November...yikes!

Once again, I'm participating in PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) hosted by the indefatigable Tara Lazar. This is possibly my fourth year, but hey, who's counting? I look forward to daily posts of wisdom (some by people I know, such as Josh Funk) and of course, prize giveaways. But prize winning or no, the biggest prize of the event is just allowing myself the month of November to dive into the zaniness that is picture books. Just saying "It's okay, let the dust bunnies fly. Write and doodle more. That's what matters." is a breath of fresh air. Somehow it's more permissible when hundreds of others are doing the same thing. Kind of a boycott of adulthood (within reason, wink and nod). November is my "Let it flow" month. Sometimes it flows, sometimes it doesn't but at least I tried!

In addition to that event, there's the annual SCBWI Tomie dePaola contest. So picture book folks who write and illustrate have a lot on their plates in the month of November. I took a couple of years off from this contest, but thought I'd sharpen my pencil once again and jump in.

Not to mention all the other local events going on before the end of the year: Mary Blair exhibit at the Eric Carle, Illustrator exhibit and auction for the Bacon Free Library in Natick, and the Children's Book Tree exhibit at the Concord Family Museum. I think my head might explode!

PiBoIdMo 2014

Back again after a major hiatus. The impetus for this post involves the completion of PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) 2014, an annual online event organized by the amazing Tara Lazar.
This year I came up with 71 ideas, one third of which are probably tossable. A handful however, are actual candidates for books. For 2015, my goal is to complete at least one of these ideas in the form of a manuscript and possibly a dummy. I am debating about whether to do 12 x 12 (12 PB manuscripts in a year) run by Julie Hedlund. This is a large order for me, but after having done three PiBoIdMo's in a row, there must be enough material there to complete the challenge. (Or sink a boat....)

Once again, I've discovered that my writing style leans toward making lists. Maybe this satisfies my research tendencies. Looking up goofy words or discovering lingo from a sport I'm not 100% familiar with is a fun task for me. This year however, I incorporated more scribbling and proto-dummy stuff that I didn't give myself permission to do in the previous years. Why a newbie illustrator needs permission to draw is a topic for later discussion!

Anyway, thank you Tara Lazar for organizing this whole affair. The planning, managing and cheerleading of this event boggles my mind!

More PiBoIdMo

I love this PiBoIdMo process. It really drags the creativity out of me and I enjoy sharing the journey with the other participants. In addition to Tara's website there's a Facebook group wherein people share all sorts of info and news: getting signed by an agent, not being able to come up with an idea, getting an idea and discovering it's already been written, links to articles which are inspirational etc. Two links I've found helpful are one about doodling and one about remembering what it's like to be a child when we write.

My own crazy doodles

The doodle link goes to a TED talk given by Sunni Brown who reminds us that doodling is seen as subversive and pointless by society and yet it's one of the most sophisticated ways to come up with ideas. The other link is a blog post by literary agent, Sally Apokedak, who reminds us that kids aren't interested in topics that obsess adults.

Both of these ideas are simple and yet profound.

---Keep doodling (it's okay, in fact you SHOULD be doodling.... get a prescription from your doctor).
---Never forget what it feels like to be a kid. Read this poem and you'll agree.

Poem by Mary Ann Hoberman Illus. by Marylin Hafner

Back to the Drawing Board with PiBoIdMo

Literally, it's true. I'm back to the drawing board. Although in small increments and not really at the board. Since mine is in the basement minus a leg bracket I can't seem to locate. I am however, back in the saddle... very part time.

Yours truly at old drawing board circa 1992

Household things break, children need tending to, regular work intervenes. You name it, there's excuses up the wazoo as to why I am blog-absent.

But PiBoIdMo beckons. In case you've been hiding under a kidlit rock, Tara Lazar hosts a month-long extravaganza for picture book authors wherein we all get to scratch our proverbial heads and curse at the paper. Really though, in the past two years I have come up with some nuggets for picture books during this sacred November ritual. Hard to believe that there's ideas still rattling around up there, but with the assistance and inspiration of one's fellow writers/illustrators many an idea floats to the top. How many become picture books? Ten percent? Who knows. But it definitely gets the creative juices going and that, my friends, is how I hope to revive my terminal case of creativitis.

If you've never heard of Tara Lazar, she also has a blog, Writing for Kids (While Raising Them). Please stop by and check her out http://taralazar.com/. Even if you're not going to join PiBoIdMo, it's fun just to lurk.

Picture Book Magic

I've been participating in Tara Lazar's online challenge PiBoIdMo,  which is an unpronounceable acronym for Picture Book Idea Month. There seems to be a plethora of online writing and illustrating challenges out there this month. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), SkaDaMo (Sketch a day month), Illustration Friday (the weekly on-going grandaddy of them all) and even NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) for those who still can't get enough.
I've been tempted to do many of these, but PiBoIdMo is one I enjoyed last year and am doing again this year. The daily posts by guest authors are inspirational, entertaining and sometimes even rewarding (i.e.goodies). It's amazing what does or doesn't come out of one's own brain on a daily basis. I'll be listening to NPR or someone will email an article to me and there it is. Either it becomes a children's version of the topic or it will send me off on a tangent. Guess there's something good to be said about having attention deficit.
Then there are days where I sit at the dining room table in the a.m. and think what can I do with this broken, headless tiny mermaid that my kids left here? There has to be a story in this. Or maybe the lack of a story is a story in and of itself.

After a while I notice themes or (ruts, lol) that I get into. Why do I mostly focus on one character with a problem? Are all stories basically the same? How can Mo Willems write a whole book about a pigeon driving a bus or Jon Klassen a bear missing a hat and have it turn out amazing? Where is the magic book powder that we can use to sprinkle on our creations? Answer: Of course there's no powder you (picture book) dummy.  It's a process, not a product. Something no one wants to hear: put in the hours people! Eventually something comes out of it. You may have to wade through 50 pages of gunk before a little gem pokes through.

But all in all, it's worth it. The online cameraderie is what it's all about.  A little reminder that, no you're not the only one who thinks up whacky ideas and hopes to entertain children and/or make a living. And maybe some little picture book magic develops!