my own life as well now.
I do 1 and 2 all the time, but not so much 3 and I love scrapbooking, so I really should try it. Thanks, Carolyn!
Just another proof that troubles, disappointments and frustrations are blessings in disguise…thanks for your insightful post, Carolyn!
Great post with excellent ideas! Thanks so much, Carolyn Crimi.
Great idea things! I’ve yet to try typing up a picture book text (I hate typing!) but I’ve often thought of doing it. Now I’m going to put it on the To Do list and do it. Makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for a very helpful post, Carolyn.
I like your ideas, they are very doable.
I think ‘we’ often just make our way through problems and challenges, not thinking of how to turn them into something lovely. That certainly should make them easier when looking for the rainbow in the clouds.
Thank you!
These are great ideas! I was actually going to park myself at the Barnes and Noble picture book wall this coming week to sit and read.
Carolyn,
Thank you for sharing your strategies to generate book ideas. I specially loved the first point. (If I think about my daily life, there is so much material!)
Bella LeGrossi and Boris Kleanitoff! Such clever names! I love the story. Has this book been published yet? I think it would appeal to ages 1 to 100.
Thanks again for the great post and best of luck with your wonderful work.
Thanks for the inspiring ideas, Carolyn! I especially like the idea of typing of some of your favorite picture books. I am going to have to give that a try. I met you briefly at an SCBWI event in MD a year or two ago, and am loving my signed copy of THE LOUDS MOVE IN…and so are my kids!