An organization called picture book summit had a series of small 10 min presentations to give people a taste of what their online conference would bike. These are notes from one of those presentations. The presentation was given by Emma Walton Hamilton. Any inaccuracies are the fault of the note taker.

– Determine the central dramatic question – question the story ask for what the book is about.
– Will the hero/protagonist ) find, get solve or achieve ____?”
– Example of central dramatic questions:
– Book: where the wild things are: will Matt be forgiven for being wild.
– Book: Knuffle Bunny: will girl get bunny back.
– Olivia: how can Oliva live her life without wearing her mother out.
– define a hero’s goals and challenges.
– If you have an idea for a character but don’t’ know what their story is, ask yourself: What does the character want? Max wants attention. Olivia wants to live life to the max
– What is his or her problem that must be solved, or difficulty that must be overcome? What are their obstacles?
– How does s/he solve or overcome the problems?
– What does s/he learn in the resolving of their problem, or how might s/he change or grow?
– if you have an idea/subject but not the characters but not the story.
– What point do you want to say about your topic?
– Who might be the best character to make that point? the most relatable character for kids.
– What problem might they have to overcome?
– What does your character need to learn?
– Q: Is the key point in making our point and moralizing? Ensure that the character is the one who is undergoing the transformation rather than the narrator stating the transformation. Don’t have and the character learned.
Want to add to the list? Please do so in the comment section of this blog.