PiBoIdMo Day 9: Meredith Mundy Says Trust Your Illustrator (plus a prize)

Love this advice, and it’s great to know the reason why authors and illustrators don’t collaborate!

So interesting! Thanks for the informative post.

I love this post. I can so identify. I sold a poem to Ladybug, Food For Thought. I had envisioned it as a little boy as the MC. But, the wonderful Ponder Goembel made him a rabbit. Much better that way! Artists rock.

There’s something positively magical about a truly collaborative collaboration! Thanks for showing us a few examples and giving us the confidence to “let go.”

It’s so cool the way the illustrator adds to the text to make the author’s words even more fun and exciting! A wonderful collaboration!

Can’t wait to pick up This Old Van – loved hearing this affirmation of what I’ve heard in so many classes and lectures. Give the illustrator room and magic happens!

Judging by the number of illustration notes in my current WIP, I’m pretty sure I know who the control freak is. Thanks for the thought-provoking post and the wonderful books you publish!

Really LOVED this post, Meredith! As a writer AND an illustrator who has worked with art directors and editors AS WELL AS directly with self-published authors, I know first hand that direction that is TOO specific saps the life right out of an illustration, and causes the illustrator to feel like they are on a very short leash…..ultimately not good for the end result! Your 3 examples were great! Would love to work with authors like that some day!

Thanks Meredith for the great inspiring post and the examples! Love the ending for This Old Van and the evolution of Normal Norman.

Thank you for your post. As an aspiring author without the guidance of an agent/editor it is challenging to know the correct balance. I’m so glad you have examples of how authors leave room for the illustrator. Thanks again!!

Fabulous advice – hard for controlling “book parents” – but a great reminder!
Thank you!

So much fun to see the first few Norman attempts!!!

A good and challenging reminder. Thank you Ms. Meredith Mundy. Can’t wait to get these books!

Great advice and examples – thanks.

Great examples of why writers should relax a bit and have confidence in their overall story. I think this is especially important advice from an editor, since we tend to think that editors expect us to have all of these details figured out.

Great advice! I’ve been trying to edit my manuscripts to leave more room for the illustrator.

Thank you for this view into the picture book partnership process! I’ve always wished I had the artistic ability to illustrate my own stories, but your examples show that the magic can happen even more serendipitously with two imaginations.

Thanks for such wonderful advice! 😀 It’s so hard to let go of what you had in mind as the author, but your examples prove that the illustrator is the icing on the cake!

Thanks for sharing your expertise!

Thank you for reminding authors to believe that our text will inspire illustrators to complete the story and to meet up to celebrate after it has gone to print.

It takes a village to make a great PB :-).

Love reading those examples! This speaks to my writer’s heart because I often worry that I leave out details but my gut tells me to leave room for the illustrator. Your advice is very reassuring!

Terrific explanation of the process, Meredith. As an illustrator, I’ve been asked about this many times, and you have explained it perfectly.

This is a fantastic reminder of allowing creative freedom for the illustrator. We need to be mindful of what we don’t say to allow the story to fully blossom. Thank you for this inside look into the real life process for some of these stories– what a fun process!

As a writer with an illustration background the separation on books I’m not illustrating myself makes me nuts, but this explanation is helpful!

Thanks for sharing the inside scoop! Very enlightening and helpful.

Great advice! Thanks for sharing!

It took a while but I have come around to the exciting unknown of leaving that unlocked door for the illustrator to open and show us what is behind there. Thanks, Meredith!

Keeping the writer and illustrator apart allows for free play and that’s when our imaginations are happiest and most productive. Thanks!

Thanks, Meredith, for the inside look at how these great books found their fantastic illustrations.

This is fantastic. I particularly like the This Old Van example. Thank you!

Hi Meredith,
Thank you for the insight that serves as a creative reminder. The detail and examples you used really hit home for me. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your generous critique giveaway!

Thank you, Meredith, for giving us a peek into the process. The examples helped me see that creative process between story and illustration in a whole new way.

Thank you for some insight into this situation.

Wonderful examples! Can’t wait to see how my chracters come to life in the hands of a talented illustrator.

Thanks for this helpful post!

Loved hearing the three stories. Collaboration (from afar) from creative people is amazing to see. Thanks for the advice.

As a published illustrator and an aspiring author/illustrator, it has been an interesting (new!) challenge to figure out how much to write and how much to draw. I find myself changing text to go with a drawing idea as much as I change drawings to go with a writing idea. I think I’m searching for a balance between separating the two processes and fully integrating them…

As a writer how often do we come up with an image of what our characters look like? When an illustrator takes over, how often are we surprised? From Meredith’s great post, it happens quite often–much to the delight of our readers!

I think the greatest reward to getting published will be seeing what the illustrator brings to the book.

Brilliant examples of how two heads are better than one. I’ve been told that our text needs to be as clear as possible which I took to mean that we had to write in non-visual details so I was surprised that the ending for This Old Van wasn’t specified. But, what a delightful result!

Love these examples, they’re extra encouragement for me to cut the cord on illustration notes!

As an illustrator, I love it when authors are encouraged to trust us. Thank you.-Kassy

Thank you, Meredith, for this insightful advice. Two creative minds really can be more than the sum of their parts.

A great post from a very interesting perspective!

Thank you for sharing. You are working as a team whether you are an illustrator, or the writer. The thing to do is trust each other.

I loved seeing the evolution of Norman. Those clever illustrators know how to turn words into magical images. Thank you for sharing!

For my first book (a how-to book), I told the illustrator exactly what I needed and it turned out okay. For my second book, I did the characters and she did everything else. What she came up with was exponentially better than what I had in my head. In the next book, I’m leaning towards having her do anything she wants and then see what we have from there. This article just cemented my decision! Thanks!

Picture books are truly a collaboration. I’m a writer but acknowledge that illustrators can add a whole new dimension to a picture book. Thanks for your post.

Meredith, I can see your point. However, I tried that and I would not have been happy with my 3 Picture Books if my illustrator had gotten his way.

Aaron Reynold’s Carnivore is another example of an illustrator having free rein with incredible results. Two heads (author and illustrator) make a better picture book! Creativity multiplied!

Thanks Meredith for your professional advice. As a newbie to this, it’s important to read your input, and your illustrations “illustrate” perfectly your message. 🙂

You are absolutely correct Meredith. Giving the illustrator total freedom not only makes the writers task of writing easier, it allows the writer an element of surprise to see what the illustrator does with the writing. Took me a while to trim all of the fat from my writing so the illustrator has freedom but now I embrace it and look forward to the surprises. (That is when I get to that point. )

Your challenge for PB writers to leave 50% of the story to the imagination of the illustrator is very timely advice for me. I’ve been struggling to reduce the word count for my PB; I think I can eliminate quite a few words by heeding your advice. Thanks!

Thanks for the insight! I learned something today.

I love leaving openings for the illustrator. I know they can come up with so much to add to the story on their own if I don’t get in their way. I especially love the little add ins they do, like the tortoise and the hare added in the downhill derby in This Old Van.

Thank you for an inspiring post!

Writing the text becomes a mystery the illustrator gets to finish! Pure delight.

That makes perfect sense. Well stated, Meredith! We need to put our faith in the illustrator and at the same time, lighten our loads as writers.

I love the idea of being joyfully surprised by the artistic talent of the illustrator! Thank you, Meredith!

I have been trying to write and illustrate my stories, probably a control issue, I know! Your post has inspired me to consider the adventure of an illustrator taking my stories to new exciting places that I could not do on my own! Thanks for your inspiration!

I always wondered about this. Nice to get an insider’s POV. Now I’ll have to buy the purple orangutan book because I’m so curious!

Thank you for your insightful advice – it is truly appreciated.

Good advice! And thank you for the darling examples.

Oh, this post was too easy for me to agree with. Since I can’t even draw stick people, I’ll have no problem letting an illustrator work his or her magic. Wonderful advice.

I’m so thankful I joined this year! Inspired!

Enjoyed this post. Great examples. Thank you.

Thanks for sharing your insight, Meredith! So valuable to hear an editor’s perspective.
~Della

I love seeing how an illustrator interprets and imagines an author’s story. Thanks for sharing, Meredith!

Very interesting! It’s hard to let go of strong feelings on how you see your story, but you gave 3 great reasons why.

Thanks for all of the great advice. I’m going to get rid of my illustration notes now!

Loved reading this post and seeing the evolution of Norman. Thank you!

Great advice! I loved your examples, and I’m impressed with the results when the author gave no input on the illustrations.

Thank you for your candid insights! I appreciate you!

Wonderful post. Thank you so much.

Part of the surprise and excitement of creating a picture book – the dance between the author and the illustrator!

Great to hear an Editor’s viewpoint in these posts. Thanks, Meredith (and Tara).

Meredith: Thank you for not just TELLING us, but SHOWING us how the writer/illustrator relationship can work from a distance. I have never heard — or seen! — it explained so well. I guess some of us have a hard time trusting our “babies” to someone else to illustrate, but we need to trust that if our words paint a clear enough image, the illustrator will be able to make the world of our picture books come to life on the page. THANK YOU for allowing us to see how well this distant relationship can and actually does work.

Wonderful information and examples. Helps me to stay focused on writing the best possible story that fuels an illustrator’s creativity.

Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant, another univeristy myth exploded. So it’s not really a power grab?

Very good points. I will try to behave if I ever am lucky enough to have something illustrated.

Picture books and parenting seem to have a lot of parallels: Trust your illustrator partner and “the kid” will be alright. Thanks for the great advice!

Thank you for the informative post it was very helpful. I enjoyed the examples and know how important the illustrators own creativity makes the book shine.

Great advice. Thanks.

Meredith, thank you for giving us the inside scoop on how authors and illustrators arrive at their finished product. It never occurred to me that a separation of author and illustrator could create an even better product, or that ideas could be revealed that might not have otherwise. Since learning the shocking truth that authors and illustrators don’t work together, I’ve held the belief, misguided as it might have been, that it would be impossible for the illustrator to ever fully get in the head of the writer to create images that completely convey the intent. I never even considered that without the intent being communicated, the path could be freed for new ideas to be added, to not only complement the story, but even to reveal an aspect that the writer either didn’t see, or didn’t choose to define. Fascinating!

Collaborative work between two creative people is just about the best thing to see and experience. Thank you for the wonderful advice.

Thanks for the advice. Writing a story that captures one’s imagination without any art notes is not an easy task. I will keep trying!

I love this! I always start with too may art notes and it’s a struggle to rid myself of them. But they always disappear slowly. This post inspired me to cut them even more.

It was so helpful to see the transformation with these projects! Thank you!

That was great insight, thank you.

I knew on the whole that publishers aren’t keen on illustration notes from the writer. I’ve even heard of some who will automatically black them out with a marker. Now I see more clearly why, thanks Meredith.

Excellent post Meredith. I could not agree more.

Great advice to keep in mind. Thank you.

Thank you for the wonderful advice! I’m going to delete my illustration notes now!

I’m trying to do this more and more. Thanks for the advice!

This bucket has been kicked around for a long time. Give illustration notes/don’t give illustration notes. Since I can’t draw a straight line, who am I to tell the illustrator what to do? I’m leaving notes out unless critical to the story. Now to review my books in progress and take out excess description.

As an illustrator as well as a writer, I could not agree more with your post. I’ve heard over and over how a writer could have never imagined what an illustrator has done for their book and how pleased they are that they trusted the process. Thank you for putting that out there!

Thanks, Meredith, for such valuable information backed by terrific examples. I learned a lot from your post!

Thanks for the advice Meredith 🙂 When I’ve worked with illustrators in the past, I’ve found that leaving illustrators to do what they do best always leads to wonderful surprises 🙂

So true. A wise friend told me, “It could turn out like Heath Ledger’s Joker. No one thought of Heath Ledger starring as a comic book villain, especially the Joker. But he brought an amazingly unexpected depth to the character.”

Trust your editor. Trust your illustrator. They know what they’re doing.

Thanks for reminding us to do what we should be doing…”write” and focus on telling the best story we can.

Illustrators are amazing how they can work magic. They have the ability to transport us into the world of what it’s like to be a child again. I love the idea of letting them run wild with ideas ‘outside of the box’ so they can surprise us and give us that childlike wonder.

super interesting perspective! thanks!

Great post! Thanks!

Excellent post and a great reminder for us all to trust in the process. Thanks for sharing and for offering a critique too! Wowza what a prize!!!

As a pre-published author, this is exactly what we hope for. I look forward to the day of “yes” so that I can reread my story through the eyes of the illustrator.

Thanks Meredith! Words to live and write by.

What a great article! It can be such a struggle to “give up” some of your story to another. I love the perspective of viewing it as a partnership, a shared responsibility.

Excellent advice. Thank you, Meredith.

Can’t wait for the day when I’ll be able to use this advice!

Those examples swept away any doubts I might have had about the power of creative freedom for both the picture book author and illustrator. Thanks for addressing this topic.