by Susan Chodakiewitz
With a background in musical theater I approach writing children’s books very much like I do writing for theater. When I visualize the story I see the pictures unraveling as scenes on the stage. Are there enough possibilities in the words to develop back story and subtext for the characters? How will my words trigger the action in the scene? Do I know my characters motivation and desires? All these issues are key element to triggering my imagination for the story.
In my picture book Too Many Visitors for One Little House there are 20 members in the family including the dog and the fish and in order to get to know the story better I worked on a back story for each character.
When I worked with illustrator Veronica Walsh on this book we spent hours discussing each family member in depth. What were there likes, dislikes, weaknesses? What did they love to wear? Who had squabbles with whom? Who admired whom? Which kids wanted to emulate which kids? Which kids were best friends? What were the problems between the in-laws, the married couples? Working with Veronica taught me SO much about my characters and introduced me to layers of story lines which I could eventually use for sequels to the book.
Creating the theatrical version of this book also taught me a lot about the writing process, about the characters and about what the story is really about. After finishing the theatrical version of the book I had learned so much about the story and characters that I found myself wanting to re-write the book.
Sometimes thinking about what song a character would sing on a particular page (scene) helps me discover what the character really wants, feels, and thinks. It helps me find direction to the story and makes it come alive to me.
From the get-go, the book Too Many Visitors for One Little House sang to me as a theatrical piece. From the early stages of writing my drafts I imagined the characters dancing and singing and visualized the staging of different scenes. My theatrical viewpoint is a constant guide to me during the writing process and really helps me unravel the story.
Engaging theatrically with a picture book not only benefits me as an author. I believe engaging theatrically with a book encourages a love or reading in children. After one of the performances of the book Too Many Visitors I observed several kids acting out one of the songs. The parents later emailed me that the kids asked the parents to read them the book many times that night. The next day they acted out the show with their siblings and invited guests.
I really believe this kind of theatrical engagement with a book and its characters can really encourage reading. Picture books are particularly engaging in this manner. I think by inspiring a child to act out a book can really deepen a child’s reading experience.
I am thrilled to be a picture book writer and to have the opportunity to encourage the love of reading.
Susan Chodakiewitz is the author of Too Many Visitors for One Little House and the founder of
I love your powerful suggestion to envision scenes and the motivation that drives them! I’m certain that will prove helpful to so many of us. Thanks so much, Susan
I am a visual person, so when I write anything I see it unfold before me. This was a good article of encouragement. Thank you.
YES! I come from a background in dance and theatre, and I always, always develop my characters and their backstories – often before I even write anything!
I like your point about engaging theatrically with writing. I think good picture books, and good books in general, will engage the reader theatrically, whether they were intended to be multi-disciplinary in that sense or not. Thanks for this post!
**whispers** I act out scenes sometimes to see if my story is working.
Thank you for a wonderful post!
Often when I write I ask myself how my picture book would work in a classroom either as a play or as reader’s theater. I think this really helps with developing setting and also dialogue. Thanks for the great blog, Susan!
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Susan, it is so important for Picture Book Authors to be able to visualize as they write. Personally, I don’t know how it is possible to write *without* visualizing. I visualize even with adult fiction, as though I am viewing a film.
Thanks for the notes about characterization – brilliant that you were able to pull out thoughts for possible sequels that way. Subtext is so important, and the characterizations you did allowed your illustrator to convey so much more through body language.
I agree with you about acting out the books. I think books can be interactive, especially picture books. Preschoolers and first graders love to watch their favorite characters come alive!
Thank you for this energizing post. So many folks forget that picture books will be heard just like plays are heard. Voices! Though I’ve been writing picture books for decades, I have only been exploring acting in recent years. Often I’ve found myself thinking, “This actor/teacher thinks he’s talking about acting, but he’s really talking about writing.” Every acting class and every exercise have been as beneficial to my writing as my work on stage.
George Shannon
What a great post! I think another benefit of thinking about the PB theatrically is that it makes sure there is enough action throughout, which is also important. I LOVE the idea of doing backstory on characters. I’m going to sit down and do that with one of my WIPs today!