How to HOOK in the Reader by Leaving SPACE • by Natascha Biebow

When crafting picture books, I’m always delighted when the end product looks seamless. All that agonizing over the details of story, character, plot, pacing, word and image choices, layout, design, format, typography and so much more is ready to be launched into the big wide world, bound into pages of promise. 

 

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

Promise because there is something else that must now happen – when the book lands into the hands of young readers, it must connect.

 

For a book to deliver that magical, immersive, transportive reading experience that lingers and resonates, the picture book must become more than the sum of its parts, more than just the literal elements on the page. To do this, it needs something key – the reader.

 

Now, that delicately crafted balance between the words and pictures on the page (seamless, we hope) plays out to make something synergistic – because when the reader gets involved, the child creates the ‘more’.  

 

"We share stories from the heart."
From All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

 

The reader is tasked with actively encoding the words and the pictures, listening and looking, making connections and filling in the gaps to make meaning.

To do this, authors and illustrators need to leave SPACE for the reader:

 

In the PICTURES

 

Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins is a classic example of where a visual narrative
allows space for readers to participate and add to the story narrative.

  

The minimal text tells one story, while the pictures tell another . . .

. . . creating lots of humour!

In the WORDS

Love by Matt de la Peña and Loren Long

The open-ended, lyrical text allows young readers to imagine each moment and
add to an individualized interpretation of what 'love' is:

". . . everything smells new, and it smells of life."

In this instance, the illustrator depicts a boy sharing a hotdog with a man on a bench,
but the reader might interpret these words in many different personal or imaginary ways.

 

In the MESSAGE

 

 

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de La Peña and Christian Robinson

The boy in this story is going on a bus journey with his grandmother - where?
The vivid details included in text and illustrations encourage the reader to join in
in creating the meaning, in building up the sense of the characters and their
community, and filling in the special relationship between CJ and Nana. 

 

Building on this, in the poignant final scene, CJ is glad to
be with his community of familiar faces –
the words & pictures allow space for readers
to figure out where they are and why it matters
without needing to be told in an overt message.

Even in the FORMAT.

Where's Spot? by Eric Hill is a pre-school classic!

 

A lift-the flap guessing game format is delightful fun to share with the youngest readers
and leaves lots of space for dialogue and for the reader to
imagine possibilities while interacting with and adding to the story.

 

 

Surprise! The SNAKE is in the clock, not Spot!

 

HOW do authors do this? (And how can you do it if you’d like to write amazing picture books?)

WELCOME the reader in

One Smart Fish by Chris Wormell

This spread at the beginning of the book introduces the main character, one 'Smart Fish',
who looks so ordinary - how could he be a hero? the reader might wonder.
I wonder WHY he's amazing? The author invites the reader to engage with the story
and welcomes them into the narrative to go on a journey together.

Invite readers in to be part of and even engage in creating the story. 

 

Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery
by Meeg Pincus and Yas Imamura

In this story, Pincus invites readers to participate in the question of who solved the age-old
mystery of where the monarch butterflies go every year? In a series of spreads, the
open-ended questions allow readers space to engage with the narrative,
accumulating facts as they turn the pages to come to their own conclusion –
more than the sum of its parts.

A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton

Squirrel is trying to help Owl find Mummy.  In each sequence, Owl describes Mummy:
"My mummy is VERY BIG. Like THIS!" The author allows space for the reader
to be part of the story and imagine how Mummy might look with these attributes.
The pictures also allow space for the reader to imagine both Mummy's
appearance and guess what might come next. And because the reader
is part of the narrative, when they turn the page to find . . .

. . .  a bear (!) it's instantly funny.
The pictures here allow space for the reader to reconsider their guess
and delight in the joke when Squirrel mistakenly asserts, "Here's your mummy!" - since
young readers will know an Owl's mum looks nothing like this -
but also readers will empathise with Owl's disappointment at still not
being reunited with Mummy.

Can you create an OPENING IN THE NARRATIVE where young readers can find meaning?

AVOID over describing: the delicate balance between words and pictures takes craft to achieve – the story must stand on its own when read aloud, but also leave space for the pictures and for young readers’ interpretation. The choice of what to include is just as important as what to leave out. It may take some often-frustrating tinkering.

 

Bob Goes Pop! by Marion Deuchars

In this story that explores the theme of what makes a good artist, Bob is an artist who
gets into a argument with a famous sculptor called Roy. Bob says Roy's art is just
everyday objects except bigger. Roy bets Bob he couldn't even make a sculpture if he tried!

In this scene, every time Bob creates a work of art, Roy's is seemingly better.
The author allows space in the pictures for readers to look closely and intuit this.
Bob's splodgy rough round the edges artwork gives an impression that it is
less slick than Roy's, even through the text doesn't tell readers this.

Looking closely at Bob's body language in the pictures also allows space for the
reader to connect with Bob's emotions and understand how the main
character's frustration is building until his desperation leads him to cheat.

It is important to know the backstory of your narrative and your characters’ world and, above all, your character’s motivation, but then to choose carefully what you will include. Use specific, vivid details, but only share those that will give meaning to the story.

The Iridescence of Birds by Patricia MacLachlan and Hadley Hooper

In this nonfiction picture book about the artist Henri Matisse,
 the author poses one long question - why do painters paint what they do?

Carefully choosen details in the words and pictures on each spread
illustrate vivid and specific everday experiences that influenced the artist
to eventually produce his colourful collage artwork.

The narrative is filled with spaces, where the reader
must fill in the gaps to make the sum of the whole to arrive at
the inspiring 'a-ha' moment at the end.

 

Conversely, avoid the pitfall of including too little information. If there isn’t enough context, emotion, or details, readers have nothing to hold on to so they won’t be invested enough in the story to add meaning. It's key to set up the action to arrive at a satisfying ending.

AVOID overstating the story’s theme or message. This leaves no space for the reader! If the author has done their job well, there is no need to tell readers what the take-away is, because the plot and character’s emotional journey to overcome the plot problem and navigate high stakes will serve to create a feeling and a take-away meaning that the reader is able to intuit.

Invite the reader to

 

PREDICT what will come next

Neon Leon by Jane Clarke and Britta Teckentrup

Neon Leon is a chameleon who doesn't fit in. Throughout the story, the author
creates space for young readers to interact with the main character's actions
and empathize with how he's feeling. In this spread, Neon can see something that might
be a hint of something the same colour as him. Is this the answer he's been looking for?
The text ends with an ellipses (ooh, I wonder...), which when combined with the page turn,
adds space for the reader to engage and predict what might come next.

OBSERVE the pictures for narrative clues that will advance the plot and
your characters’ motivation story arc.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond

All day long, the boy has been following the mouse, making sure it has what it needs.
The simple words underline a multi-layered visual narrative in which the mouse
goes from one thing to the next, starting with a cookie
that needs a glass of milk that needs a straw and so on,
all the way full-circle to the ending, where the mouse is thirsty and needs . . .

. . . . a glass of milk! The narrative leaves space for the reader to look closely at the pictures,
and add depth, nuance and humour to the interpretation of the story.
The emotional journey of both the mouse and the boy and their relationship
is largely apparent in the pictures.

And importantly, leave space for ‘I WONDER . . . “ so readers can have the pleasure of that a-ha moment and of working stuff out for themselves, filling in the meaning.

Old Rock (is not boring) by Deb Pilutti

Old Rock has been sitting on the same spot at the edge of a forest for a long time.
Tall Pine, Hummingbird and Spotted Beetle are sure it must be very boring.
But Old Rock has surprisingly actually had a very interesting and exciting life!
Here, Old Rock tells them he's pretty good at doing somersaults.
It seems inconceivable given how Old Rock looks on the page here.

The page turn is a powerful tool to create space.
This pause allows young readers wonder and imagine what Old Rock
might look like doing somersaults.

A bit like this perhaps . . .

. . . but perhaps unexpectedly landing like this!
In this spread, the reader can use the space left by the minimal words to imagine how rock
might have felt when he landed here after his exciting somersault adventure,
and what it would have been like living during the time mastodons roamed the Earth.
Importantly the reader might say, "I wonder . . . where Old Rock might go next
and where he might end up after that?"

To do all this, is to TRUST in the reader.

That wonderful synergy that you get in an excellent picture book must come from the fine balance between the words and the pictures, but also from the SPACE creators allow for the reader.

What examples from your favourite picture books and those you’ve created can you share with our blog readers?

 

 __________________________________________________________________________________________

Natascha Biebow, MBE, Author, Editor and Mentor

Natascha is the author of the award-winning The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons, illustrated by Steven Salerno, winner of the Irma Black Award for Excellence in Children's Books, and selected as a best STEM Book 2020. Editor of numerous prize-winning books, she runs Blue Elephant Storyshaping, an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission, and is the Editorial Director for Five Quills. She is Co-Regional Advisor (Co-Chair) of SCBWI British Isles. Find her at www.nataschabiebow.com

 

Creative Process • by Natascha Biebow

I recently had an epiphany about the creative process.

Here’s how it goes:

Imagine you walk into a building.

You look around, take in the place - its atmosphere, the furnishings, the knick-knacks (or the lack there-of), the smell . . . you start to make a story in your head about the house and the people who live there.

So, there’s a story right there.

But what if you dig a little deeper? What if you look in the attic, under the floorboards, or in the historical records about the place and its owners?

This crocodile - a gift from a WW1 veteran - was uncovered beneath
the floorboards of a Welsh Primary - what surprising items
will be beneath the 'floorboards' of the story you're crafting?

A new story slowly emerges . . .

Some of it is unfamiliar, strange, even.

So, now you’ve got to sit with the unfamiliar, the blank page. What next? Is THIS the story you ask? Sit with it for a moment.

But sitting with that blank page is scary. What if the story doesn’t come? What if it isn’t good enough? What if nobody likes it?

The fear grows. EMPTINESS. The story stops.

But hang on a minute.

Get out of your way! Look FEAR in the eye. TRUST the process.

Fear is your friend. Look harder at the story, for the story.

Ask it what’s at its heart. What is the feeling of the story?

What is it telling you, telling the world?

What would a child really like about this story?

Now, I give myself permission to be inspired by other things. I leaf through magazines. I go to galleries, parks, playgrounds, writing events or whatever lends itself to the theme at hand. Completely unconnected things are often the best way to kick-start the writing process in new, exciting directions.

Recently, I heard author M. T. Anderson said speak:

"Don't just live in the place you live." Authors need to embrace the unfamiliar, he said. "Open up the floors and see what's there. Explore the strange and the new, and make it your own . . .  that is where the sublime happens."

How can you make it your own?

Only you can look for the story inside, in the pockets of life that you carry around with you.

But if you’re brave enough . . . What might you uncover? Something unexpected, something exciting – just waiting to be discovered!

 

And so your story, those words on the page, they start to take shape, to have more depth, and maybe now they also have more resonance too.

Because they are bigger, wider. They reach into the world into place other people, your readers, can also connect with. When they visit, maybe they’ll see other things, perhaps even things you never even saw in the original story.

And so . . . they will find in it their spirit, their connection, too. 

And this is a process of creating story. It isn’t ever the same, but perhaps we can all share something in this experience?

_______________________________________________________________

Natascha Biebow, MBE, Author, Editor and Mentor

Natascha is the author of The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons, illustrated by Steven Salerno, Elephants Never Forget and Is This My Nose?, editor of numerous award-winning children’s books, and Co-Regional Advisor (Co-Chair) of SCBWI British Isles. She is currently working on more non-fiction and a series of young fiction. She runs Blue Elephant Storyshaping, an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission. Find her at www.nataschabiebow.com

Step-by-step Picture Book Writing in Layers • Natascha Biebow

Betty Crocker's Rainbow Surprise Inside Cake - writing in layers!

In my writing and teaching, I have recently begun to play around and reflect on the process of creating a picture book in a different way. 

Picture this:

Have you ever tried drawing something and been frustrated that it doesn’t turn out quite like you intended? 

Uh-huh, I hear you nod.

Have you ever watched someone drawing something and admired their apparent ease? Like this!

Yes, I hear you nod.

But is it easy?

If you look closely at this process, you will notice that it’s a question of layering – starting with the outline, very sketchy, with a light touch of the paintbrush or pencil. Then, the artist adds more shape, a bit more texture, rubbing this bit out, adding that bit there, playing with the idea. Slowly, the general shape begins to emerge! 

from ART90OP's from youtube.com/acrylicpaintingtechniques

It’s usually not a question of starting out with a fully-formed piece of work and trying to edit that because, frustratingly, well, you can’t START with cake. 
 
You have to put in all the ingredients – and you have to first decide WHICH ONES? – and then lovingly bake your picture book story so it rises and is light and fluffy and just right for young readers. 

If you try to start with cake and keep fussing, adding new and interesting toppings, it may LOOK marvelous . . .

. . .  BUT if the cake isn’t right in the first place, 

 it will never work. 


Coming back to our artist’s process:

First, the artist sketches out the idea with a light touch, testing it out in the space, finding its shape.

from ART90OP's from youtube.com/acrylicpaintingtechniques

You can try pacing out your picture book into 12-14 spreads. 
Look for a way into your story, find a strong hook. 

Next, the artist adds stronger, darker lines and details to define the initial sketches. 

from ART90OP's from youtube.com/acrylicpaintingtechniques

Make sure you have an opening that hooks in the reader and an ending that bookends the opening and gives the story a satisfying conclusion, a twist or that 'aw' factor. Check your plot doesn’t read like a list, with everything having the same weight, that there is a clear climactic turning point. 

Now, the artist adds colour and texture, in layers – look how it’s added depth! 

from ART90OP's from youtube.com/acrylicpaintingtechniques

Check your characters’ motivations. Make sure readers will care about your protagonist. Add voice. Make it the story only you could have written or illustrated.

Then, the artist stands back and observes. He adds the final touches.  

from ART90OP's from youtube.com/acrylicpaintingtechniques

At last, ta-da! The result is a picture that sings, that speaks to its audience.

from ART90OP's from youtube.com/acrylicpaintingtechniques

Watch the artist at work! 

Creating picture books is a frustrating business. Not only do you have to have that singular commercial idea, but it has to be written with voice, style, pace and emotional depth to leave the reader with a feeling of satisfaction, a laugh, a tear, an ‘aw’ moment.  

Many of my students are frustrated at the fact that it doesn’t all come together at once, that you can’t edit something that isn’t yet on the page. And this is just it – you must first sketch it out and play with the idea, like the artist. THEN you can add layers, erase, add and shape and depth.

Annoyingly, when you stand back – and you must read your work aloud and try to be objective, like a reader – you notice things that must be edited further and changed. And when you make these changes, often new things unravel. Argh!

Once you have a working draft, it is time to add in the texture, the final toppings, the ta-da! to give the story pizzazz and make it really shine.

Here, a good technique is to go through and look carefully at each word. Use the highlighter revision technique. Read it aloud again.

But working in this way is rewarding and gives the creator permission to experiment, to start with a sketch and PLAY around a bit before investing time and effort in fine-tuning their work. See all those multi-coloured Smarties in the Rainbow Surprise Inside Cake (below)? Go on, have a play, taste a few even, and figure out the heart of your story cake – the nugget of your story – before rolling up your sleeves to add the rest of the layers.

________________________

Natascha Biebow
Author, Editor and Mentor

Blue Elephant Storyshaping is an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission.  Check out my small-group coaching Cook Up a Picture Book courses! Natascha is also the author of The Crayon Man (coming in 2019!), Elephants Never Forget and Is This My Nose?, editor of numerous award-winning children’s books, and Regional Advisor (Chair) of SCBWI British Isles.