StoryGodmother Newsletter #6
Hello!
Welcome to newsletter number 6! Hope your writing is going well. Somehow we’re nearly at March, but here’s what’s coming up…
Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize.
WRITING MAGAZINE CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE
A massive congratulations to everyone who entered the Chapter Book category of the Writing Magazine Children’s Book Prize and especially to our winners who have recently been announced: 
1st place:- The Crooks of Crookington Square by Victoria Barry.
2nd place:- My Best Friend is a Dragon by Sim Smailes.
3rd place:- The Case of the Stolen Langdon Diamond - a Dolly Rake Mystery by Fiona Harding
Thank you to everyone who entered the category – it’s a huge achievement to even complete and submit a story.
For those who didn’t get listed in the competition – or any other competitions which have been announcing lists lately – please don’t be discouraged. Yes, competitions can raise profile, give credence to your writing, and potentially open some doors BUT they are not in themselves necessary for breaking into the industry.
At the end of the day, I believe talent, determination and a willingness to learn and improve your craft are the key ingredients you need. Having said that, competitions are great for providing focus and deadlines, and you just never know, so no reason not to give it a go!
WINTER WRITING CHEER
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported Winter Writing Cheer, raising funds for Alzheimers Research UK. The aim is to raise £1000 a year over both Winter and Summer Writing Cheer but we have already smashed that before March with £1041 raised already! You can check out the progress here on JustGiving.com and find out more about the charity here: Alzheimer’s Research UK
Summer Writing Cheer will be running every Monday in August, so keep an eye on social media channels later in the year for more exciting opportunities!
There’s also more information about the Writing Cheer initiative on my website.
MARCH ONWARD WRITER
The programme for the second ever March Onward Writer is out NOW (well, at 5pm GMT)! – a timetable full of online mix & match workshops, courses and opportunities, all at an affordable price. Limited places at each session, so look through the programme and book tickets early to avoid disappointment - all prices are subject to EventBrite’s admin fee.
I will also be speaking as part of the I Am In Print Writing Sphere programme on Friday 3rd March at 11am, talking about BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST – how to create a big picture book idea to tempt publishers and agents in today’s incredibly competitive market.
I’m really excited about running this programme again this year and hope you find it motivating and informative.
The whole programme should be available to peruse on Eventbrite, but this year on offer there is:
LEVEL UP - 3 weeks starting Weds 1st March 7:30pm - £47
Find out how to get the most out of yourself as a writer with this unique three-week course.
Week 1 : You As Character - Perception.
Week 2 : You As Writer - Translation.
Week 3 : You As Level-Upper - Application.
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EMOTIONAL CONNECTION - 2 weeks starting Thur 2nd March 7:30pm- £35
One of the most crucially aspects of good storytelling, but often overlooked. Learn how to get your stories from heart to page, and page to heart on this sell-out course.
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WRITING MAGIC AND FANTASY DAY - Sat 4th March - £47
A day dedicated to this ever-popular genre. Looking at everything from the importance of sub-genres, to character creation, to pitching your story.
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EDIT YOUR OPENING CHAPTER - Sun am 5th March - £35
Learn to become your own best editor and fine-tune your crucial opening chapter in this workshop.
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WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW - Tues 7th March 7:30pm - £16
Explore how to tap into your experiences to create authentic stories in this brand-new course.
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CHARACTER DAY - Sat 11th March - £47
Spend a day learning how to understand, develop and portray character. From self-awareness through flaws to relationships, and everything in-between, this comprehensive course will help you create believable, relatable characters.
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VILLAIN DAY – Sun 12th March - £47
The perfect follow-on from Character Day, focusing purely on antagonists. Antagonists can make or break a story so learn how to create the perfect antagonist for your story that will stay with readers for years to come.
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SURVIVE THE SYNOPSIS – Tues 14th March, 7:30pm - £16
I reckon I can get you to enjoy writing a synopsis. Curious? Join me.
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BEYOND PICTURE BOOKS – 2 weeks starting Thur 16th March, 7:30pm - £35
The return of this sell-out course. Picture books are an incredibly hard sell at the moment, so what else can you do to break out as a writer? And what do you do with all your picture book texts? Come and find out.
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UN-STICK YOUR STORY – Tues 21st March, 7:30pm - £16
If you’ve ever started writing something and then found yourself completely stuck, this is for you. Learn how to un-stick when you’re stuck, and how not to get stuck in the first place in this brand new course.
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Tickets will be available for all sessions from 5pm GMT TODAY (Sunday 26th February). Grab them quick to avoid disappointment as places are limited and disappear quickly. I’m so looking forward to it and hope to see you there!
I’ll always try to make sure Newsletter subscribers know about courses in advance, but in case I miss any, you can follow me on Eventbrite to get notified when new courses are available.
RESOURCES & IDEAS
Be Funny - writing funny picture books.
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Be Original
One of the joys of writing funny picture books is that absolutely anything goes. Tap-dancing gnus? Aliens driving fish and chip vans? Not a problem. There are endless possibilities for stories – and the chance to come up with something fun and different.It doesn’t mean that you can’t use ‘traditional’ characters. In fact, tried and tested outlandish characters like pirates or dinosaurs may actually help convince a sales team that your book is marketable. It’s more what you do with these characters. Can you place them in a unique setting? Or match them with an incongruent feature, which results in a humorous scenario?
For example, you could make your pirates elephants. This is funny because it’s unexpected and unrealistic and the nature of elephants (big, heavy and ungainly) offers up many potential humorous disasters. Can you imagine an elephant digging for treasure or standing in the crow’s nest?
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Be Expressive
Humour is conveyed in various ways in funny books. Any number of these ways could be included in the same book.-
Toilet Humour
This is where poo, pants, flatulence and other such delights are given free (if potentially smelly) rein. This may not be your cup of slime, but many publishers have a ‘toilet humour’ slot in their schedule. However, don’t feel obliged to have your characters breaking wind all over the page if it really doesn’t fit or appeal to you.
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Slapstick
Young children love the feeling that they know what’s going to happen next and the unsuspecting character does not, especially when it concerns a character who deserves comeuppance! Slips, trips, crashes and splashes can all raise a giggle, particularly if the character lands in something delightfully foul.
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Linguistic Humour
Plays on words, puns or made-up language all add humour to a book. Colourful onomatopoeic words (such as ‘plop’, ‘whizz’, ‘splat’) can enhance the silliness. Funny character names can cause a smile whenever they are mentioned. An alien could be called Zibbleplop The Fearless. Equally, it would be funny to have it called Bob because that’s unexpected and downright wrong. Speaking of which…
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Incongruences
It’s funny when something should be a certain way… and it clearly isn’t. There are many funny picture books based on well-known fairy tales. The children know how the story is meant to be, so appreciate the humour when the story is obviously otherwise. The same is true when characters act surprisingly. For example, when Granny is a superhero or a fearsome monster is scared of baked beans.
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Illustrative
Illustrations in funny books often depict something humorous which isn’t specifically mentioned in the text. Often the illustrator or art design team will create these themselves. However, if you visualise something particularly funny which would enhance the story, include the details in an illustration suggestion for an editor or agent to read (ensure it’s obviously separate from the story’s text to avoid confusion).
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The Twist
The ending of your picture book is incredibly important. Having entertained your readers all the way through, it’s vital your story ends in a funny and memorable way. You want to leave your readers smiling. One way of doing this is to deliver a clever and funny twist in the tale. This could be with words or pictures. Perhaps things happening in the story were not quite as they seemed after all? If you don’t use a twist, make sure your story ends with the biggest laugh of all.
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Be Rhythmic
Funny picture books tend to be lively and move at quite a fast pace. This is one of the reasons why many are written in rhyme. Done well, the rhyme bounces the story along, giving it an air of both frivolity and anticipation… what is that next rhyming line or word going to be? This is all the more satisfying when the rhyming words themselves are shaped to deliver an extra humorous punch.However, funny books do not have to rhyme. Plenty of funny books work beautifully in prose. Non-rhyming books can still be rhythmic, incorporating techniques such as repetition to involve and engage readers.
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Be Honest
It can be hard to know whether anyone else thinks your work is funny. Be honest with yourself – as you’re writing, does it make you smile? As well as making children chuckle, it’s important that adults reading the story appreciate the humour, too. They’ll be the ones reading it day after day.If the humour feels forced or strained as you’re writing, that is likely to be how it comes across. Being brave and doing a rewrite (always keep your original tucked away in a corner of your computer) or trying a different approach can help tease out the funny story just waiting to emerge.
BOOK NEWS
Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered the second book in The Repair Shop Stories series, THE TOY BUS coming out on March 2nd with illustrator Katie Hickey and publisher Walker Books.
This is such a lovely project to be involved with, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing this based-on-real-life story.
If you would like to pre-order, please visit your local indie bookshop or see:
END NOTES
Thank you very much! Speak to you soon.
Best wishes and sparkles,
Story Godmother.