Our Picture Book I class is being offered once again! Previous attendees have gone on to sign with top agents with numerous book sales to their names. Join author Jyoti Gopal in building the foundation of knowledge you need to write amazing picture books!
Author Jyoti Gopal Teaches the Basics of Picture Book Writing ONLINE!
Picture Book I is all about perfecting the basic craft and structural elements needed to write successful picture books ready for sale. You will learn basic format elements, how to work with illustrations, word count, picture book tips and tricks, and more.
In this 6-week session, Jyoti Gopal will present a lesson each week complete with hands-on exercises to provide writers with the practical tools they’ll need to advance their craft; each writer is critiqued at least once by their instructor in the drafting stages. Jyoti will share drafts of her own picture book revisions to aid in the learning process. In addition, each writer is also workshopped once by the entire group.
Who Should Take this Class:
- Writers who want to learn the study and craft of the picture book form
- Picture book writers looking to expand their skillset
- Picture book writers looking to develop a keen eye for finding strong mentor texts
- Writers looking for peer and professional industry feedback
Note: If you have taken PB I with us or an equivalent elsewhere, and feel comfortable in the basic PB format, structure, world counts, etc. consider skipping forward to Perfecting the PB II. PB I is meant for writers just starting out with crafting picture books.
What You’ll Learn from this Course:
- character intention
- kid-friendliness
- thinking visually
- drafting
- revising
- the rule of three
- structure and story-boarding
- page turns
- read-a-loud ability
- writing a picture book query
Full Series Dates; Tuesdays, January 21, 28; February 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2025
7:00pm-9:00pm CST.
If absent for a class the TA will send you the replay for viewing up to two weeks after the session.
Multi-Week Classes are 2-hour classes offered over consecutive weeks and assist writers in creating new work, or revising existing work with a goal toward exploring craft and potentially pursuing publication. Registrants should plan to not miss more than 1 class for maximum learning and class bonding, with both the published instructor and each other. On-going classes usually have outside reading, homework assignments/analysis, and a workshop component.
REPLAYS for online classes are available to writers who request them from the class TA due to absence, visual and hearing impairment, or to meet the needs of our neurodiverse writers (available for 30 days.) Multi-Week Classes are meant to be an organic experience that must be given full time and attention to help aid in the openness that is created within the LIVE learning environment.
Jyoti Rajan Gopal is an award-winning picture book author, mom and forever kindergarten teacher. Growing up, she lived in Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, India and China. She now lives in New York with her husband, in a quirky old Victorian, where they raised their two daughters.
Her books have received starred reviews in Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, School and Library Journal, Book List, and Book Page and are on the Bank Street, NYPL and SLJ Best Books lists. She is the recipient of the ALA 2024 Stonewall Honor Award and a finalist for the 2023 Neev Literature Award.
Jyoti writes stories – fiction and non-fiction – of identity, community and belonging, themes that speak to her heart, that reflect her multiple identities.
She is the author of American Desi (Little Brown), My Paati’s Saris (Kokila), Desert Queen (Levine Querido), One Sweet Song and Love is Here With You: A Lullaby of Blessings (Candlewick), and Sister Day (FSG). She has six more picture books coming out in the next three years.
Find out more about her at jyotirajangopal.com
Writing Barn classes are nonrefundable. For terms and conditions,
specifically for online programming, please see our WB Policy Page