When researching storyline development I read an article of the 9 steps to develop an effective storyline for a children’s book. The article was written by Eevi Jones, an award winning and 7 times best-selling children’s books author, it is a very comprehensive article and I have decided to follow the 9 steps she outlines in this post as a way to help us begin to develop an effective storyline for our application (Jones, 2019)

Step 1 – Choose a Format

This step requires you to consider whether you will publish and ebook or a paper book. As we are making an appilcation, our story will exist in a digital space anyways therefore this step doesn’t specifically apply to our project

Step 2 – Write a book for Children, not for Adults

This step is more of an important reminder that although children won’t be the people purchasing the book, it is important that the story is enaging and interesting for them.

Step 3 – Narrow Down your Book Category

(1) Chart describing Book Categories

We are aiming the book towards 8-12 year olds, because this is the age within which children begin to go through puberty. Our story will be in the form of an interative application which means it will rely on both animations and text to convey the storyline. Nonetheless the story will need to be reasonably complex to address all the issues within the topic. Each chapter will address a certain topic and there will be a mini informational story within each chapter.

Step 4 – Really get to know you Target Audience

1. The Children who will consume your book
2. The Grown ups who will purchase your book : main buyers are aged 33-40 , 70% female (1)

Spend time with the age group

Talk to parents and teachers

Give a survey to women and men in targeted category

Study Books in your targeted age group

1. General Layout
2. Vocabulary Used
3. Bookstore or Library
4. Age Group/ Consumer Trends
5. Census/Demographic Details

Step 5 : Choose a writing Style

1. Past/Present Tense?
2. First of Third Person ?

Step 6 : Important Elements to Remember

1. Unforgettable Characters
2. Suspense/Action
3. Realistic Dialogue
4. Storyline
5. Instant Recall Factor

Step 7 : Title

Our current working title for the whole project is Let’s Talk. We aim to stick with this title because we think it is appropriate for the message we are trying  to communicate. We wish to approach the topics of puberty and sex in an age appropriate, open and honest way that encourages children to talk about them openly with their parents and friends about sex.

Step 8 : Editor 

Considering there are four of us working on the project I don’t think it will be necessary for us to hire an editor becuase we can always proof read eachothers work and will all be on the look-out for correct spelling and grammer in eachother’s work.

Step 9 : Illustrations

It is recommended in the article that we structure the illustrations horizontally as this is best for a journey like story. This also suits us well as we will be creating for a mobile device such as a tablet it makes more sense usability wise to design for a horizontal screen. We will need to create a storyboard once we have completed the storyline and decide what animations/interactions will be done as part of each story.

Let’s Talk

Some important things to remember when writing the script for Let’s talk is that it must have a balance of being ethically appropriate while being suitable for younger and older children between the ages 8-14. These factor will come into play especially when narrating the storyline. The pitch and tone of the voice must be appealing for the children using the app, keeping them engaged. Some parts of the app may need to have a hint of a lulled tone to ensure a sense of seriousness to the content on screen. 

References

• Jones, E. (2019). [online] KindlePreneur. Available at: https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-write-a-childrens-book/ [Accessed 24 Feb. 2019].