Illustrations are one of the most magical parts of a picture book. While you are writing a story, you might imagine the artwork vividly. However, being too prescriptive in your illustration notes can be problematic.
When you submit a picture book manuscript to a trade publisher, your story is likely to be read (among many others) by a time-poor editor or assistant. If your illustration notes are too long-winded, or too specific about how the artwork should look, you run the risk of seeming a little unprofessional, or even unwilling to collaborate.
By contrast, providing too few illustration notes when the meaning of your book is not made clear in the copy could leave the reader confused. Each of these scenarios could lead to your story submission being overlooked.
To help your story shine, it’s important to strike the right balance with your illustration notes. Here are our top tips for how to use illustration notes most effectively in your picture book manuscripts.
Know your concept
The interplay between words and illustrations is one of the most wonderful tools at your disposal when you write a picture book. Keep this in mind as you write to ensure that the illustrator has room to weave their magic. Generally speaking, your text and illustrations should not mirror one another exactly.
Once you’ve written your story, have a good think about which of your illustration notes (if any) are absolutely critical. Wherever possible, leave illustration notes out. However, if the words and the pictures are intentionally telling very different stories (which can be a fantastic device) you will certainly need a few carefully crafted illustration notes to help your reader understand your concept at a glance.
Don’t be too prescriptive
Unless certain details are truly essential to the story, there is no reason to use illustration notes to describe absolutely everything that should appear in the artwork, nor specific details like the eye colour or outfit choice of your character. Does it matter whether your character is a boy or a girl, or that they have a green hat? Wherever possible, let your illustrator (and perhaps your reader’s imagination) fill in the gaps.
Remember, if your manuscript is acquired by a trade publisher they are likely to remove all of your non-essential illustration notes before providing your manuscript to an illustrator. This allows the artist to work freely and at their best. Of course, it is unlikely that the illustration style or execution will turn out exactly as you’d pictured in your mind, but this collaboration between you, your insightful editor and their carefully chosen illustrator is where the magic happens.
Even if you are self-publishing, I encourage you to allow your illustrator room to be creative. If you can establish a positive working relationship with a capable artist, a collaborative approach will create the best results.
Consider a one-liner
Are your words are intentionally telling a different story to the illustrations throughout your manuscript? Or is there is something a prospective publisher needs to know before they start reading that isn’t made clear in the copy?
For example, your words might describe brave adventures in a scary jungle, but you want the illustrations to show a child playing in their own backyard.
In these sorts of cases, it may be worth adding one-sentence description at the top of your manuscript to set the scene and save clogging up your document with too many illustration notes.
Trim, trim, trim
After you have reduced the number of illustration notes to what is absolutely necessary, try to convey each remaining note in as few words as possible. Editors are very busy people, so it’s worth spending some time to make your story concept understandable at a glance before you submit it to a publisher. Make every word count.
Format with flair
Rather than listing all your illustration notes together at the beginning or the end of your manuscript, short, sharp notes against specific lines of text (and again, only where absolutely necessary) can be easier for your reader to follow.
Differentiate the illustration notes from the body text as clearly as you possibly can, such as by using a dedicated colour (make sure it’s still readable and not hard on the eye - dark blue might do) or column.
Find an approach that works for you and your story but, very importantly, if you submit your manuscript to a publisher, always follow their formatting guidelines.
Survey your friends
Once you have finished your illustration notes, ask a trusted friend to spend a few minutes reading your manuscript. Then, ask the person questions to find out whether they have understood everything they need to know about your story. If they are confused about anything, you might need to keep editing.
As a writer, it’s so easy to become ‘too close’ to your story and lose track of how it might come across to another reader. Being open to wise feedback is a very important part of the process. If you’re not sure about someone’s feedback, it can help to ask more than one person to read your story. If you see a trend in their responses, you have a clear indication of what needs work.
Happy writing!
