Hello all, So my writers and creative block is so bad that I'm struggling to come up with a plot for a children's picture book. I'm looking to write my first book in the series and nothing is flowing. Here's my concept: A little girl who is a computer whiz has a talking laptop and they go through different adventures together. I was thinking about a story about a hairy monster who didn't want to be hairy anymore but I don't know how to relate it back to a little girl who's a computer whiz. How does she use her computer in the story? Also, any ideas for a good plot? I'm totally stumped. Thanks
Do they go on adventures in the real world or in cyberspace (or both)? The hairy monster could be convinced that being hairy isn't so bad; the girl could use her laptop to show the monster how the hair can be fun, by cutting or styling it into different shapes and entertain the other monsters with it. This could be done by illustrating the different styles. Alternatively, he could be the only hairy monster in a land full of bald monsters. The girl uses the laptop to find out that he's not from the land he calls home, as there's another place where monsters similar to him live in abundance. There they find another monster - bald among the hairies - with whom it is revealed they were swapped at birth. And then this stopped being a kid's book. Maybe the monster stork had a mix up. Anyway, the two tribes of monsters discover each other thanks to the girl and her laptop and they become great friends.
Maybe touch on why your monster doesn't want to be hairy anymore, such as he wants to be more like/different everyone else and give the girl a relatable situation. Together they discover how much alike or unique they really are a learn to better like themselve, as is. Incorperate the computer if you want, but I think you may be able to do this without the computer.
Thanks! The reason I want the computer is to encourage more girls to be technologists. I was a software engineer for 10 years.
The idea is to encourage more young girls to be technologists as I was a software engineer for 10 years. I still want to tell a good story that kids can relate to.
I can understand that, It's that whole electronic babysitter philosphy I don't like. Just the other day I was watching 'Gone With The Wind', there was one comercial for encouraging kids to get outside and exercise and not spend so much time with computer games and such. The very next commercial, for Time Warner Cable, featured two rambuctious kids and their Uncle Pete. To calm them down, Pete hands them each a tablet to play video games. To my mind, for the basic theme it sound like you're going for, it would be more important to stress the ability to be happy in your own skin than 'girls can do too'. Not to say that wouldn't be a valid topic to work with too. Maybe that can be a whole other story: 'You really can be what ever you want' Maybe you just found your series idea.
I know this might sound a bit radical but, they sound like two different books to me. I think if you separate the little girl and the monster, you could have completely different stories. Unless there is reason that you want to keep them together?
Very good point, itsybitsy. However, this is a VERY old thread from 2015. If the original poster is still around, your suggestion might be really helpful. though. Or to anybody else contemplating a similar kind of plot—trying to splice two fairly unrelated elements together. However, sometimes you can get a spark that shows an unexpected connection, and a story is born. Oh, and welcome to the forum!
