Are you writing a rhyming picture book? That’s what I do!
Window Music came out in 1998 . . .
Subway was published in 2004.
Up! Up! Up! Skyscraper was published in 2017 . . .
And there are more — some with my name on the cover and others written as a ghostwriter.
Q. What is the secret?
A. Tell a story! After you write a fun rhyme, think about what kind of story you can tell with it.
If your rhyme doesn’t tell a story, it’s NOT a book . . . yet.
I started teaching children’s book writers at Southern Methodist University in 1999. The following year, I co-taught a University of North Texas children’s literature class online.
Writers outside the area asked me to teach them online, too, so in January 2001 I started my first online workshop and I have been teaching children’s book writing workshops ever since.
My students come from all levels of the continuum, from beginner to advanced. Some writers sold the books they wrote and revised in the workshops — or the one-to-one critiques — while others continued to master their craft and sold their first book later. (Writing is re-writing!)
- In 2015, I combined ALL of my picture book writing workshop lessons and placed them on a private Intensive Picture Book Workshop site.
- In 2022, I switched from e-mail to Zoom for this one-to-one workshop.
For a rhyming picture book, you’ll work on your book in TWO different ways during each of the SIX modules.
- You will be developing the story during each module.
- You will be developing the rhyme during each module.
Q. How will you develop the rhyme?
A. To find the rhyme scheme that works best for your story, you will scan a stanza (a poetry paragraph) from 20 DIFFERENT comps in modules 1-4. (Modules 5 and 6 are manuscript critique modules.)
Here’s the (4×5=20) math:
Module 1: Scan a stanza from 5 DIFFERENT picture books (#1-5).
Module 2: Scan a stanza from 5 DIFFERENT picture books (#6-10).
Module 3: Scan a stanza from 5 DIFFERENT picture books (#11-15).
Module 4: Scan a stanza from 5 DIFFERENT picture books (#16-20).
We will talk about your scans and your story development ideas in each 30-minute call for modules 1-4.
After scanning 20 DIFFERENT picture books:
- You will know common rhyme schemes that editors are buying now.
- You will know which rhyme scheme you like best.
- You will know how to scan your own book.
FYI: Just because the last word of each line rhymes doesn’t mean your book is ready to send out. The main reason editors say they DON’T want to see rhyme is because the RHYTHM is off — and that makes the book hard *for others* to read aloud.
If this approach sounds like it will help you with your rhyming picture book, you can sign up on the Intensive Picture Book Workshop page.
Copyright © 2023 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.