PiBoIdMo Day 29: Trinka Hakes Noble Writes Visually (plus a prize!)

This is great advice! I love the idea of trying to visualize the story before creating the words. I’m going to try this!

Sometimes it’s hard to remember to write with pictures first. Thanks for reminding us. Great post.

First, picture my picture book story. Makes perfect sense. Thanks.

Thanks so much for the advice!

Great advice, and push to not start with words. Thanks! And I love Jimmy’s boa!

Many of my ideas come from my sketchbook. I love doodling.

Left side of brain, meet right side.

I am working on a revision today and am going to visualize it as I write it. Thank you.

Thanks so much. I’ll be thinking in pictures today.

Thank you for your insightful post. Your books sound wonderful. i can’t wait to check out The Legend of the Jersey Devil.

Great advice to write visually, thank you! I love Jimmy’s Boa!

I often think in pictures. Thanks for the tips!

Good idea. This advice might help us edit some of our already written manuscripts, too.

Pictures first. Great concept. I have been putting art clip pictures for each day’s title for PiBoIdMo. One picture to represent the story idea. It does help! Now, I wish I were an artist. No such luck.

Good advice. Thinking visually helps in planning the pacing and rhythm also.
I’m finding some of my ideas are arriving as sentences, and some as mental images of the characters.

To teach children the joy of reading is the greatest thing we can do.

That is an approach I’ve never tried. I must do that soon! Thanks!

I will rise to your challenge on day 29. Thanks!

I like your explanation of picture book vs. story book and how it has evolved. I have wondered about that ever since I began exploring writing picture books. I also like the idea of starting with the pictures in your mind and writing from there. That may launch a whole different perspective on the story.

Your idea will be much fun to try. I love the idea of ‘story book’ and ‘picture book’ differences.

Thank you! I hadn’t realized the distinction between story and picture books but that makes sense. It’s a shame storybooks are out of favor.

Thanks for your extremely helpful post! I’ll be thinking in pictures all day now!

I never thought of how we communicated before speech before, except in myths. Very nice!

Love the Boa book!! Now time to start visualizing. Thank you!!

Is it too early for New Year’s resolutions? I need to try to illustrate the PB movies that are in my head in addition to creating the words to describe them. thank you for another nudge in that direction!

Great advice to think of a story in pictures first. I am going to give this approach a try. Thank you Trinka! 🙂

I usually see visually with the words but not reverse. Great tip and will definitely try it. Thank you!

Thanks for the tips!

Love those first 2 paragraphs; so beautifully stated. Hopefully, PB’s are teaching the next generation not only to read, but to LOVE BOOKS as well. So happy to be introduced to you and your writings. I’m a fan already 🙂 Marty McCormick

Thanks for the post and challenge. I’m going to try and visualize my entire story before I write any of the words. 🙂

Great advice. I often visual my stories – like movies in my head – and it works well for me. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the top of thinking in pictures. Your tip helpsme to edit my rhyme so it can be more visual.

As someone who relies on words to paint a picture, this will be a very helpful place to begin. Thank you Trinka.

Your post reminded me of when I learned to visualize stories by framing them as photographs…I can’t remember what year it was exactly, but Tara Lazar wrote about taking an empty picture frame as a concrete method to get use to looking at what fills the frame. I now use my pointer fingers and thumbs to make a triangle. It helps in shaping a visualization of something that sparks an idea. The problem for me is finding twists and turns to go with the idea…

Trinka, thank you for the great post and the opportunity to tell you how much I enjoy THE LEGEND OF THE JERSEY DEVIL. I love the illustrations by Gerald Kelly!

“Picture books are teaching the next generation to read!”
Little readers of text and those of pictures rely on us to help them.
Let there be picture books! And let there be many!!

Being a visual writer myself, I was taken back to learn not everyone writes that way. I was baffled to learn a former critique partner does not visualize her book before, during the draft stages or once polished.

Last night I was dreaming of a picture book idea that wouldn’t work without a lot of illustration notes. I was trying not to judge it, but I was worried it would not make a good debut picture book. After this post, I will judge it no more. In you go, Picture Book Idea.

Jimmy’s Boa–a favorite! Thanks for the reminder of the distinction between storybook and picture book. Writing in more of a PB style rather than storybook style is something I’m working on. Thinking in pictures will help!

Seems like a no brainer to visualize your PB Trinka, but to do much of it first, without any words – well I tried it with one of my new ideas – ta-dah!! Came up with lots on new scenarios. Good day 29! Thank you!

I hadn’t thought about it in those terms, but I can think of lots of picture books that simply would not make sense without the illustrations. And I’m thinking of those where on the last page the illustration creates a twist to the story. In fact, I just wrote one of those.

Thank you, Trinka. Thinking visually really helps to cut the word count and leave room for illustration.

Ah! Again the advice to think out the story before writing a single word. I see a pattern emerging: More Daydreaming, More Loafing, More Thinking! Thanks for reminding us to give our “highest efforts.” We appreciate you giving us yours.

Thanks for sharing your great ideas!

I can’t draw but I can think visually. Thanks for the reminder!

This month, thanks to some new brainstorming ideas, I’ve been thinking in character pictures. New goal: get my brain to think up a series of scenes!

I like the idea of picturing the whole story in your head before writing it down. Thank you!

Cave writing did come first as stories. How would we remember the past without it. I guess there are still people who write that way. My cave stories come through pictures I take. Visualizing stories is invaluable. Thanks for the reminder.

That’s a fresh way to look at my writing: without the writing! I’ll try it!

Great idea if you are a visually strong. I could imagine all sorts of visual images, where there are some people who are unable to do it. My eyes can sense textures, colors, etc. which people like my husband, are unable to do. Thank you for sharing your tips. I have never thought about picturing the whole story in my head before writing it. Great tip.

Great post! I’m picturing my next story now.

Visualizing the story is a great way to get ideas flowing. I’m not an illustrator but need to think what pictures might illustrate my words, even if the artist comes up with something entirely different. Thanks for your post.

Wonderful idea for super-charging a ms I’ve been struggling to move forward! Thank you for this valuable perspective. The cover illustration on The Orange Shoes is calling,”Come read me!”

Trinka, thank you for making the difference between storybooks and picture books so clear. Your challenge to think visually before ever writing a word, will be interesting.

Thinking only in pictures! Definitely going to try that!

We also love Jimmy’s Boa. Thank you for a great post.

Trina, you have written the perfect definition of a picture book. Your challenge is challenging, so I’ll have to put on my special glasses. Thank you!

I usually have a (single) visual for my ideas, but I like the challenge of building on it by adding pictures rather than words. Thanks!

I think I am a visual writer too. I love all of Trinka’s books too.

The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate The Wash, has to be one of the greatest Picture Book titles ever! It just makes you want to open the book and find out how this happened.

This is what is so hard not being an illustrator. Telling the story you want to tell knowing you have to leave room for the illustrator to tell their story too.
Thanks for this post.

Storybook vs picture book… got it, thx!

Thank you! It’ll be fun to go at it a different way.

nice perspective. 🙂

this is a great idea! thanks :>)

Really enjoyed this Trinka! Thanks!

This sounds like an ingenious approach. Then the words added later will be only those needed. And what an interesting challenge for those of us who are not illustrators.

What a wonderful way to start a story! An author’s role is to dig deeper into the story behind an image.

I remember a few years ago that a critique group partner suggested I give up on “picture books” because I was too “descriptive” (which actually surprised me because I think it is my weakest area). Anyway, she felt that I described too much and should leave it to the illustrator – so I really “get” this post: I think for me it is more (since I do “see” it and how I want it to look and why): what do I leave out and what do I keep/add in? Hmm…

It’s sad the storybook has gone the way of the dodo (or, more accurately, the way of the chapter book,) but I’m happy the picture book is still a mainstay. It is often a child’s first intro to story, as well as to art.

Great suggestion to “see” your story before writing. Thank you!

Such wonderful advice! Thank you for reminding us to PICTURE our stories before and as we write.

What Fun! Thanks for the great advice Trinka 🙂

Thanks for the helpful advice and suggestions!! 🙂

Thanks for reminding me the difference between a storybook and a picture book!

I’ll try to think visually before writing any new drafts come 2015.–Thanks so much for the tip! 😀

love this post

Thank you for your post. I really enjoyed reading it. I have also always loved your book. It makes me and my kids laugh to think of a boa constrictor at the farm. Thanks again.

My first thought is that it is easier for me to think in words than it is for me to think in pictures. But that’s just my first thought. My mind is filled with images — some memories, some dreams, some faces, some events… So maybe thinking in pictures is doable! Thank you for this challenge.

Thank you for stressing the role of picture books in teaching kids to read. I will definitely try visualizing my stories more prior to and as I write. This post was very inspirational Trinka, thank you.

Thank you for this post and the challenge to think of a story in pictures only.

I like the idea of imagining just a few pages at a time in pictures–helps me visualize the page turn.

what an interesting post! thanks!

Thanks for the challenge, Trinka and for the inspirational post.

Great. Now I’m thinking about drawing pictures of things going wrong. Then turning those things into picture books. Not sure if I completely didn’t miss the point of this post or not.