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After flirting with the idea of doing NaNoWriMo, I decided instead to do PiBoIdMo, or Picture Book Idea Month, the 30 days of November in which I am supposed to come up with 30 picture book ideas.

It makes sense. I am attending the SCBWI Eastern NY Falling Leaves Master Class retreat where five picture book editors will talk to 30 lucky people, including me. Editors attending are Kate Fletcher (Candlewick), Dianne Hess (Scholastic), Sylvie Frank (Holiday House), Marilyn Brigham (Marshall Cavendish) and Kelly Smith (Sterling). Since I had decided to devote part of my fall to picture books anyway, the PiBoIdMo is right up my alley. Focus my efforts. And the writing exercises we do at the retreat will hopefully add to my ideas list. Late next week, look for reports on the retreat.

Meanwhile, I am visiting the dentist this morning, so I’ll think about a tooth fairy story. Not.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Writing is rewriting

Guest post by Anastasia Suen

For years I have been saying that writing is rewriting, and now I have a book that shows it quite clearly, my new picture book, Road Work Ahead (Viking 2011).

This picture book is short, like most of my books. It’s only 120 words, but those words have been rewritten over and over again. Yes, this one has been a lo-o-o-ong time coming. I started this book when my son was 2…and now he’s 27!

Picture Book Inspiration

When my son was 2, he loved to look at all of the trucks and machines along the road, so I started snapping pictures for him. I made him a “look book” that later turned into a picture book. I loved the story in that book, so I sent it out to editors, but it kept coming back, over and over. Editors said they loved it, too, but it wasn’t quite ready. So I kept rewriting it and sending it out…and now 25 years later, it’s finally a book you can hold in your hand.

The 6 Ws of Story

So what made the difference? I used ALL of the 6 Ws this time. I made sure the story had who, what, when, where, why and how. Using all 6 Ws made it a story, not just a list of machines along the road. Stories sell, but lists…well, not so much.

New Beginning and Ending. After the story finally sold I thought it was ready to go, but my editor thought it needed something more. She asked me to write a new beginning and ending, so we knew why the little boy was on the road looking at all of the road work. That also added a who, by showing us the little boy before he got into the car.

So I added my mother and her famous homemade oatmeal cookies to the book. (We used to eat them right after they came out of the oven. Yum!) Driving to Grandma’s house for fresh, warm, homemade oatmeal cookies is definitely a reason to keep going despite all of the traffic delays due to the work along the road. And when you get to eat them at the end of the book, ah, sweet reward! Adding 2 short stanzas was all it took.

The change I made was used by the Publishers Weekly reviewer to describe the book.

“A batch of Grandma’s homemade oatmeal cookies beckons, but for this backseat narrator, the sights and sounds along the road to her house are equally compelling:
“Road work ahead./ Move over. Go slow./ Jackhammers crack./ Look at them go.’”

The text quoted in the review was the original beginning of the story. I had jumped too far into the action. What worked better was taking a few steps back and letting the reader know who the narrator was and why he was on the road in the first place.

Yes, writing is rewriting! (And a good editor makes ALL the difference. Thanks, Regina!)

For more on writing and revising picture books, see WriteaPictureBook.com

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Over at Playing by the Books, the UK blogger (bilingual Dutch/English), is talking about picture books. The UK Secretary for Education, Michael Gove has suggested that kids read at least 50 books a year.

Playing by the Books took up the challenge:

I approached six brilliant UK-based illustrators and asked them to contribute towards a list of books every child should be read. Tim Hopgood, James Mayhew, Jan Pieńkowski, Katie Cleminson, Viviane Schwarz and Clara Vulliamy all very gamely accepted my challenge of producing a list of 10 or so books each that they love.

The result is this post:
50+ picture books every child should be read – a non-prescriptive list for inspiration

In a follow-up, though, Playing by the Books realized that many of the books on the list were classics. She wondered what a list might look like if the titles were restricted to the last five years.

To help me in this quest I turned to this year’s winners of the Booktrust New Best Illustrators Award. These illustrators “represent the best rising talent in the field of illustration today, [they] demonstrate remarkable creative flair, artistic skill and boundless imagination in their work“, so who better to ask for some suggestions as to the best, fresh picture books?

Here’s the list of 49 recent, recommended books:
49 brilliant picture books from the past 5 years as chosen by award winning illustrators

Yes, these are UK books, but what a visual feast both these lists are. The short descriptions are instructive, too, in how to pitch a picture book.

What books, published in the last five years in the US, would YOU recommend?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

12 Updated Resources for 2011

1. State of the industry. First, a basic question: Are picture books dead? Not according to Karen Springen and PW.
   Don’t Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet, By Karen Springen, Dec 12, 2010
2. Writing Encouragement. Natl Pic Book Writing Week May 1-7, 2011

   National Picture Book Writing Week is a take off on the National Novel Writing Month and encourages writers to work on children’s picture book manuscripts.

Basic Resources for Writing Children’s Picture Books

3. 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book. Children’s picture book author, Darcy Pattison has 30 posts about how-to write a children’s picture book. Answers questions like, where do I find an illustrator? (You don’t! See why.)
   This is also available as an ebook.
   
   
   
4. Getting Started: The Basics of Children’s Writing and Illustrating, by Harold Underdown
   Introductory information for people wanting to get published as a children’s book writer or illustrator in the United States, by former editor.
5. Picture Book Editing Checklist

Authors on How-to Write a Children’s Picture Book

6. So You Want to Write a Picture Book–advice from author Mem Fox.
7. Nancy Antle on Writing Children’s Literature: Interview about Dos and Don’ts of Writing Picture Books.

Philip Bell: Capturing Childhood Magic With Picture Books

Updated Information on Self Publishing a Picture Book

8. Why I’ve Switched to CreateSpace for Picture Books, by Aaron Shepard

   Long-time self-publisher has insider knowledge about various POD options and explains why he’s switching to Amazon’s CreateSpace.

How to Write a Rhyming Picture Book

9. How To Write a Rhyming Picture Book and Get it Published — Part 1: A Writer’s Perspective.
10. How To Write a Rhyming Picture Book and Get it Published — Part 2: A Publisher’s Perspective.
11. How To Write a Rhyming Picture Book and Get It Published — Part 3: A Reader’s Perspective.
12. 
    Write a Rhyming Picture Book blog article, by author Patricia Thomas

Other Posts about Picture Books on Fiction Notes

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Stop! Before you send out that picture book manuscript, cut it by at least one-third. Really. Make that revision.

Biggest Mistake in Picture Book Manuscripts

I recently read a picture book manuscript from a novice writer and it had the usual problem: too long.

In a picture book manuscript, every word counts, so you must test each and every word to see if it belongs there. Here are four places to cut:

• Repetitive words. Never, never repeat a word unless you absolutely must, or unless it adds to the story. Sure, when you write a first draft, you often repeat something by accident. But you should go through a picture book manuscript with a fine-toothed comb to make sure you’ve cut out any extras.
• Adjectives, Adverbs. Picture books need action; leave adjectives to the illustrator. Because it includes illustrations, you should only include the adjectives that make a difference. Grass is green. Duh. Only use adjective if, for example, your grass is purple.

  For adverbs, please replace them with a stronger verb.

  • The boy walked slowly.
  • The boy limped.
• Clauses, Prepositional Phrases. Leave out the extra commentary (unless it’s part of the mss’ voice).
  • Well, in the end, it was a day that pleased me greatly.
  • I enjoyed the day.

  Try rephrasing prepositional phrases by moving a word to an adjective position:

  • It was a day of joy.
  • It was a joyful day.
• Dialogue. Dialogue is unlike real speech; it’s compressed speech. Leave out the pleasantries and get to the heart of the conversation.

• Hello.
  Hello.
  Why are you so late? I was waiting and waiting, just sitting on this bench, waiting for you. Why are you so late?
  Well, I had a flat tire and I couldn’t get the lug nuts loose. So I had to wait until a policeman stopped. He was really nice, a big tall policeman and he was strong enough to loosen the bolts and finally I got the tire changed.
  Oh.
  Yes, well, I’m sorry I was so late.

• Hey, what’s up? Why so late?
  Sorry. I had a flat and couldn’t change it by myself. A cop stopped and helped and now, I’m here.

STOP! Cut Your Mss by 1/3. At Least!

Before you send out your mss, try to cut it by 1/3 without changing the story. Then try to cut another 50-100 words. Compare the before and after. If the story has changed (for the worse), you can add back a few words; but I’ll wager that the story will be much stronger with the revision.

While there are no hard and fast rules, picture books that run 500 words or less tend to sell better. For pre-school stories it’s a stricter limit than for school age (K-3).

Need more on how to write a children’s picture book? See our eBook, How to Write a Picture Book. Immediate download. $10.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Last week, after welcoming my new grandson into the world, I brought my 22 month old grand-daughter back to our house for a couple days. Of course – of course! – I took her to story time at our local library.

Baby – Toddler Story Time

If you want to write literature for the youngest, every so often, you should sit in on one of these story times.

In the twenty minute session, the librarian started with a simple clapping song:
Let’s all clap ’cause XXX came, XXX came, XXX came.
Let’s all clap ’cause XXX came, XXX came today.

Each child’s name was called around the circle of about a dozen kids and parents. Right away, she had her audience interested (sort of).

This was followed by other songs and clapping, sometimes with a puppet, sometimes with props for each child to hold. Some of the songs were illustrated by a book, but some where just songs with something else as a prop. For example, when she sang “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” each child waved a simple noisemaker to make rain sounds.

Next, the librarian introduced simple nursery rhymes . I hadn’t seen this one before.

With the motions:
Child holds out hand. With your index finger, make a circle on the child’s palm while saying:
The bear goes round the garden.
One step (Jump your hand to about a third of the way up the child’s arm.)
Two steps. (Jump two thirds of the way up the child’s arm)
Gets you under there. (Tickle under arm or chin.)

Without the motions:
The bear goes round the garden.
One step.
Two steps.
Get you under there.

Very simple, but effective. I played this nursery rhyme with my granddaughter for the next two days and taught it to her mother when she went home.

To end the session, the librarian blew soap bubbles and the kids popped bubbles for a few minutes.

The real value of this was amazing: child-in-the-lap relationship building, kids/parents learning nursery rhymes and language play to repeat at home, gross motor skill development, learning that the library is a great place/fun place to go, relationships growing between parents, child learning how to behave in a group situation and, best of all, books to take home. Kudos to our library for a great program.

4 Tips for Writing Literature for the Youngest

• Music. Simple songs, which can be read, chanted, or actually sung work well for baby and toddler stories. These are simple rhythms, short stanzas and can be nonsense if you want, as long as it trips off the tongue easily.

  Add clapping or simple movements to add more interest. Think about the simple movements in a song like this:

  If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. (pat your head) (touch your toes) (turn around)

  The youngest won’t get all the movements right, but they’ll delight in trying.

• Nursery Rhymes. So, why is it that we have Mother Goose Rhymes and not much else? Someone needs to write the equivalent of a new Mother Goose. Without going into the long history of nursery rhymes, the ones that work best are those that will survive oral transmittal, are simple and easy to remember and fun. Some toddler board books approach this simplicity, but perhaps even that format is too long. Maybe a collection of new nursery rhymes would be even better? What do you think?
• Simple Finger Play. I said this with the music, to add simple actions, but I want to emphasize it. Giving kids some action to do while listening to a story (or song) makes it more popular. My granddaughter is at the age where she loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider, mostly because of the finger movements. Think of gross motor skills and try to incorporate a couple into your story for babies or toddlers.
• Short. The whole story time was only 20 minutes. In that time, the librarian went through probably 20 different stories, nursery rhymes, songs and finger plays. Short rules because these short people have short attention spans.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I’m currently revising a picture book and finding it to be a bit tricky because I created animal characters. Of course, in a fiction picture book, animal characters are often just stand-ins for kids.

Why Use an Animal Character in a Fictional Picture Book?

Get Rid of Adults. I wanted to have two characters playing on a beach. Uh-oh. That’s dangerous if it’s just two kids; without adults around, the story would never be accepted. But in this case, the adults/parents would just clog up the story. So, make them animal characters and the story works great. No one worries about a chicken or a dog or a sea gull or something similar running around on a beach.

Express Potentially Difficult Emotions. Books with kids who get mad or frustrated can be tricky. Will the audience still like these characters? Will adults want to read this book to kids? (For picture books, you must always remember the adult gatekeeper!) But write about a bear in the winter who is awakened from hibernation — grouchy is understandable. The trick, of course, is to find the right animal who can express the emotions you want.

Difficulties of Using an Animal Character in a Fictional Picture Book

You walk a fine line between kid and animal characteristics. When we read a book with an animal character, we understand that the animals are stand-ins for kids. Or do we? We still want the animal to act, well, true to its nature. Skunks stink; horses run fast; sharks bite.

In my case, someone called me on the activities the characters are doing and said it wasn’t true to the animal in question. Yes, I answered, but it’s just a stand in for a kid. Um, sorry. Choose a different animal or make the actions appropriate for this animal.

ARGH! The critiquer is right. (How dare they? Well, it’s been longer than my normal three days to pout, so I have to get busy and work on this.) I’ll be working on those revisions today and tomorrow.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Conflict, the type that motivates and moves a plot, comes from four sources.

Yesterday, an editor asked for revisions on a very short piece which was meant for a kindergarten or first grade audience. The editor didn’t like the competitiveness between siblings. But when she contemplated taking out that conflict, she correctly understood that the story lacked something. Could I fix it, she asked.

Of course, my first reaction was, “Don’t edit out that conflict!”

But it’s always unhelpful to try to protect your words and ideas from the collaboration of an editor who knows her audience. So, I sat and thought about the story. Sometimes, you just need to apply what you already know, and I know that there are four types of conflict in a story:

1. Conflict with Society. This is a quiet story and it simply didn’t have elements that would allow this option.
2. Conflict with Someone Else. That conflict had been ruled out by the editor. I might could have found some other way to include conflict, but my feeling was they wanted a gentle but fun story, without that kind of interpersonal conflict.
3. Conflict with Self. I already had the character trying something very difficult and sticking with it.
4. Conflict with Nature. Ah, maybe I could add in just the briefest touch of this type conflict. The main character’s task could be considered as a struggle against nature.

In the end, I added a line near the beginning that hinted at conflict with nature, then a line at the end which resolved it.

In the meantime, I tried to add a touch of humor in a couple other exchanges.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Take a Reading Day

Standard advice: read what you want to write.
If you want to write a novel, then read mysteries or thrillers or teen or easy readers or whatever genre you want to write.

Last week, I took a reading day and had great fun. I often advise people to read 100 picture books (published within the last 5 years) in preparation for writing picture books. One way I accomplish this is to visit my local bookstore and read new books from their Picture Book Wall. However, this only gets the books that this large chain bookstore chooses to put on said wall. So, last week, I had a library day. I only read ten books, but it was interesting.

Picture Book Illustrations:

I liked 8 out of the ten illustrations. The two I disliked were watercolor that had turned muddy. They had nice details, good characterization, but the muddy watercolors made it a dark, uninviting book.

Picture Book Texts I Didn’t Like

I didn’t like four of the texts. A couple of these were from author/illustrators and the illustrations carried the book; of these, the poetry had ineffective rhyme just there to rhyme and the meaning was lost; another had text that would have been rejected if from an author as “too slight.” (It’s that maddening double-standard applied to texts from picture book authors and picture book author/illustrators.)

One text had a typo on the second page – it was a popular author, good company, someone just slipped up. Another had text WAY too long, lots of purple prose and lapses in the storyline. One nonfiction surprised me because the author’s note explained that she had created some of the dialogue; from another publisher, I might not have noticed, but I was shocked to see this from this author/publisher.

Picture Book Texts I Liked

Simple, yet effective was one of my notes on a text. Some texts were generally good, but some of the double-page spreads were less effective because of long-winded text on a particular page. The best texts were funny, age appropriate, simple-yet-effective.

These were just books that were in my library that day, set upright to entice readers. No attempt to be random or scientific, just “found” books. Here’s a different breakdown.

• 1 rhymed text
• 3 historical fiction
• 2 broken or twisted fairy tale
• 3 celebrations of art from author/illustrator
• 1 contemporary/multicultural set in Asia

Lessons from a Reading Day

What did I learn? I was reminded what I love and what I dislike about picture books. I still like short, but effective texts. I like bright, clear illustrations. I still like reading and writing picture book texts.
Plan for the week: Write a new picture book.

If you go to the library or bookstore for a reading day, give us a report!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Narrative Arc in Less Than 100 Words: Example 2

Very simple picture books still have a narrative arc, even though the word count is extremely small. Yesterday, we looked at an example of a great simple narrative in My Friend, Rabbit. Today, here’s a look at a narrative arc in 80 words (with the help of some illustrations), as it appears in A Splendid Friend, Indeed by Suzanne Bloom. This book was named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Beginning Reader Award Honor Book in 2006.

Narrative Arc in 32 pages, 98 words

Here’s a great example of a narrative arc in only 98 words.
p. 1 Title
2-3 copyright/dedication
4-5 Characters established: Polar Bear and Goose
6-7 1st repetition: Goose wants to be part of what Bear is doing: he is attempting to be a friend.
8-9 Bear says he likes to read.
10-11 Goose attempts friendship by taking over the book.
12-13 2nd repetition: Goose wants to be part of what Bear is doing.
14-15 Bear says he likes to write.
16-17 Goose friendship by saying he likes writing, too.
18-19 3rd repetition: Goose wants to be part of what Bear is doing.
20-21 Goose decides to take it’s own action – get a snack
22-23 Goose brings back a snack
24-25 Goose has a note for Bear
26-27 Goose’s note says Bear is “my splendid friend.”
28-29 Touched, Bear says I like you, too.
30-31 Bear & Goose hug: they are splendid friends.
32 Friends share a snack

Narrative Arc analyzed

98 words
P. 1-3 Front matter
4-5 Characters established
6-11 1st attempt at friendship – tries to take over
12-17 2nd attempt at friendship – tries to fit in
18-19 3rd attempt at friendship – failure
20-27 Goose attempts friendship by offering something, instead of trying to fit in
28-32 Goose & Bear are friends.

Narrative Arc Written as a Synopsis

This is the story about Goose, who wants to be friends with Bear. Goose tries to be friends by taking over Bear’s book, by trying to write like bear and by trying to figure out what Bear is thinking. Finally, Goose decides to BE a friend. He gets a snack, comes back, and shares a letter of friendship. Bear and Goose, now friends, eat a snack together.

A complete story in less than 100 words is hard. In yesterday’s example of a great simple narrative, My Friend, Rabbit, there were lots of wordless pages, where the images carried the story. Here, there are fewer wordless pages, but still some. In both cases, though, the characters are established, the problem presented, three attempts at resolving the problem, before the climax. These are nice examples of how to do it and do it well.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win