Last summer when I attended the SCBWI-LA conference, one of the workshops I enrolled in was one on picture books headed by author Ann Whitford Paul. Some of her comments: picture books are action! On plot: each event is coming from the event before. The music of picture books: use words that SING! Read your book out loud. Pay attention to the sound of letters. Long vowels are more active and powerful than short ones. Number one rule: main character solves the problem. All this and a lot, lot more. Go to the author’s link above for more of her writing tips.


Mexican pottery at El Mercado

“Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that the critics don’t like — then cultivate it. That’s the only part of your work that’s individual and worth keeping.” — Jean Cocteau