Picture Book Writing and Dummy-Making

Creating and using a dummy to storyboard - Picturebook Writing - Part 2

A “dummy” is an integral piece in the creating of a picture book. Even if you are not an illustrator. Maybe especially if you are not an illustrator!

It allows you to envision images and to be the child-reader. Working with pages and story in your hands brings you to that place of Wonder, a place the picture book creator needs to be a frequent flyer.

What is a dummy?

If you’ve read the post on “1 + 1 = 3: The Equation of Picture Book Writing,” then you know something of what goes into a picture book.

A dummy is a collection of 8 pieces of paper, assembled, folded, and bound in some way to create the 32 pages that go into a traditional picture book. (It can be longer or shorter, in multiples of 8, but know that 32 is standard. Once you’ve written even just a few picturebooks, you’ll discover that the “32 pages” creates a certain rhythm—similar to the “rhythm” of writing short fiction vs. that of working as a novelist. Each form has its own.)