The Notebook Sessions: Character + Problem = Plot?

Peek inside my notebook to get inspired, make new connections, develop your craft, and grow as a children’s book writer.

Plot is what happens in a story. Many writers long for a template they can follow when they’re developing a book, and there are lots of diagrams and charts you can use to structure your plot. In picture books, most stories look something like this.

But not all stories look like this. Writers can mix and match these pieces, spending more time on one section than another, emphasizing different elements, and putting their own spin on the traditional arc. This month I’m looking at picture books that have strong storylines, but don’t quite fit this traditional format. Some work really well. Others feel like they could be more satisfying. But I hope they’ll all give you permission to experiment. Being a writer is about creating something out of nothing. You can start with a template, but the real magic comes with you start making intentional choices about your work. So see what effect your draft has, and then try something new if you want to produce a different effect on readers. The revision process can be just as creative as the writing process—if you let yourself break some rules.

The jacket copy for this book is long! Highly unusual for a picture book! It promises a “fairy tale that manages to be both of the moment and utterly timeless.” For me it’s the inventive details that keep the story engaging, while the plot feels familiar and timeless. But is it really following the classic arc? A king and queen ask an inventor and a witch for a child. They receive a wooden robot and a princess who turns into a log when she sleeps. One day a maid throws out the log princess when she’s sleeping and the robot sets out to rescue her. He travels on a ship, finds a large wood pile, and finally finds his sister. He puts her in a cart and begins to walk home. Small adventures are mentioned, but summarized, and the robot grows tired. Finally he wakes his sister and she begins to pull the robot home in the cart. She has her own summarized adventures and grows tired. She falls asleep in the forest. With the help of their friends, the robot and log princess are found by the witch. She wakes the princess, repairs the robot, and returns them to the king and queen.

There are characters and a clear problem: The log princess is missing. There’s a clear journey, and a moment when the brother and sister are asleep, alone in the forest, when it seems all is lost. But there’s no dramatic climax, the characters don’t change, and everyone sort of rescues each other in this story. This book doesn’t follow the character-solves-a-problem template, but it still feels satisfying. The world feels so fully developed that you can trust the rules and forces at work in the story are consistent and meaningful, even if they’re as clear as in a more traditional story. Each moment in the story leads to the next, and there’s a sense of urgency and heart, which keeps the pace moving. And perhaps because there are so many strange elements that, even when the journey feels familiar, so much is uncertain that we don’t know where the story is headed and we’re not sure things will work out. That keeps readers engaged until the end.

Poppy has a big imagination. One day everything she imagines starts to come alive. It’s real, not just in her imagination. The first third of the book is filled with exciting, silly creatures. But then she imagines a Trex and a woolly mammoth, and she needs to find a way to get rid of them. She tries imagining a giant eraser, then she imagines a door. That finally works. (I’m curious why this book doesn’t follow the rule of threes.) Then the real problem is revealed: Her parents don’t believe imaginary creatures made the mess that’s left behind. So she proves it to them by imagining the wooly mammoth back into their lives.

There’s a character and a problem here, but so much in this story feels unexplained that it’s not as satisfying as I hoped it would be. Poppy has some agency, and she tries to solve the problem on her own. But it’s not clear why the door finally works or what will happen after the story ends. It’s a fun story, but I have more questions than answers at the end.

The heroine of this lively book is determined to win, but she’s a flop at sports day, the spelling bee, and the dance contest. She really wants to win until she makes a friend who cares more about having fun than winning. When she finally makes peace with not winning, she takes first place in a cake contest. I’m not sure the ending feels quite right here either. If she didn’t win in the end but shared a big piece of cake with a friend, it might feel more satisfying. Character + Problem…yes. And there’s a clear climax, but it’s more about how much she wants to win than her overcoming the problem.

Tonight is the first time Little Wolf will howl at the moon. Big Wolf shows him how it’s done. Little Wolf tries three times, but he can’t master the proper howling form. Little Wolf can’t help but do it his own way. Finally Big Wolf joins in the fun and howls with is own “skiddilly skoddilly beep bops.” The story ends with Little Wolf excited to tell the others. Big Wolf is sure they already know.

This is a simple story with lots of fun words to read aloud with young readers. Little Wolf doesn’t change, rather he stays very much the same. And by the end of the story, both Little Wolf and Big Wolf have tried something new. There’s a moment of uncertainty and suspense, but if there’s a climax, it’s very gentle.  

Kamala and Maya (who will one day grow up to be Kamala Harris and her sister) want to build a playground for the neighborhood kids. They write a letter to the landlord, who says no. They try to turn that no into a yes by writing a longer letter to the landlord. Finally he says yes if they do it themselves. The girls talk to neighbors and someone gives them lumber and sand. The kids work together to start building the playground. More people donate supplies. When the playground is ready they have a big picnic, but one thing is missing: a slide. A teacher tells them where they can buy a used slide. They raise money for the slide. Together they built something that everyone could enjoy. Who knows what they’ll build next.
It’s a sweet story of perseverance and vision, but does it follow the traditional story arc? Not really. There are multiple problems, but they overcome each one pretty easily. The characters don’t change or grow. They just accomplish something. It’s still a story worth telling though.

The beginning of the book introduces Book Hog and shows how much he loves books. Then we learn his secret. He doesn’t know how to read. One day he visits the library and the librarian says she’ll read to him. He takes his scooter home and zips back with a mountain of books. The librarian reads them to him and helps him learn to read over time. At the end of the story, he still hogs books but he also returns them to the library when he’s done.

In this story, the character learns, grows, and solves his own problem. There aren’t three tries, but the action builds, with each moment leading to the next. The climax is found in the art more than in the text. Book Hog brings a LOT of books to the library, and there’s a crowd of cute animals listening to the librarian read stories, so there’s some extra energy on those pages. But it’s a pretty gentle climax without a lot of struggle. Overall it’s a really kid friendly premise, and the journey feels relatable.

Page one introduces the character and the problem: Floyd’s kit is stuck in a tree. Things go from bad to really bad to disastrous as he tries to get the kite out of the tree. Eventually everything from a ladder to a whale is stuck in the tree. A fire engine stops by to help, but the firefighters get stuck too. Then Floyd gets a saw. But he throws it at the tree instead of cutting it down. (Oh Floyd!) But surprise! The saw knocks the kite out of the tree and Floyd spends the day playing with it. The story ends with a funny picture of everything else still stuck in the tree.

There’s a clear climax when everything is STUCK. But there’s no character development, and the way the character solves the problem feels as misguided as everything else he’s done up to that point. It works with the internal logic of the story. It makes sense in the context of everything the reader learns up to that point. But it’s not a traditional character-learns-grows-changes kind of story. It’s almost more of a joke told over 32 pages.

Try This

Outline your story using the graphic above. Then ask some questions.

• Is every moment needed?

• Can you break some rules?

• Let something go?

• Jump ahead to emphasize something else?

• Is there a clear beginning, middle, and end?

• Does the energy rise and fall in a classic way?

• What about in a satisfying way?

Take time to make choices that feel right for your story.

Buy me a coffee or visit my curated bookshop to add a title mentioned in the Notebook Sessions to your library.