by Jena Benton

Now that you’re done with Storystorm and have fistfuls of ideas, I bet you’re wondering what to do with all of them. I like to sift through those jewels once a month until something sparkles at me. That is usually the story that becomes my rough first draft of the month (I try to write at least one new picture book manuscript every month). But let me caution you on one thing (which might seem obvious): don’t let your ideas become set in stone. They don’t need to be perfect little baubles you never adjust. Let me explain.

It was through a Storystorm idea and my writing process that I actually stumbled into my very first published picture book.  And when I say stumbled, I do mean it was definitely NOT a straight line to success.

I have been faithfully participating in StoryStorm annually for so many years now that I’ve lost count. Let’s just say it was back in the “good old days” when it had a much different name and happened in November. In January of 2019, there was a brilliant graphic reshared from 2013. (See it here (it’s huge)!

One of the idea prompts (i.e., #4) was to think of your most embarrassing moment. This was the first idea gem of my book. I instantly remembered when I was in Elementary school, and I performed on stage (possibly for the school’s talent show—details are fuzzy). My dad had helped me to memorize a poem by my favorite poet for this event and I was excited to share it.  I think I may have even started to recite the poem on stage, BUT when I saw all those faces staring back at me, I froze in sheer terror.  I never finished the poem and I’m pretty sure someone had to come and get me off the stage too.  Thinking back on that event, I wrote a draft about a Talent Show contest, but … today there are no prizes for school talent show contestants.  And when everyone wins there isn’t any conflict.

Was the idea broken?  It had certainly lost its luster. How in the world did I fix that? Then I examined the idea in a new light and it sparkled once more.  I wondered if I could change the setting.  What animal character would need to be “on stage” to perform in front of others?  The answer hit me as clear as a ray of sunshine: a rooster crowing!  They perform daily!  But what if it was a young rooster trying to crow like his dad.  And what if he also suffered from stage fright the first time he had to perform in front of all the farm yard animals?

I wrote another draft of this very concept, full of chicken-y facts I had researched. I revised it a few times until it flowed smoothly, then showed it to an illustrator friend of mine.  She read it and was brave enough to tell me it would never sell. There were too many barn yard stories already out there with a similar plot. My idea once again lost its shine as if I had dropped it in the mud. I realized she was right. Maybe that idea was a dud. But I stubbornly didn’t want to give up on my little rooster.

So once again, I picked up my idea, dusted it off, and really examined it under a microscope. This time I asked myself why?  Why did I write a story about chickens in the first place?  I don’t own any chickens. I never grew up on a farm. I wasn’t a huge collector of chicken paraphernalia. Why had I researched and written a story about them? Then I remembered two things at the same time.

First, I remembered the amazing number of roosters and chickens I had seen on my honeymoon in Hawaii on the island of Kauai.  There, more than on any other Hawaiian island, were SO many wild chickens they were called “jungle fowl.” While visiting there, my husband and I had stopped at an overlook to get out and admire the ocean view. We were astonished to see our car immediately surrounded by so many hens with their chicks in tow that we weren’t sure we could leave (they were even under the car!). When I thought about that event and how all those chickens had come running, I realized it was because a rooster had crowed.

The sparkle was now a stunning blaze of light! Then I thought about what else I needed: to raise my stakes. What if my rooster wasn’t on a farm, but was living free in the wild? What if instead of being called to feed when the farmer came, a wild flock was being called by the rooster when a car stopped just in case there was food? Bingo! Now the gleam was practically a spot light.

Second, I remembered this excellent Storyatorm post on marketability from 2018 by Tara Luebbe.

One of the things Tara Luebbe asked in her post was “are there any [specialty stores] you can envision your book fitting into?” Thanks to many previous trips to Hawaii where I had collected picture books published by a small local press, I knew that there was. Now the idea was sparkling so brightly it was practically a light house beam!

I revised my story from a barnyard to the outdoors in Hawaii, changed my rooster’s name to Kauai (my inspiration), raised the stakes, and voila!  I had the perfect story for a small publisher in Hawaii, Island Heritage Press. My book KAUAI’S CALL was published May 2024.

What did I learn?

  1. Don’t be afraid to do a massive revision by asking yourself what could change. Examine those ideas in a new light.
  2. Keep going with your idea generation; sometimes ideas need to change to shine better.

If you take one of your sparkly ideas and write it, but your story doesn’t quite work, ask yourself what can I change? If I try it with a different character, does it work better? If I try it with a different setting, does it finally click? Etcetera.

I’ve written quite a few crazy ideas in my StoryStorm notebook that have been like the magical gemstone Alexandrite. By day they can look a beautiful green, and if I only looked for that surface level story, I might miss its other beauty. Because at night, it might shine a purplish red if I looked at it in another light. Don’t be afraid of letting your ideas change. Sometimes that’s where their real beauty can hide.

Jena Benton is a writer and illustration, plus she’s the SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator for the region of Alaska. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska now with her husband and two kitties. Visit her at JenaBenton.com.

Jena Benton is giving away a picture book critique to celebrate her Storystorm success! Just comment once below to enter. Good luck!