by Susan Chodakiewitz
With a background in musical theater I approach writing children’s books very much like I do writing for theater. When I visualize the story I see the pictures unraveling as scenes on the stage. Are there enough possibilities in the words to develop back story and subtext for the characters? How will my words trigger the action in the scene? Do I know my characters motivation and desires? All these issues are key element to triggering my imagination for the story.
In my picture book Too Many Visitors for One Little House there are 20 members in the family including the dog and the fish and in order to get to know the story better I worked on a back story for each character.
When I worked with illustrator Veronica Walsh on this book we spent hours discussing each family member in depth. What were there likes, dislikes, weaknesses? What did they love to wear? Who had squabbles with whom? Who admired whom? Which kids wanted to emulate which kids? Which kids were best friends? What were the problems between the in-laws, the married couples? Working with Veronica taught me SO much about my characters and introduced me to layers of story lines which I could eventually use for sequels to the book.
Creating the theatrical version of this book also taught me a lot about the writing process, about the characters and about what the story is really about. After finishing the theatrical version of the book I had learned so much about the story and characters that I found myself wanting to re-write the book.
Sometimes thinking about what song a character would sing on a particular page (scene) helps me discover what the character really wants, feels, and thinks. It helps me find direction to the story and makes it come alive to me.
From the get-go, the book Too Many Visitors for One Little House sang to me as a theatrical piece. From the early stages of writing my drafts I imagined the characters dancing and singing and visualized the staging of different scenes. My theatrical viewpoint is a constant guide to me during the writing process and really helps me unravel the story.
Engaging theatrically with a picture book not only benefits me as an author. I believe engaging theatrically with a book encourages a love or reading in children. After one of the performances of the book Too Many Visitors I observed several kids acting out one of the songs. The parents later emailed me that the kids asked the parents to read them the book many times that night. The next day they acted out the show with their siblings and invited guests.
I really believe this kind of theatrical engagement with a book and its characters can really encourage reading. Picture books are particularly engaging in this manner. I think by inspiring a child to act out a book can really deepen a child’s reading experience.
I am thrilled to be a picture book writer and to have the opportunity to encourage the love of reading.
Susan Chodakiewitz is the author of Too Many Visitors for One Little House and the founder of Booksicals, Encouraging Reading Through the Arts.
15 comments
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December 3, 2010 at 11:52 am
Lynne Marie
I love your powerful suggestion to envision scenes and the motivation that drives them! I’m certain that will prove helpful to so many of us. Thanks so much, Susan 🙂
December 17, 2010 at 1:32 am
susan chodakiewitz
Just came back from a trip abroad and I was so inspired by all the comments. Thanks for your comment Lynee. Just came back from 2 weeks abroad and was happy to see my blog stirred up some neurons in fellow writers. Now I’m recharged also.
Best,
Susie Chodakiewitz
December 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Lynn
I am a visual person, so when I write anything I see it unfold before me. This was a good article of encouragement. Thank you.
December 3, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Ishta Mercurio
YES! I come from a background in dance and theatre, and I always, always develop my characters and their backstories – often before I even write anything!
I like your point about engaging theatrically with writing. I think good picture books, and good books in general, will engage the reader theatrically, whether they were intended to be multi-disciplinary in that sense or not. Thanks for this post!
December 17, 2010 at 1:35 am
susan chodakiewitz
Ishta, I love that you come from a dance background! That also helps so much. I can how that can help to visualize story line, character gestures and specifics of characters via movement. Something for me to think about too.
Best,
Susie Chodakiewitz
December 3, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Catherine Denton
**whispers** I act out scenes sometimes to see if my story is working.
Thank you for a wonderful post!
December 17, 2010 at 1:36 am
susan chodakiewitz
Catherine- I love acting out scenes when I work. That keeps it fresh and Fun. Luckily I’m also the audience…. though sometimes I’m my own worst critiquer… keeps me hard working. Thanks for your comment. Best,Susie Chodakiewitz
December 3, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Stephanie Shaw
Often when I write I ask myself how my picture book would work in a classroom either as a play or as reader’s theater. I think this really helps with developing setting and also dialogue. Thanks for the great blog, Susan!
December 17, 2010 at 1:40 am
susan chodakiewitz
Hi Stephaine. Dialogue is the hardest for me to write. I always get so bored and end up cutting it. It helps me also to act it out. It is a real challenge to get words that reflect attitude. Don’t know if you saw a play called SpellingBee? I saw that show on broadway and admired the writing so. How they were able to convey that script. The words were mostly attitude and I just couldn’t imagine that script coming out on paper the way it sounded on stage. Picture books have that challenge for me because they are so visual- like theater. Thanks for your commment.
Best regards,
Susie Chodakiewitz
December 3, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Writing and Reading Children's Books as a Theatrical Experience … | Children Picture Book
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December 4, 2010 at 10:18 am
Heather Kephart
Susan, it is so important for Picture Book Authors to be able to visualize as they write. Personally, I don’t know how it is possible to write *without* visualizing. I visualize even with adult fiction, as though I am viewing a film.
Thanks for the notes about characterization – brilliant that you were able to pull out thoughts for possible sequels that way. Subtext is so important, and the characterizations you did allowed your illustrator to convey so much more through body language.
I agree with you about acting out the books. I think books can be interactive, especially picture books. Preschoolers and first graders love to watch their favorite characters come alive!
December 5, 2010 at 2:51 pm
George Shannon-Author
Thank you for this energizing post. So many folks forget that picture books will be heard just like plays are heard. Voices! Though I’ve been writing picture books for decades, I have only been exploring acting in recent years. Often I’ve found myself thinking, “This actor/teacher thinks he’s talking about acting, but he’s really talking about writing.” Every acting class and every exercise have been as beneficial to my writing as my work on stage.
George Shannon
December 17, 2010 at 1:42 am
susan chodakiewitz
George- I’m thrilled over your comment. I got invitee by an actor friend of min to participate in an acting improv class. I vigorously took notes as EVERYTHING the teacher and actors shared was SO pertinent to my writing. One of the best writing classes I ever took and they never mentioned the word writing. Thanks for your comment.
Best regards,
SUSIE CHODAKIEWITZ
December 6, 2010 at 10:38 am
Julie
What a great post! I think another benefit of thinking about the PB theatrically is that it makes sure there is enough action throughout, which is also important. I LOVE the idea of doing backstory on characters. I’m going to sit down and do that with one of my WIPs today!
December 17, 2010 at 1:46 am
susan chodakiewitz
Julie- I had the luxury of being on vacation for 2 weeks and 4 long plane rides back and forth…. I worked on back story for 2 of my upcoming stories. I was having trouble with both. SO instead of working out the details of the story, I was hoping it would become clear to me once I would know the back story better. It helped a lot.
Thanks for your commment. How did your back story writing go?
Best regards,
SUSIE