4 Helpful Tips For Writing Fresh Fantasy Picture Books
It’s no secret that picture books play an important role in exposing young readers to the world, new ideas, and the power of imagination. While realistic fiction pushes the boundary with familiar scenarios, fantasy picture books ask kids to flex their imaginations by connecting unfamiliar elements to their reality.
If you’re interested in writing a children’s picture book that uses fantasy elements to engage readers in a meaningful way, then you’ve come to the right place. Below, we provide four tips on how to write original, highly engaging fantasy stories that stand out!
Fantasy picture books challenge kids to see what’s possible through the lens of impossible scenarios …
How is Fantasy Used in Picture Books?
Fantasy is a great tool in children’s literature because it introduces children to hard topics (like bullying, diversity and inclusion, depression and anxiety, etc.) in a less confrontational/harsh way (through talking animals, fuzzy monsters, and wild dreams, etc.). Fantasy picture books wrap up valuable lessons in adventurous scenarios that allow children to escape their realities while developing their emotional intelligence and worldview.
Tips for Writing Fantasy Picture Books
Tip One: Use Your Imagination More Than the Characters’
A common way writers incorporate fantasy into picture books is by making it part of a character’s dream or imagination. While these stories have and will continue to be done successfully, there’s a less-used space for stories that simply are fantasy.
When you use a character’s dream or imagination as the frame for fantasy, the character themselves prevents readers from fully immersing in the fantastical elements of the story. These types of stories are similar to hearing about your friend’s dream or something your friend imagined. It might be interesting, but it’s not the same as when you’re immersed in your own dream or your own imagination.
Consider writing fantasy picture books that are inherently fantastical. No framework based in reality, no telling readers the fantastical elements aren’t real by placing them in dreams or imagination. Let the fantasy be what it is, break the wall, and let readers fully engage with unfamiliar and seemingly impossible scenarios.
By letting fantasy stand on its own two feet, you allow readers to test the limits of what’s possible while growing their emotional intelligence. While realistic fiction functions on more direct connections from familiar scenarios to the reader’s reality, fantasy’s relation to reality is the deeper situational and emotional threads that exist beyond real and unreal.
Tip Two: Try Magical Realism
Magical realism is a genre of fiction set in a version of reality (whether it’s historic or modern) with subtle hints and threads of fantasy woven in. I like to view it as a genre that weaves elements of magic into reality in a way that makes you believe it might be real (as opposed to fantasy stories that are set in reality with distinctly fantastical elements).
Magical realism offers a different kind of escapism by showing readers the possibility of magic existing in the world they know. Consider writing fantasy picture books that fall into the category of magical realism as a way to teach kids to escape into instead of away from the magic within their reality.
Tip Three: Use a Fresh Take on a Key Takeaway
As I mention above, fantasy picture books are a great way to introduce difficult topics in a more palatable, non-confrontational way. No matter if a child is reading a non-fiction picture book about a key historical figure or a high fantasy picture book set in a different world with elves and fairies, parents are expecting them to walk away having learned a lesson with real-world value.
Play around with this! The key is to make the lesson/theme subtle. It should come across through the events of the story without the characters or the narrative itself having to speak on it directly. As you decide what lesson to impart, here are a few tips for how to keep it fresh:
Start by looking at recent publications. Is there a common theme that you can speak on or examine in a new way (essentially, find a way to be original while orienting yourself in the current market)?
What topics are hot right now (that are relevant to young readers)? Scope out important lessons or key takeaways. Ask yourself if those lessons are evergreen and how/if they’ve been done before.
Narrow down by considering what type of reader you’re appealing to. Do you hope to see your books in school, at bedtime, or is it the kind of book a parent is going to look for when it’s time to teach a specific lesson? Then, find a way to use fantasy to show that message in your picture book.
Tip Four: Play off of Pictures
Obviously, pictures play a key role in picture books. They also give you a lot of freedom as a writer when building a fantasy world. In novels for older age groups, writers have to dedicate writing space to fantasy world building (painting a picture with words). Picture book writers can take advantage of illustrations to do the heavy lifting when developing the physical representation of their fantasy world. The writing itself just has to explain relevant new objects or concepts so readers understand the rules of how the world functions.
Strike a balance between the written and visual elements of your fantasy picture book. Right now, the industry favors picture books with less words. This appeals to young readers who have a generally shorter attention span. Create fantasy in illustrations and challenge yourself to make the most of the written content in your story so that your fantasy picture book can be a fun escape with maximum impact!
What makes writing fantasy picture books exciting is that there is no limit to the worlds you can create and the ways you can inspire children by exercising your own imagination. Escapism literature is on the rise, and fantasy picture books are a great way to challenge kids to think bigger, dream of the impossible, and learn more about their reality all at the same time.
Let me help you make your fantasy picture book the best it can be at Good Story Editing.
