I had worked out some of the major traits of the two main characters and now I need a story. This is a stage that has already been through many itterations. In my early stories I had a huge tale all about a few days in this characters life, going through a normal day and making plans with friends that he has to let down by dropping the plans, eventually playing on the message "its okay to think about yourself in times like that". In the midst of this a portion of the days were going to show this character going through a migraine. The story was getting too convoluted, especially for the target demographic, so I decided I needed to focus on one aspect of the story.
My mother teaches young children and I have been at my parents house for christmas so I have been able to read an endless supply of kids books. These, along with my lecturers advice, have given me the opportunity to strip back my book to the bare essensials. I decided to focus the story on trying to calm the monster down. Kids books often use repetition to help children understand concepts and I want to incorperate that into my story.
A personal favourite book from the ones my mum showed me is "A bit lost" by Chris Haughton, which tells the tale of an owl that falls from its nest and spends the rest of the book looking for her. I particularly like the way the designer uses a half page that completely changes the context of the same image.
