Picture Book From Start to Finish

This post ties up a lot of threads I've been weaving here lately.
For everyone working through the Unofficial PBDummy Challenge, you may be struggling with the process. Perhaps you've fallen behind or, like me, are ready to abandon your project and start anew. Illustrator Adam Rex explains his method from manuscript to finished product for the book Chu's Day, by Neil Gaiman.
You'll find the entire interview at the Muddy Colors blog, which you may remember from last week's post about overcoming creative block.
After the positive response to Friday's perfect picture book, Chloe and the Lion, it seemed the natural choice to further explore Adam's creative mind.

My favorite thing about Chloe is the layout. Obviously Mac and Adam are not afraid to stretch the boundaries. They break through the fourth wall, they experiment with media as a story element, they poke fun at storytelling itself. The bit I found most inspiring was the design of the art on the page.

double page spread from Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex

This spread is a great example of not playing by the rules. The left-hand page is broken up into four panels, while the right is one big scene. This motif is used throughout the book. Notice the picture in the bottom left. The text explains Chloe has just gotten dizzy on the carousel. Adam allows Chloe to wobble right out of her frame. Along with text placement, this is effective design. It's using the book as a whole to tell the story, not just the expression captured on the character's face.

Below is a sketch and its corresponding finished art from Chu's Day.

You can see his early dummy was more for design and placement than for draftsmanship of the final image.

All artwork courtesy Adam Rex.

I hope this has been a help to you whether you are creating your own books or simply admiring the work of others.

No Time To Write?

 Compensate, says Berthe Amoss.  She suggests you look at it this way: 4 weeks(see below) to finish the dummy.  What can I let go for 4 weeks?   Is there some commitment, project, or chore that can get by with the bare minimum for 4 weeks?  Can my spouse take something over for that period?  Can I lose a little more sleep just for 4 weeks so I can finish this dummy?

I find that April is one of the busiest months of the school year.  Our family is committed to dinner together every week night.  Preparing dinner 5 days a week requires a large time-commitment from me.  So I'm compensating by cutting back on meal prep.  My family and I have decided to eat light for just four weeks.  Menus will include easy-to-prepare sandwiches, salads, and crockpot meals. Maybe I can even coax a few family members to take on the role of chef.  This gives me a few more hours in the day which I can allot to dummy prep!

Writing and Illustrating
Children's Books for Publication,
 by Berthe Amoss and Eric Seuben

For more on picture book making from start to finish, I recommend one of Amoss and Seuben's books.  As teachers as well as authors, they are adept at laying out the process in manageable steps.

We all know we need to make the most of our time.  We all have mind tricks we use to motivate ourselves as artists / writers.  I'd love to hear your rewards, tips, and motivational insights.

Just 4 weeks left to finish step 5 of the challenge,
but it's never too late to participate in the journey.

PBDummy Step 2.1

Not yet a participant?  Here's more info.

How are the picture book manuscripts coming?  Still having trouble?  Stuck in the middle?  Finished but unsure?

Since we in the unofficial PBDummy Challenge have a virtual critique group, I thought this would be a good time to offer some advice I routinely give or receive in my real-life crit group.

If you are struggling to get a first draft written:
Just get it down on paper!  Don't self-edit as you go.  More often than not, it's just your loud-mouthed inner critic shooting you down.  As Anne Lamott says, give yourself permission to write junk.  Worry about editing in a later draft.

If you are stuck in the middle:
See Above.  Also try some stream of consciousness writing.  Don't worry if it's in the wrong voice or even if it's really part of the story.  Maybe you have to write "I'm stuck and I can't think of anything!"  Just get something down on paper and eventually your story will resurface.  You can throw away all the in-between junk later.  As Gail Carson Levine says,  letting your thoughts wander (on paper) can "prime the pump" so your ideas begin to flow.

If you are finished, but unsure:
Try some or all of the following.
1. Do a word count.  If you are like most writers, it's way over the 500 word average.  One of my critique partners always says, cut your word count to 1/3, no matter what.  That way it is stripped to the barest essentials.  Then for the third (or is this the fourth) draft, you can add the really sparkly bits back in.

2. Break your text into spreads.  This helps you get a feel for the rhythm, for where the text is wordy or where it needs something more.

3. My stories always get too grown-up, so I use this exercise.  I rewrite my story for a younger audience.  Then I rewrite it again for an even younger one.  This is like cutting your word count without the bruising.  And my writing is always better for it.

4. I sometimes wait a few days, then rewrite the story completely without looking at the previous drafts.  I have had the most marvelous "happy accidents" with this method.  It often uncovers flaws and solves problems unconsciously.

5. Look at the space between.  This relates to the way the story flows.  Think about page turns and breaths.  Read your work out loud.  Slowly.  Imagine you are reading to a child.  Imagine a specific child.  Better yet, find some children.  You will know immediately where the story drags, the language drones, or the rhyme flops.

Courtesy Greg Matusic

If all else fails:
Maybe you just aren't passionate about this idea.  It's okay to change.  Read back through your list of ideas. Does one make you smile?  Laugh out loud?  Is there one that makes you want to run for pen and paper?  Then go with it.  Try a first and second draft.  You still have at least two weeks to develop a decent manuscript.  There'll be plenty of time for additional revisions during your storyboarding.  If you are considering this option, read Greg Matusic's success story from a previous challenge.


How are you faring?  What are you struggling with?

PBDummy Step 2

Not yet a participant?  Here's more info.

I hope you've been following the PBDummy challenge.  If you have, then your story should be underway.  If you're behind, then it's time to get started on your manuscript.  There's still plenty of time to write and polish.
As always, you can stop by KidLitArt or Dog-eared Sketchbook for ideas on how to get started.  If you're in need of a bit more tinder, maybe these thoughts from Pat Mora will spark something.

1. Remember your child-self, your feelings, childhood memories, worries and pleasures. (Most picture books are for 3-10 year olds.)
2. Create your writing time and mull--about what to write, about how to write it, about how to be daring. Among your key resources are your love of stories and language, your spirit, imagination and persistence.
3. Be welcoming of your writing. Welcome your ideas as you would welcome a guest. Resist thinking negatively about
4. Read picture books both old and new.

I won't be posting my work online, as I'm hoping to see it published, but I will say I'm tackling a rhyming text.  WHAT AM I THINKING?!?  I do not recommend poetic text unless you're really good at it.  I am not, but no matter how many times I write this story, it inevitably comes out in rhyme.  Who am I to argue with my muse?

If you need some poetic inspiration, try these classics:

Piping Down the Valleys Wild
Ed. Nancy Lamb

Side By Side
Poems to Read Together
Lee Bennett Hopkins

Sheep In A Jeep
Written by Nancy Shaw

Bear Snores On
Written by Karma Wilson

Official Unofficial PBDummy Badge

2013 badge design by Lisa Thompson

Grab your Unofficial badge at Lisa Thompson's blog.  While you're there, read through the list of resources she's compiled.  Whether you are starting from scratch or taking this opportunity to flesh out an idea from PiBoIdMo, it all starts with a little light bulb.  Who knows where your ideas will take you!

KidLitArt: Back From the Brink

Fans of Kidlitart and picture book creators, arise!  All is not lost.
Bonnie Adamson and Wendy Martin are taking a well-deserved working break.  But KidLitChats will continue on Twitter on Thursday nights, thanks to Lisa Thompson, a fellow SkADaMoer, who has accepted the temporary, unofficial mantle of keeper of the KidLitArt.

Thanks to Bonnie, Wendy,
Lisa, and Greg Matusic
for your dedication.

Illustrators/writers everywhere will be encouraging each other through a 6-month schedule from idea to submission.  Join the fun . . .work.  Did I say "fun"? Keep updated at Lisa's blog, my dog-eared sketchbook.  And don't forget to review all the valuable material on the original KidlitArt site.

If you're unofficially signed up, your first goal is to pick your project idea by January 13th.

Tweet Lisa by January 7 or check-in on her blog!