Picture books are short, narrative works in which colorful images that tell the story are very important. They are usually meant for children, have great potential and a lot of variety. Making your own takes a lot of work, but it can also be fun if you're in a creative period. While publishing a children's book professionally is a lot harder than you think, you could even make some money if your work is of good quality.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Plan the Book
Step 1. Read picture books
If you are not familiar with works of this type, it is a good idea to read some of them. Scroll through them from start to finish, paying attention to the tone and topics, as well as the techniques (rhymes, color schemes, etc.) used by the author to obtain the finished product. There is no need to seek originality at any cost; the tricks used by other writers can be useful to you.
In the Land of Wild Monsters by Maurice Sendak is the ideal book to find inspiration. It has a simple but engaging story and beautiful illustrations to tell it
Step 2. Think of an interesting idea
For picture books, a captivating idea is the most important factor for success. If you talk about something you like, it will be immediately visible in the drawings and text. Likewise, if the topic appeals to the reader, your book will be much more interesting. Think of a basic concept around which to build the work. You can talk about aliens, animals, fairy tales or even history.
- Picture books are usually written for one to eight year old readers. Consider this factor when thinking about the story. Children probably don't appreciate pretentious references to Marcel Proust as much as pure and straightforward narration.
- Recognize the limitations of a picture book. The story of a work of this type must be very simple and it is not easy to condense a story into a few pages if you are used to longer forms of writing.
- If you can't find the perfect idea, take a walk or read other authors' picture books. Alternatively, you can get your creativity going by talking to a child.
Step 3. Plan the structure of the book
Although picture books are usually 32 pages long, only 24 are occupied by history; the others are reserved for the title and copyright information. If you have decided to make your own book, you will not have any limitations, but you should still have an idea of how many pages you will need to tell the story. Create a simple storyboard with plot development and find ways to expand or make your ideas more concise, based on your needs.
It's much easier to write a picture book if you know exactly what content to put on each page right from the start
Part 2 of 4: Writing Your Story
Step 1. Write the storyline
The best picture books tell simple but profound stories. I thought of Dr. Seuss's books; they always contained simple stories, but the ideas dealt with were very important. Think of a central theme that will appeal to readers of all ages.
- Resist the temptation to turn your story into a fairytale with a moral. Few readers are really interested in a veiled lesson in education or behavior.
- If you are better as an illustrator than a storyteller, you can always decide to illustrate an existing story. On the market there are many illustrated books based on fairy tales of the classical tradition.
- You can find inspiration for a story in all types of media. Movies, songs, and books are all templates you can use for your stories.
Step 2. Create characters
Almost all stories need interesting figures to take part in the action. After spending some time writing the plot, the characters should be born spontaneously. While you should have a basic idea of the role each character will play in the story, it's important to give everyone a personal touch. The best characters are those for whom it is easy to imagine a life outside the confines of the story.
- As you think about the characters, you should also imagine what they look like in the illustrations. Monotone-looking figures with a rich psychological profile are probably not suitable for a picture book.
- Animals are used very often in children's picture books. In fact, everyone likes them and anthropomorphizing them to fill human roles makes them less offensive to some readers. In general, animals are even more interesting to draw.
Step 3. Write a draft of the story
Using a word processor, write the story however you like, dividing it into introduction, middle and conclusion. At this stage of the work, you don't have to worry about the choice of vocabulary. Just try to create a background structure for your ideas. Starting from that base, you will be able to introduce the author's tone and improve the vocabulary.
Try not to exceed 500 words. It would be difficult to get a longer text into the book, which would take away from the illustrations. It is best to choose words strategically and efficiently
Step 4. Divide the draft into pages
Once you have written the whole story, you need to divide it by the pages you have decided to dedicate to the story in your book. Include at least one action per box; the ideal is that each page contains one to four sentences.
Step 5. Edit and finish the draft
It will be much easier to correct your work now that you have separated it into smaller sections. Focus on one part at a time and transform the template into text with appropriate style and shape. While the specifics of the text vary a lot based on your style and subject matter, it's usually crucial to use concise and poetic language for a picture book.
- Use simple and effective language that complements the illustrations. It may be helpful to insert rhymes, but don't construct all sentences with this technique in mind. A mediocre rhyme is worse than a normal sentence.
- Alliteration is a very simple figure of speech, which makes a paragraph more melodious.
Part 3 of 4: Drawing the Illustrations
Step 1. Create a storyboard
When it comes to illustrations, you need to consider page size to get the most out of it. You need to leave enough space for the text and make sure the designs are large enough to take up the right amount of space on the page. To learn this technique, it's a good idea to create a miniature "storyboard" that helps you visualize the size of the page elements relative to each other.
Creating a double page illustration (where a drawing takes up two pages to form a larger image) is an ambitious move if this is your first time writing a picture book, but it is the ideal solution for the salient parts of the story that they need more than a single page
Step 2. Organize and develop ideas for illustrations
Before you start drawing seriously, you should have a very clear idea of how the drawings will take up the space on the page. Keeping a notebook handy in which to plan and develop your freehand ideas is a better solution than starting sketching on the book. As you plan your illustrations, try to make them as relevant to the text as possible. When in doubt, re-read the story.
Try to keep a consistent tone and style throughout the book. An illustrated book with noticeable variations in style will appeal to readers less than one with a clear artistic direction
Step 3. Design the characters and practice drawing them
Most of the stories are based on the feats of the characters. For a traditional tale, you'll need to get very good at drawing a couple of them. It is advisable to take some time to master their representation once you have created the structure of the story. The more you practice drawing them, the more opportunities you will have to represent them perfectly and make changes.
The visual character design part of a picture book is extremely important. If you can't visualize what the protagonists look like in your work, try meditating and living the story in your mind. If that doesn't help, you can study characters from other books for inspiration
Step 4. Add dimension to the illustrations
If you have decided to make an illustrated book yourself, there are many ways to bring your art to life. You don't have to rely only on pencils and markers; you can use other materials, such as masking tape and glue to turn your picture book into a three-dimensional work of art. To create three-dimensional backgrounds, cut out some cardboard and paste it onto the background of the design. This technique is very effective when trying to represent elements such as mountain ranges or hills.
If you like projects of this type, you can make all the illustrations like this. However, it takes a lot of skill to create small details with ribbon and cardstock
Step 5. Draw the final illustration on high quality paper
If you've followed all the steps, planning should have taken a long time. Making the illustrations at this point should be a fairly straightforward process. Use the drafts and storyboards as a starting point, then create the illustrations to the best of your ability, leaving room for text. If after a couple of pages you are not satisfied with your work, you can start over or resume practicing before trying again.
- It is really important to practice before you start drawing the book itself. If the images improve as the pages advance, the reader will notice that the book is more of a learning process than a finished product. Whichever style you choose, make sure all illustrations have a uniform tone and quality.
- Make sure you use colors a lot if it doesn't conflict with the content of the book. Picture books need to catch the eye above all, and monochromatic drawings are less attention-grabbing than full, colorful images.
Step 6. Draw the title page
This page should be eye catching and eye catching. It must convey the tone and essence of the book, enticing the reader to read its contents. Take your time to create a great cover; it should be the most obvious demonstration of your skills as an illustrator. Don't forget to write the title itself large and prominently on the page. Make sure everyone understands the name of the work.
- In professional picture books the title page is separate from the cover. For a home production, you can combine the two.
- It is always advisable to add the author's name next to the title of the book, even for homemade works.
Part 4 of 4: Assemble the Book
Step 1. Create the cover and spine
You can safely leave the pages free, as long as they are numbered and collected together. However, to make a real book, you have to think about the external aspect as well. There are endless options for binding a book, but almost all illustrated works have a hard cover. You can make it at home by folding a thin sheet of construction paper in half, with a small strip in the center forming the spine. Cut the card according to the size of your book, then glue the first and back covers to the corresponding sides of the card.
If you're creating a book with the specific intent of having it physically distributed by a publisher, you don't need to worry about the format. Just make sure the pages are in perfect condition and use a scanner to make a digital copy if necessary
Step 2. Pierce and bind the pages
To create the pages of a book, somehow you have to bind them together. Choose the method based on the style you want to achieve for your work. If you want the content to speak for itself, without worrying about the external format, you can drill a hole in the top left corner of each page, thread a thread through the holes and tie the ends. If you think the book will be handled often, a strong binding with a plastic spine may be more suitable.
- It's a good idea to number the pages right away to avoid confusion.
- If you have decided to make the book with a hard cover and spine, you can glue the edge of the pages to the spine by folding the long side of the paper by an inch and applying a thin layer of adhesive.
Step 3. Create a digital version
In the modern era, it is much easier for authors to distribute their picture books digitally over the internet. Adobe and Microsoft offer very useful programs if you decide to go this route. Scan the pages of the book, then arrange them as you like within the file.
Finishing the book in digital form offers advantages. For the title and text, you can write over the scanned images if you haven't already done so by hand. If you know how to use graphics programs, you can also change the size of the images
Step 4. Show everyone your new picture book
Some say a book doesn't really exist until it's read and appreciated. In the age of the internet, there are many ways to showcase your work. Scan the images, group them in a PDF file as an e-book and you can distribute (and maybe sell!) Your work at no additional cost. Sites like StoryJumper offer platforms on which authors can promote their picture books. However, your book will be more special if it remains a unique gift.
Advice
- Almost all professional picture books are made by a team. Since some people prefer to write rather than draw or vice versa, it can be helpful to team up with a co-worker or group that specializes in a specific activity.
- Your picture book should be reasonably short. Almost all professional works consist of about 32 pages. In theory, these are compositions that can be read from start to finish as stories before bed.
- If necessary, don't be afraid to change your writing style to better represent the illustrations. The illustrations are probably more important than the text itself.
