Creating a Children's Picture Book: Planning an Engaging Story

Sketch of 'the maunga' for Ipu Whenua Storybook.

Kaupapa

I have challenged myself to write, illustrate and publish a children’s picture book about the burial of whenua, the placenta. 

The story will help my daughter, who is growing up in the UK, maintain her connection to her whaanau and whakapapa. Additionally, the book will introduce an aspect of te ao Māori that has not yet been explored in children's literature.

I believe that I am well-suited to write and illustrate this story, based on my knowledge, understanding and lived experiences.

Mihi

Kia ora. Ko Terence Hikawai taku ingoa. He uri au ki Ngaati Kahungunu ki Wairoa me Ngaati Paahauwera, o Aotearoa Nu Tiirani.

Hi, my name is Terence Hikawai. I am a descendant of the Kahungunu and Paahauwera peoples, of Aotearoa New Zealand.

I am a former soldier, youth worker, teacher and public servant. I grew up on my tuurangawaewae at Mohaka, Te Wairoa, and Te Reinga. I have held several positions that support and advocate te ao Maaori throughout my career. 

In July 2024, I relocated to the United Kingdom with my English wife and our four-year-old daughter. We made this move to connect our daughter with her British and Irish family and heritage. 

The Importance of a Plan

The thing is… I suck at keeping my focus. My mind becomes hyper-fixated on one idea. When it runs out of steam, it switches to fixate on something completely different. I am aware of this as it happens, yet at a loss on how to stop it. In an effort to curb this, I allowed myself to hop and flip between different things. My current situation allowed me to do this in a supportive space. Which is key.

In the last several months I have switched between 

• An online Print on Demand and Dropshipping business. Something I've always wanted to try.

• A Te Ao Maaori Online Course. UPDATE: I plan to launch this course by September 2025.

• A Travel Blog. To document our travels for my daughter. LAUNCHED on Instagram.

• Designing and selling leather goods. UPDATE: I have attended workshops and purchased basic tools and materials.

• and, creating a children’s picture book.

I knew that once I looped back to the ‘create a children’s picture book’ idea, I would be ready to start the planning process. Well, it took three loops back. I discovered that I needed and craved structure. So, I turned to generative A.I.

I know, I know! I may have lost most of you already. But please, bare with me for one moment. 

Using Generative A.I. 

I used Microsoft Co-Pilot at my previous job. It was helpful to support someone with a hyper-focus issue like mine. I used it to summarise and outline large documents or complex issues. It helped me test strategies and plans for projects and programmes.

Don’t worry, I did most of the heavy lifting. I never have, and never will, used generative A.I. to ‘write me a children’s picture book’. No. There is no A.I. out there that can replace human imagination. 

I used Co-Pilot to understand the different aspects of story writing: 

• character and plot development, 

• writing style and voice, 

• editing and revising. 

I still needed to re-prompt after each output to better understand things. Yet, with each output I became more confident. It helped me plan, structure and schedule milestones. Giving me the structure I needed to make this a success.

Creating a Children's Picture Book Plan

Ideas bounced around my head. Vying for attention. So I used Co-Pilot to ‘build a strategy and plan to self-publish a children's picture book’. It didn’t work. I ended up going down a rabbit hole. I ‘accidently’ built a strategy and plan for Print on Demand notebooks for well-being.

So! I used another approach. I used Co-pilot to ‘act as an advisor to help me write, draw and publish Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. That failed too. I ended up going down another rabbit hole. I am currently ruminating on a story about ‘Goldie-Bear and the three Locksmiths’.

No matter, when I looped back I had another idea. I would treat this as a business project. I have been on a number of projects over the years and structured a prompt to help. I also included the use of Google Workspace apps to help. I used Co-Pilot to:

'Act as an experienced children’s storybook publisher who has supported many writers and illustrators. Use a basic project planning template to develop a generic strategy and plan to write and publish a children's storybook. Link the strategy and plan to best utilise Google Workspace apps. Also, generate an exemplar of this strategy and plan to self-publish ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ through Print on Demand.'

It worked! Co-Pilot generated a decent outline for a project like this. 

With each key area I re-prompted Co-Pilot to 'delve deeper and expand on things'. I scheduled milestones and deadlines into my Google Calendar. I set up my filing system and conventions. I also reorganised my entire Drive the same way. 

Yes, I went down another rabbit hole. But this time, for the greater good. ‘The greater good’.

Now that I had my plan, I was able to free up space and focus on brainstorming ideas to write a (coherent) story, how to decide a medium for the illustrations, and how to get it published. I also gained the confidence and motivation to give it a go, and keep it going!

Next Post

‘Creating a Children’s Picture Book: Writing an Engaging Story’ . The first steps in discovering my writing process.

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