Plot! The 3 Act Story Structure
Language, rhyme, meter--words have never been difficult for me. Plot, however has been my nemesis for years. I started out as a novelist. I still write novels, or attempt to at least. Plot was (is) a difficult thing for me to nail down. 80,000 words that nead to have a logical progression and cause/effect. I'm still battling that challenge. When I began dabbling in picture books, I thought it was wonderful to only need to come up with 500 words that related to each other. Easy peasy! BUT it isn't so easy. Plot is still a challenge for me. I can't just willy nilly write cute rhyming lines that sorta paint a scene. I've been reading some books about novel plotting. The funny thing is, they mention how plotting is universal, whether you're writing an epic fantasy over 100,000 words, or writing a romance novel, or a screenplay, or writing a picture book of a mere 500 words. You need structure. People expect story in a certain way. Many of my early picture book dra