Writing Picture Books
How to write a picture book that intrigues the child and creates an attractive character through a valuable and engaging narrative.
Description
Writing Picture Books is a course that teaches how to write a picture book that respects children’s minds, nurture their dreams, care for their fears and quotes from their world. The course explains the basics of picture books, the voice, the structure of the story or the plot, the characters, the value that the book promotes, and last, the syntax needed.
A bachelor in literature is not a prerequisite for this course, nor do you need to be a published writer. However what is needed is a natural tendency to tell a story. You also need to know a lot about the children’s world, respect their logic and their vulnerability.
Not many picture books in the Arab World satisfy the global guidelines of the genre, and the few that do, are mostly based on famous western books. We hope in this course to fill the gap and come up with good original books that reflect our identity and customs!
What you'll learn
- Learn the fundamentals and basic principles of writing a comic book targeted at children under the age of eight.
- Understand the importance of the "voice" of characters in a comic book and how to develop characters that resonate with the understanding and expression of children.
- Learn how to create an engaging and inspirational plot that captures the attention of children and keeps them engaged.
- Develop writing and creative skills among participants, regardless of their language or educational background.
- Encourage participants to use their creative skills to develop authentic comic stories that reflect Arab culture and traditions.
- Promote the provision of high-quality comic books that adhere to global standards of children's literature.
- Assist participants in filling the gap in the Arabic market for illustrated children's stories that reflect cultural identity and human values.
Syllabus
Unit 1: Picture books as concepts
Unit 1 introduces the 4 Butterfly wings of picture books, picture books formats, and decisions writers need to make before writing their picture books
Unit 2: Structure
Unit 2 discusses the different structure types, including the 3-Act structure, and clarifies this through The Princess and The Frog example
Unit 3: Syntax
Unit 3 discusses the syntax of picture books, including the usage of words, building sentences, rhythm, and rhyme
Unit 4: How to Create an Attractive Character
Unit 4 shares the tools needed to build an interesting and successful character
Unit 5: Value
Unit 5 discusses how to build and share an effective value and moral through picture books
Unit 6: How to Write a Page-turner
Unit 6 showcases how to entice readers to turn the page and continue reading your book
Unit 7: How to Get Your Book Published
Unit 7 discusses the types of contracts, steps to publish your books, and publishing options and challenges
Instructors
Maria DadouchMaria Dadouch is a winner of the Katara Prize, Shuman Prize, and Claire Carmichael Novel Prize. Dadouch studied Creative Writing at the University of California, Los Angeles and graduated in 2015. She was granted the Women Authoring Change Fellowship/Seattle, and won the Non-Traditional-Student Contest/UCLA, Ca. Dadouch was hosted by many writing retreats like OMI/ Upstate NY and Hedgebrook/Seattle. In her endeavor to empower debut writers, Dadouch instructed workshops and takes pride in having helped her students until their books were published. 50 of Dadouch’s books were published by famous publishers. Dadouch is a screenwriter and wrote for Maraya comedy series and an animation for Spacetoon. She worked as well as an editor-in-chief for Full Magazine. Dadouch receives invitations for annual writing conferences, festivals, and events, and considers attendance an opportunity to grow.
Layla AudiEducation: B.A. in English Literature and French language Jordan University 1990 Courses: Special needs courses Jordan University 1992 Work: English language teacher and special needs teacher at various private schools in Amman 1992-1999 Private tutor 1992 - Present Part time Content writer for Saba Consultants in Dubai 2018 - Present Published work: more than 25 stories for various publishing houses local and Arab, paper books and online.
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Difficulty:
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced- Lifetime access
- Graded exams
- Certificate of completion