When a story makes demands of you – Lynne Garner

A few years ago I ventured into writing stories for older children based on traditional trickster characters, these being Anansi the Trickster Spider and Brer Rabbit. This move away from picture books meant a great deal of reading and research, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. As part of my research I downloaded a huge library of books that contain the first written form of many of these traditional tales. Reading some of these books was a challenge because of the language used. As I read these traditional stories I always had at the back of my mind the age range I was writing for. So I put aside the idea of using the devices I often use in my picture book writing such as rhyme, rhythm and repetition and others such as alliteration. I also had to remember I wouldn't have images to help me tell the story.     

However this recently changed whilst I was researching a new trickster character, this being Coyote. As I ploughed through yet another book I came across a story which for some reason demanded “turn me into picture book.’ As I read it I could see where I could use repetition, feel the rhythm I would create with the words, how I could leave sentences 'hanging' so the reading would want to turn the page, where a little alliteration would work well and I could 'see' the supporting images which would help me tell the story. I found myself grabbing a piece of paper, folding it into twelve equal sections and I was soon plotting a new picture book story.

I now find myself with the first draft of a picture book story based on a traditional Native American Indian story. I also find myself wanting to revisit the books I read whilst researching Anansi and Brer Rabbit to discover if another story makes the same demand. So over the next few months I plan to continue to work on the stories for older readers. However I’m also going to read with the view that if one of these traditional tales makes the same demand I’ll fold a piece of paper and get out my little bag of picture book writing tricks and try to make it’s wish a reality. You never know one of these may just become my next picture book.

Lynne Garner

My writing eCourses which start this month:

How to write children's picture books and get published

5 picture books in 5 weeks (advanced course)

How to write a hobby-based how to book

The Wonderful Rule of 3 by Natascha Biebow

All good things come in threes (and bad things, too). Why? It seems that three is the smallest number needed to create a pattern; it makes stories more satisfying and funnier. Plus everyone knows that stories must have three elements: a beginning middle and end.

From early on, children are preconditioned to expect this pattern:

The rhythm of the day has three parts – morning, noon and night –
and three meals too – breakfast, lunch and tea.

The rhythm of growing has three stages: baby, child and teen.

Most of the lullabies, songs and nursery rhymes told and sung from babyhood are built upon the rhythm of the magical number 3:

Baa, baa black sheep – three baa’s and then wool for the master, the dame and little boy in the lane 

Three little bears – with three sizes: big, middle-sized and small

© www.peoniesandpoppyseeds.com

Three little pigs, three billy goats gruff, and so on.

From Pat-a-Cake Nursery Rhymes by Annie Kubler

Even in the tiny story of the nursery rhyme, the rhythm of three sets up the pattern of storytelling, in which the story is set up, there are three examples and then a turning point/conclusion:

Set up the story: Pat a cake, Pat a cake, baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can; 

Now, build up the story with three elements:

1. Pat it,
2. and prick it
3. and mark it with a ‘B’, 

Give it an outcome: And put it in the oven for baby and me. 

When writing picture books, it is often handy to keep in mind how using the rule of three helps to deliver an exciting, page-turning plot and keep the narrative moving swiftly forward.

1.  Sometimes, the whole plot is built upon the rule of three. For example, in Duck in a Truck, when Duck’s truck gets stuck in the muck, Jez Alborough uses three instances to resolve the main problem: 

1.   Frog hops down to help.
2.    Sheep tries to push.
3.   Then Goat, passing by in his motor boat, comes up with the clever plan that solves Duck’s problem:
   
   
   

   

   From Duck In a Truck by Jez Alborough

   
   

   
   

2.    The rule of three is also a great tool for advancing the plot.  

Once the author has set-up the story and its central problem, it can help to build-up suspense and work towards a clear turning point in the plot.

For instance, in That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown, the Queen wants Emily Brown’s much-loved rabbit Stanley in exchange for a golden teddy bear. Feisty Emily Brown tells the Chief Footman firmly that the rabbit is not for sale. So, the Queen sends: 


 1. The Army

From That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton

2. The Navy

From That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton

3. The Air Force

From That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton

Each time, they try to exchange ‘Bunnywunny’ for an even greater number of outlandish gifts. And, with each spread, Emily Brown’s consistent refusal builds until she is “FED UP!”

Then something must change in the pattern of the plot. So when the Queen has Stanley stolen, Emily Brown has no choice but to confront the Queen herself so she can tell her how to make the golden teddy as loveable as Stanley.

In another example, when Max is crowned King of the Wild Things in Sendak’s classic, three wordless spreads follow, adding drama and indicating the passage of time. These illustrate the wild things’ antics, building up to the turning point when Max orders the them to stop and sends them to bed. Then, realizing he’s lonely, he goes home to his supper and those who love him "best of all".

From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Often, three consecutive examples can also help to advance a sub-section of the plot.

In the classic, Harry the Dirty Dog, when Harry comes home after having played by the railway, played tag with the other dogs and slid down the coal chute (three things!), he is no longer a white dog. His family are sure that this can't be Harry, so he:

1.  “flip-flipped and flop-flipped”
2. “rolled over and played dead”
3.  “danced and sang
   

   

    From Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion & Margaret Bloy Graham

But, his family still don't recognize him . . . What follows is a moment of pause, before the story picks up again and Harry remembers to dig up the scrubbing brush he's hidden in the garden and ‘beg’ for a bath!

3.   Sometimes, the rule of threes is even used like a mini-plot within the story, as in Olivia:

1. Olivia admires modern art at the museum
2. She tries it herself at home . . .

   

    From Olivia by Ian Falconer

 

3. Then, “Time to think!“ 

Or as a way to introduce some information about the characters (especially useful as an illustrative device across a page or a spread).

As in Quentin Blake’s Angelica Sprocket’s Pockets:

1.       “There’s a pocket for mice,”
2.       “and a pocket for cheese”
3.       “and a pocket for hankies in case anyone feels that they’re going to sneeze”
   
   

   

   From Angelica Sprocket's Pockets by Quentin Blake

In Olivia, her morning routine includes three elements:

 From Olivia by Ian Falconer

1. “In the morning, after she gets up and moves the cat,”
2. “and brushes her teeth and combs her ears,”
3. “and moves the cat”

4. Finally, the rule of three is a really useful way to give the writing a satisfying rhythm.
Here are just two examples:

In Jane Clarke’s Knight School, Little Knight and Little Dragon discover that  school is fun:

From Knight School by Jane Clarke & Jane Massey

1.   “Little Knight and Little Dragon sang funny songs.
2. “painted fabulous pictures,”
3. “and listened to fantastic stories.”
   

In Mo Willems’ Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, by virtue of it being a spoof of Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears, practically the whole book follows the rule of three. Here is an example of how Willems uses it at the climax of the story, giving the page a great read-aloud rhythm: 

“Just then a loud plane flew by, which sounded pretty much like a trio of Dinosaurs yelling 

1.   “NOW”
2. or “CHARGE!” 
3. or the Norwegian expression for “CHEWY-BONBON-TIME!"

From Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Mo Willems

The rhythm of three is everywhere in picture books! If you look for it, you will start to see how it can work wonderfully to create predictable and unpredictable rhythms in your work, too.

Natascha Biebow

Author, Editor and Mentor

BlueElephant Storyshaping is an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission. Natascha is also the author of Elephants Never Forget and Is This My Nose?, editor of numerous award-winning children’s books, and Regional Advisor (Chair) of SCBWI British Isles. www.blueelephantstoryshaping.com

Mysterious Number Three by Paeony Lewis

What is it about the number three in storytelling? There are traditional tales such as The Three Little Pigs, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Then there are the lesser-known tales: The Three Sillies, The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs, The Three Snake Leaves, and so many more.

Even if three isn’t in the title, three still sneaks into countless fairy stories. Rumpelstiltskin gives the miller’s daughter three spinning wishes and she has three guesses at his name. Cinderella goes to three balls and there are three sisters. Jack steals three treasures from the giant at the top of the beanstalk.

How about contemporary picture books? That number three sneaks in again. There are three owls in Martin Waddell’s classic Owl Babies. Whilst in the deep dark wood a little mouse meets three animals (a fox, owl and snake) in Julia Donaldson’s The Gruffalo. And I've just realised I have three young bunnies in Hurry Up, Birthday.

Even if there aren’t three characters, then things happen three times. Winnie the Witch waves her wand again, and again and again . Helen Cooper’s Bear Under the Stairs is fed one day with bananas, bacon and bread. Another day it’s hazelnuts haddock and honey. And the door is always shut with a wham, bang and thump.

From No More Biscuits

So why three? Why, in writing, is it called The Rule of Three or Magic Three? Perhaps because three times is a pattern. Two can be a coincidence, but three is something more. It’s more satisfying. It’s the beginning, middle and end. It flows and has rhythm.

If a fairy casts one spell and it doesn’t succeed, then you’re setting up tension. If she casts the spell again and it succeeds, then it feels a bit of an anti-climax. But if she fails a second time, things are getting tenser. Will she succeed on the third attempt? We hold our breath… Yes! Ah ha, but what if she fails again, surely the tension will rise further? Maybe, or will it start to get boring?

Mind you, sometimes I find the rule of three can be too predictable, especially in films. You just know the hero will try once, twice and then succeed on the third attempt. Yawn. However, perhaps this predictability was helpful when stories were told around the fire, hundreds of years ago. You need a clear story structure to follow a story told orally, and it also helps you to remember it for another night. This might be why three is also popular with stand-up comedians: Three men went into a bar; an Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman…

So in storytelling, three can provide a satisfying pattern. Whether it’s the three Norns in Norse mythology; the three Anglo-Saxon monsters battled by Beowulf; or the Greek Three Fates, Graces or Furies. However, it doesn’t stop there.

In art there’s a rule of thirds. Pythagoras called three the perfect number. We also have three primary colours (red, blue and yellow). In Christianity there is the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. In Hinduism you have the Trinity: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. Three is our past, present and future. Birth, life and death. Veni, vidi, vici. Symbolic three is everywhere.

In our writing, is it lucky three? Other numbers are endowed with symbolism, although three does appear to be particularly popular in Western writing. So should we use it in our picture books? Why not, if it works? We probably do it subconsciously. But if we use it too much, will the magic of three wane?

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

Paeony Lewis is a children's author.
http://www.paeonylewis.com/