SEVEN STEPS AND A FEW SECRET INGREDIENTS

By Vivian Kirkfield

Everyone has their own way of doing things, right? Like milk and cookies. Some people dunk their cookies in the milk. And others like to keep their cookies dry and crunchy.

Writing picture books is a bit like that. Some people have a strict routine. Others write when the muse calls. Some start with an outline. Others just write. You know…plotters or pantsers.

When I first started writing picture books in 2012, I had no idea what that meant. I figured out plotters pretty quickly…people who plot…who plan the story they are going to write before they start writing. And then I looked up pantsers and discovered they are people who don’t plan…they write by the seat of their pants, so to speak. And their story unfolds as they go along.

I guess I am a combination of both. I’m more of a plotter when I am writing nonfiction picture book stories because there is so much research and the research itself usually leads me to exactly what the story will be about. When I write fiction pbs, there is a lot more leeway. I can add fictitious events. Change the setting. Or get rid of the main character and substitute someone else which is definitely not something that can be done when you are writing about a real person. 😊

But since I write quite a lot of nonfiction picture book biographies, I thought I’d share a bird’s eye view of the process I use.

• Find an idea: I find my story ideas in many places…TV shows like Strange Inheritance or Mysteries at the Museum are fascinating and can uncover hidden gems of historical significance. Sometimes doing research on one subject can lead to discovering other interesting topics. In 2014, I was surfing the internet when a picture of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe popped up. Reading the caption, I was fascinated to learn that they had been friends. WOW! I didn’t know that. I looked further and stumbled upon an incident that sounded like it might make a great picture book story. After lots and lots of research and lots and lots of writing and rewriting, Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe (Little Bee Books, Spring 2020) found a publishing home.

And of course, a discussion about story ideas would not be complete without mentioning Tara Lazar’s Storystorm. This month-long kidlit challenge takes place in January and has been helping writers for many years. I’ve participated since 2012…and I treasure each year’s notebook that is filled with story ideas. Many of those ideas became picture book drafts and some turned into polished manuscripts. And now, amazingly, several will be real live books. Pippa’s Passover Plate (Holiday House, Feb 12, 2019) and Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book (Pomegranate, March 1, 2019)

• Do the research: I start online with Wikipedia…although you wouldn’t want to use that for your primary information and editors frown on seeing that listed as a source. But, if you scroll down to the end of the Wikipedia article, you’ll find all of the sources the author used. THOSE are the ones that might be helpful to you. I also use the library and take out print books on the subject. While you are at the library, make sure you connect with the research librarians…they will be your best friend. You can even call the library in the town where your main character lived…that librarian might be able to find special archives/collections that are only housed there. And sometimes I am able to do primary research if I watch a Youtube video interview of my subject or I know someone personally. For one of my stories, Raye Draws Her Own Lines, I was able to chat with the son of the main character…and for another story, Eric Gets America Moving, I had an email exchange with the granddaughter. Both of those stories will be in From Here to There: Inventions That Changed the Way the World Moves (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Fall 2020). I take pages and pages and pages of notes…but when I start seeing the same information over and over, I know I have done enough…at least for the moment.

 

• Decide exactly what your story is going to be about: This sometimes depends on the information you were or weren’t able to find. I try to write a pitch or one sentence for the story…this helps me to stay focused as I research and then later, as I write. For example, here’s the pitch for the Ella Fitzgerald/Marilyn Monroe book that we sent to the editors when the manuscript went out on submission:

 
It's 1955. Marilyn Monroe hopes to prove herself a great actress. Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald hopes to perform at Hollywood's top club. Both women discover those goals are possible, when friends stand beside you and, when necessary, make their voices heard.

• Write the opening lines: For me, opening lines help me find my way into the story. They hook the reader and they provide the promise of what is to come. Although many people say not to worry about the opening lines until your rough draft is finished, for me, it doesn’t work that way. I usually try to refine my opening lines, even before I have the rest of the story written. Much of the manuscript for Sweet Dreams, Sarah (Creston Books, May 1, 2019) changed over the years from the first rough draft in August 2014…but the opening lines remained the same.

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• Create pacing that encourages page turns: Every spread needs to be moving the story forward. Does every scene take place in the school cafeteria or the child’s bedroom? Help the illustrator by providing a change of setting. Do you spend a lot of time describing how the main character is feeling? Show us instead…with strong action verbs. For example, which of these gives you a better visual? Milo went down the stairs with his backpack OR Milo clattered down the stairs, his backpack bump bump bumping along behind him.  Use as many picture book techniques as you can: alliteration, element of three, simile, metaphor, rhyming/inner rhyme and more.

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• Give the reader a satisfying ending: What is a satisfying ending? It’s an ending that answers the promise of the story. It’s an ending that has you nodding your head and/or smiling and/or crying. And with my non-fiction picture book biographies, it’s an ending that offers the reader a view of the main character’s legacy that changed the world in some way while echoing the opening lines.

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• Embrace revision: I can’t emphasize this enough. I love my critique partners! And I encourage them to be honest…not brutally honest. There is too much brutality in the world already. But I do want to know their thoughts, their suggestions, their feedback…the good, the bad, and ugly. If my stories are to sparkle and shine, I have to be willing to listen and to make changes.

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So, there you have it. The seven steps I take as I write each one of my manuscripts. And just like a good chef adds something special to her signature dish, I add a large dollop of passion, patience, and perseverance…and I think that has made all the difference.

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Vivian Kirkfield is a reader forever and a writer for children. A former NYC kindergarten teacher, Vivian loves bringing history alive for young readers. Repped by the incredible Essie White, encouraged by an insane number of critique partners, and loved for the past 50 years by the same man, she writes every day ,dances every night, and smiles all the time. You can find her at her Picture Books Help Kids Soar website: www.viviankirkfield.com or connect with her on Twiiter @viviankirkfield or on Facebook.  Vivian has three picture books debuting in 2019:

• PIPPA’S PASSOVER PLATE (Holiday House, Spring 2019) illustrated by Jill Weber: Cats and owls and snakes make young Pippa Mouse quake, but she bravely confronts her natural enemies as she hunts for the missing Seder plate, determined to recover it before the sun sets and the Passover holiday begins.
  
• FOUR OTTERS TOBOGGAN: AN ANIMAL COUNTING BOOK (Pomegranate Press, Spring 2019) illustrated by Mirka Hokkanen: Ten endangered animals visit a pristine mountain stream where river otters toboggan, dragonflies dance, and the character of the water changes as quickly as a young child’s moods until the mountains swallow the sun and the pool waits quietly for a new day.
  
• SWEET DREAMS, SARAH (Creston Books, Spring 2019) illustrated by Chris Ewald: With freedom in her pocket and dreams swirling in her head, former slave Sarah Goode moves to Chicago, opens a furniture store, and builds an innovative fold-out bed. But if she is to profit from her invention and succeed in her business, she must pursue the patent, no matter what the cost.