What Makes Your Characters “Tick”?
Let’s look at the beginning of a picture book story.
The initial step is introducing your main character. Can you tell us what he/she is thinking?
What is their prime directive? What motivates them? What problem are they confronting in your story?
I love sharing this series of spreads created by graphic design pioneer Bruno Munari — an Italian Paul Rand — who loved children’s picture books. This is from his book The Elephant’s Wish.
Here’s Elephant, who wishes he could be as carefree as a bird…
Bird wishes he could swim. Can you guess why?
Snake wishes he could graze majestically like a bull . . .
Bull wishes he could be like the elephant. Why? Then he could swish away those pesky flies! We come full circle by the end of the book.
Here’s the cover, which hints at the animals’ thoughts, while intriguing us with an unusual graphic.
Check out how Laurent Moreau lets us in on his characters’ thoughts:
Check out what other students have created here!
Drawing a story? Do this exercise with each of your characters first.
Check out more results here!