Huzzah! You've written a picture book, you've worked with a critique group, and now you're wondering if it's ready to submit. Work through this checklist. Revise and edit if necessary. Then bring this checklist to your next critique meeting, so they can help you see the cleanest answer to each of the following:
Is My Picture Book Ready? Final Checklist:
☐Did
you keep your story’s theme/ “aboutness” present and alive in the beginning,
middle, and end? Name what your story is about________________________
☐If you
are writing about a character, do you have reasons for readers to identify with
the character (will readers root for this character)?
☐Is this story
for a child?
☐ Is
there a placeholder for the child’s emotions?
☐Is
there a hook and is the hook compelling (in either journey story or concept
book)? How are you making the reader emotionally invested during early pages?_______
☐If you
are following a hero’s journey, do you have a clear reason why TODAY is the day
that sends the hero on the journey? Why must the story question or story
problem be answered TODAY of all days? _________________________________ If you
can’t answer this, your readers might ask, “So what? Why does any of this
matter right now? Why not just do it another day?”
☐Is
there a clear goal?
☐Are
there meaningful stakes(what happens if the protagonist doesn’t achieve their
goal)? (journey story)
☐Is there
room for a ticking timeclock in your story; and if so have you used it to the
best of your ability?
☐Are
you bringing a new and vibrant angle to a story that has been told before? If
you are creating a concept book or journey, what fresh and new ways are you
adding to the conversation? ______________________________________
☐If
you are creating a concept book or a journey, is there a piece of YOU that you
can uniquely bring to this story?
☐(Journey
and Concept) Does this story have BOTH meaning and music (a captivating,
meaningful story told with fresh and delightful words) such that the reader wants
to open this book a second, third, and fourth time?
☐Does
your story have performance quality for the read aloud (e.g., pace + important page
turn moments matched with gorgeous language or funny language or rhythmic or
musical language or onomatopoeia or …)?
☐Do
you have rising action and/or rising tension or an escalation?
☐Did
you reach a clear midpoint in the story and at the right pace?
☐Did
you delete all darlings? “Darling” words/lines
or “darling” characters are ones that if deleted, nothing about the story would
change. *Note – a darling might be something taking up too much real estate in
your story without contributing as a “foil” or to the aboutness, story beat,
emotional state, character reveal and reason to root, stakes, goal, or rising
tension. A darling might also be something that takes your readers down an
unintended different path.
☐Have
you checked the pace of your story by making a pb dummy?
☐After
you make your dummy have you searched for ways to be more concise?
☐Have
you successfully included more “showing” moments than “telling” moments? Have
you made decisions around each moment to note if it is best to show, tell, or show
and tell?
☐Have
you highlighted your manuscript to see if you have a good balance of action +
dialogue? You can track more than that, too; you might see if you have too much
exposition and if so, consider how you might transform some of it into action
and dialogue.
☐Have
you searched “to be” verbs (am/ is/ are/ was/ were) to see if you can upgrade some
of these into action verbs?
☐
Did you choose strong and fresh verbs?
☐Does
your protagonist or narrator have a flaw and/or would the story benefit if your
character was flawed or slightly flawed (know-it-all, persnickety, bossy, nosy,
stubborn, grumpy, selfish, proud, braggy, miserly, spendthrift, lacks
boundaries, etc.)?
☐
Do you have the right narrator and/or the right protagonist?
☐
Have you tried your story in a variety of ways (1st person, second
person, 3rd person, prose, verse) to make sure you have the best vehicle
for this story?
☐ If you
are choosing rhyme, have you made sureto avoid yoda-speak and/or awkward sentences.
Delete anything that sounds like forced or backwards for the sake of rhyme –aka
make sure you don’t have forced rhyme). The story always has to be the star of
he book over the rhyme.
☐ If you
are choosing rhyme, have you tried a scansion test to track if your rhythm/meters
are on pointed your story?
☐For
any story - is each sentence the right length for the moment? Make sure you
aren’t cramming several ideas in one sentence. Avoid overly long sentences,
especially at the beginning when a reader is just discovering the story – try your
best not to go past 17 words in a sentence unless there is a compelling reason
to do so (e.g., perhaps a long sentences is purposeful to add to the mood,
energy, comedy, hysteria, or character’s personality).
☐Are
you (mostly) using invisible tags over effusive dialogue tags? Would the characters
shine brighter and the story flow smoother if the tags become invisible - e.g.,
he said/she said/they said (these are
called “invisible tags”). Most writing advice says invisible tags are the way
to go – sure, you can do something different once in a while; but if you do it on
every page, it might weigh down your story.
☐Are
you making sure to delete stage directions that can be left to the illustrator?
A stage direction can be a wasteful use of storytelling text (and you only have
a 500-word budget). An example might be something
like, “Madeline opened the door, walked down the hall, and turned left.” You
don’t have to say this since the illustrations will orient the reader. Delete a
stage direction when it doesn’t add any meaning or music to the scene, character
reveal, plot, or theme enhancements.
☐ Are you
leaving space for the illustrator to be creative?
☐ Can you
delete any or all of the illustration notes? Trust illustrators to their craft
and try not to step in their lane.
☐ Are you
trusting your reader rather than overwriting? Remember, a picture book is a
balance of the writer, the illustrator, and the readers – each bring something
to the experience.
☐Have
you tracked your transitions (concept and journey stories)? Take another look
and see if you are using the best transitions possible to thread moments
together that flow naturally while still shining a light on the trajectory of your
story’s aboutness?
☐
Is your character in agency – driving the plot and or affecting the world
around them (journey story).
☐Is
the aboutness present in Act I?
☐Is
the aboutness present in Act II?
☐Is
the aboutness present in Act III?
☐Are
you leaving space for the reader’s brain to work and not delivering a story
that is that is too “on the nose”?
☐Did
you avoid being didactic, lesson-y and/or preachy?
☐Is
the emotional state at the beginning of the story different than at the end of
the story (the situation or the protagonist in a journey story; the sense of
wow or awe or knowledge at the end of a concept book)?
☐Have you avoided unsatisfactory repeating
(this is different than poetic and purposeful repeating)? Go line-by-line (or
perhaps paragraph by paragraph)and ask yourself if the line/paragraph achieves
any of the following. Does it:
·
reveal
character (revealing something about character to contribute to the reasons to
root for this character in terms of sympathy/ empathy/jeopardy, likability,
competency or power)
·
or does
it contribute to moving the plot forward in a new way that hasn’t yet happened
·
or
does it appear in the right order in terms of rising action
·
or
does it illuminate goals or stakes
·
or is
the repeat intentional to add musicality or emphasis or a refrain
·
or
does it enhance the “aboutness” or theme of the story with meaning (aboutness)
and music (the best choice of words)?
☐
Do you feel satisfied on the “so what” questions of – why does this story
matter and why will it be meaningful to a reader?
☐Have
you ended on a surprising yet inevitable note or discovered a “wow” ending?
☐ Were you able to achieve all of the above in
500 words or less?
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