Revising the Picture Book Story

You are in one of the final phases of developing your picture book story. Which of these revision steps do you need to focus on? Make a plan and write it in your notebook.

1. Use dialogue effectively and correctly.

• Use dialogue to show conflict, increase tension/suspense, develop characters
• Consider summarizing the information and writing as background rather than dialogue
• Make dialogue natural and interesting; read it aloud to someone to see if it sounds right. Don't let dialogue preach your message.
• Show inner dialogue to show what character is thinking and feeling
• Punctuate correctly; begin a new paragraph for every new speaker
• Use precise tags/verbs to show how character is speaking http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson291/dialogue_tag.pdf

Practice:

• highlight an example of meaningful and memorable dialogue in your mentor text; write why it is meaningful and what it adds to the story
• hightlight dialogue in your story; read it aloud
• revise your dialogue based on the suggestions provided

2. Develop characters by making them complex and layered; the protagonist should go through a journey and change in the story. Show characters' conflicts and characteristics through:

• actions and reactions to situations and problems
• dialogue
• physical descriptions
• idiosyncracies - a mannerism, behavior, or feature that is unique to an individual
• possessions/objects
• thoughts and feelings
• background information
• relationships with other characters

Practice:

• highlight an example of character development in your mentor text; write what you learn about the character and how
• hightlight character descriptions in your story; decide if it is necessary to the story and how it could be improved
• add, change, or delete character details

3. Make plot more kid-friendly, believable, and memorable.

• make sure moments and events affect and occur in a believable yet surprising way
• consider changing the point of view through which the story is told; for instance, if the story is about bullying, have the perpetrator as the 1st person narrator.
• consider changing the characters from human to animal or made-up creature
• add humor and surprise

Practice: 

• What is the climax of the story? Highlight it. Is it believable and meaningful to the story? 
• write another plot mountain for your story; try a different climax, OR
• add details to stress the protagonist's thoughts and feelings

4. Work on filling in the pages of your dummy. Plan the pages and sketch illustrations.

5. Make writing more concise and precise:

• work on writing correct and varied sentences.
• combine sentences to make them more concise and less wordy. 
• choose the most precise verbs, adjectives, and nouns. Highlight words in your picture book that don't convey the exact meaning. Use a thesaurus to help you choose more accurate words.

6. Peer revise. Read your draft to a partner. Ask and answer questions; be open to feedback and suggestions.

7. Sign up for a conference with me. While you wait for a conference, work on one of the above.