What's the magic formula? Is there something that all stellar books have in common?
If the answer were simple, we'd all be writing best-sellers. But that's why mentor texts are so helpful. By reading our favorite texts, we can find commonalities and incorporate them into our manuscripts.
Here's the September Mentor Text Challenge. Read your 3 favorite picture books and ask yourself these questions.
What do these books have in common?
Why do these books resonate with me?
How can I incorporate these things in my manuscripts?
What commonalities do you find in your 3 favorite picture books?
Finding the heart of what we love tells us a lot about ourselves as a reader and a writer. Thanks, Kirsti!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Carrie. Thinking about these questions helps me discover what matters to me in story writing.
DeleteWith so many different tastes in books, I'll have to give this some serious thought!
ReplyDeleteYes! Did you notice how disparate my favorite 3 books are?
DeleteI would say that the common thread of my favorites is that they are simple and unexpected. Which is to say that appear so simple and yet completely unexpected at the same time. They always make me say, "Gosh, why didn't I think of that?! It was right in front of my face." I also go crazy for great humor and puns...lots of puns!
ReplyDeleteI really love the unexpected, yet inevitable endings also. They are so simple, yet so hard to come up with on our own! I love puns too!
DeleteGreat questions, Kirsti!
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE You Nest Here with Me :)
You Nest Here with Me is one of my absolute favorites for many reasons. Now to find the commonalities with Mustache Baby and Everybody Loves Bacon?!?
DeleteWow, I have so many favorites that fit into different genres within picture books so i guess I will have to break it down into those genres then. Good questions to ponder as I write and read. Thank you @KirstiCall
ReplyDeleteYes, when the stories are so different, that makes it much harder to come up with the answer...but more to think about right?
DeleteOnly 3? Think I have some thinking to do - especially as I consider your 3rd, and toughest, question.
ReplyDeleteI know. I have way more than 3 favorite picture books...probably reading more would give you a better answer about what you really love in a book :)
DeleteI have so many favorites that it really depends on the type of book. I love oddball humor, illustrations that add hugely to a story, lyricism, earned sentimentality, powerful voice....You know, I think that's it. Voice. It must be distinctive and grab me by the sleeve and not let go, no matter where the story is headed. It's voice.
ReplyDeleteYes. I have disparate favorites also, but there's something about voice that grabs me in each them.
DeleteI remember a similar assignment from many years ago in a class with Anastasia Suen! I loved it then, and I'm looking forward to doing it again. Wonder if what I learn/love will be a little different now....Off to think about my three favorites. I think I'm going to choose my three favorites from the past year. Off to scour my Goodreads ratings!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found this type of exercise helpful in the past. Goodreads is a great place to start--I may check to see how many 5 star ratings I've given to picture books recently. Great idea!
DeleteI love PB that have heart but also humor. Clever writing gets me every time! Now how to apply that to my favorites?
ReplyDeleteI also love heart and humor and it's the best when they're combined, isn't it?
DeleteI didn't think my three favorites had that much in common until I read them back to back. They are all smart with humor. They all have satisfying story and character arcs, with a surprise ending, and big emotion. And I find myself still thinking about them long after I've finished. And I can remember the first time I read each of them all these years later.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing what your favorites have in common. I love that you found so MANY commonalities. Now to write a manuscript with all those elements!
DeleteThe things my three books have in common: attention to diction and form, drawing details close to the reader to show her the unexpected in the everyday, hard truths seen with clear eyes, and a respect and love of life expressed by the writer's generosity of spirit towards everything in the story.
ReplyDeleteoooh! I love those elements.
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