The Twelve-Sentence Story

By Lisa Amstutz 

 

Have you ever found yourself lost in the weeds with your nonfiction picture book? Maybe there are so many great details about your subject that you want to include them all! Maybe it feels like you’ve lost the throughline. Or maybe something just feels off.

Today I wanted to share an outlining method that I’ve found helpful in getting to the heart of a story. I call it the Twelve-Sentence Story. Each sentence corresponds to one spread in your picture book. You may need more than 12, depending on your book’s page count and how much back matter you’ve included.

Some people like to make a book dummy, which is also a great idea. However, this quick method allows you to see the whole story at a glance.

Start by numbering 1-12 on a sheet of paper (vertically). Write one sentence by each number summarizing what’s happening on that spread. Keep it brief—this is the bare bones version of your story.

Now read through your sentences. Is there a complete story arc there? Where does the conflict happen? Is it early enough in the story? Are there clear stakes?

Does the story build toward a satisfying conclusion? Is all the info you’ve included necessary, or does some of it distract from the main point? On the tail end, should your story have ended sooner?

Here is a sample outline from Full of Beans: Henry Ford Grows a Car by NF Ninja Peggy Thomas, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham (Calkins Creek, 2018). This is a 48-page book, with 17 full spreads plus back matter.

1. Henry Ford made cars.

2. Mother encourages young Henry to help others; he tries.

3. Life on the family farm is hard—he looks for ways to make it easier.

4. The Great Depression makes life even harder for farmers.

5. Maybe he can create a new market for their products!

6. Henry builds a laboratory to test crops.

7. He finds the perfect food…the soybean!

8. Ford tractors plant 300 kinds of soybeans over 8000 acres.

9. Henry’s team creates soybean paint for Ford cars.

10. The team makes more car parts from soybeans and keeps farmers busy!

11. Ford eats beans…and even wears beans.

12. Ford makes his cars even beanier with soybean plastic.

13. He tests the plastic—it works!

14. Ford assembles the soybean car.

15. Ford shows off his new car.

16. WWII begins and the soybean car is forgotten.

17. But the soybean is not!

18-23. Back matter

You can see a clear arc here, from Henry's desire to help farmers to his eventual success at building a soybean car, and even more broadly, to helping create markets for soybeans.

You may want to try an outline before you start writing or wait until you have a draft down on paper. This method works for picture book biographies as well as other narrative nonfiction stories. It works equally well for fiction. And it can be adapted to outline an expository or concept picture book as well.

What outlining method works best for you? Please share in the comments!

 

 Lisa Amstutz is a literary agent with Storm Literary Agency and a Nonfiction Ninja. She is the author of more than 150 children’s books, including Our Christmas Tree Farm, Plants Fight Back, Amazing Amphibians, and Applesauce Day. With a background in biology and environmental science, Lisa particularly enjoys writing about nature and agriculture. When she’s not writing or agenting, she loves watching birds, hiking, and gardening. Learn more at www.LisaAmstutz.com.