If you’re looking for an online course to take and find yourself stressing over the high prices, you’re not alone. There are plenty of free resources to get you started. I will say I have paid for and participated in some online classes, and it is absolutely worth it. It gives you that push to put your stuff out there and learn from others and get an overall professional experience. I probably googled something one day like, “Does Ann Whitford Paul have any free online picture book courses?” I had already known about the author and was hopeful in my search that maybe she had done some sort of online teaching. In my initial search I saw something about a forum and SVS and went from there. SVS is the School of Visual Storytelling, and Ann Whitford Paul has a FREE recorded online course that’s 9 weeks long called “Writing Picture Books.” Each session ranges from 70 to 90 minutes and provides a slew of picture books that are categorized by what they discuss, teach, etc. For example, there are books with playful language, first day of schoolbooks, or books about family events. I myself have not completed this course just for the fact that I became busy gathering any other resources I could find. Skimming through the other lessons, there is information about plotting your picture book, what makes a page turn, insights into critiques, creating characters, things to think about when creating animal characters, and more. This journey has shown me that it’s very easy to surround yourself with resources and harder to just sit and start writing and actually apply what you’ve learned to an idea you have. I hope this is a helpful resource for others who find this. When you create an account I believe you have to use the Legacy SVS Learn Platform and NOT the new one.
Kidlit Writer in Progress & Resource Blogger 
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