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For years I’ve dreamed of hosting a Storystorm Workshop. Back when the event was still PiBoIdMo, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and I researched what we needed to make it happen—venue, faculty, meals…and found we couldn’t make it work unless we had a hundred attendees or more.
No. I wanted an intimate group in a cozy setting, where everyone could have access to the faculty and truly feel supported in every way. It would be special, small, and elevate every attendee’s career.
Then I discovered the Highlights Foundation! The location! The private cabins! The Barn! The FOOD!!! (I’m a huge fan of Chef Amanda!)
With the help of the Foundation staff—Alison Green Myers, George Brown, Jo Lloyd—we pulled it all together for March 5-8. I reached out to the best picture book author-teachers I know and we had our faculty:
- Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
- Heidi E.Y. Stemple
- Courtney Pippin-Mathur
- Josh Funk
Now all that’s missing IS YOU!
We have just a few spots left!
Here’s a sneak peek at our schedule:
Storystorm 2020 Picture Book Retreat & Workshop
Thursday, March 5, 2020
3:00pm Arrival
4:00pm Orientation—learn about the Highlights campus
5:30pm Appetizers (Barn)
6:00pm Dinner (Barn)
7:00pm Tara Lazar Welcome and “Stuff No One Tells You!” Presentation
Friday, March 6, 2020
6:30am Yoga in the Loft (Optional)
7:45 – 8:45am Breakfast (Barn)
9:00 – 11:00 Tara Lazar “Elevate Your Picture Book Game” + Q&A
12:00 – 1:00pm Lunch (Barn)
1:30 – 2:30pm Josh Funk “What Rhymes with Storystorm?”
2:45 – 3:45pm Optional Walk with Heidi Stemple: Gathering Ideas for Texture in Stories
4:00 – 5:30pm Story Ideas Roundtable Discussion: Four Groups w/Faculty Leader
5:30 Appetizers (Barn)
6:00 Dinner (Barn)
7:30 Evening Creative Activity with Tara & Courtney (Optional)
Saturday, March 7, 2020
7:45 – 8:45am Breakfast (Barn)
9:00 – 10:30am Courtney Pippin-Mathur “How to Write by Drawing First”
12:00 – 1:00pm Lunch (Barn)
1:30 – 3:00pm Sudipta Bardan-Quallen “7 Revision Tips to Take Your PB from WAH to WOW”
3:30 – 5:00pm Heidi Stemple “Finding Your Non-Fiction Voice”
5:30 Appetizers (Barn)
6:00 Dinner (Barn)
7:30 Open Mic with Josh, Sudipta & S’Mores (Optionally Mandatory)
Sunday, March 8, 2020
7:45 – 8:45am Breakfast (Barn)
9:00 – 10:00am Tara Lazar “Humor Trends in Picture Books”
10:30 – 12:00pm Q&A with Faculty (Barn)
12:00 – 1:00pm Lunch (Barn)
1:00 Closing Remarks
1:30 Check-out
You can sign up at Highlights Foundation and room with a friend for a discount.
We hope to see you there soon!
Thank you to Melissa Sheperd for the photos of the Highlights Foundation Campus.
Ask any writer, and he or she will tell you that ideas are hard.
Except…they’re not.
Ideas are easy. I can come up with a new idea for a book once a day. I could probably do it once an hour! I’d have oodles of ideas at the end of this exercise.
Except…they probably wouldn’t be good ideas.
Ideas aren’t hard. Good ideas, on the other hand are as elusive as a greased pig at a county fair. (I assume that greased pigs at a county fair would be elusive. I have no first-hand knowledge of pigs, greased or otherwise, or county fairs. But I’ve definitely read about them, and they sound very elusive.)
I’ve talked about sorting through your ideas on this blog before, and I won’t be repeating the same old story. After all, that would not be a very good idea. Instead, I’d like to share some tips about developing an idea from eh to excellent.
You already know that creating a polished, publishable manuscript involves peer review, professional critiques, and revision. But there is something else I do to get to the strongest possible story: I rely on my sounding board.
We’re all familiar with the dictionary definition of sounding board: “a person or group whose reactions to suggested ideas are used as a test of their validity or likely success before they are made public.” It’s very likely you already have a critique group to perform a similar function on your manuscripts. But I use a sounding board as early as the idea stage.
There are some things to look for when choosing an idea sounding board. First, he or she must be a children’s literature professional. So, no, you can’t bounce your ideas off your spouse or your kids or your neighbor or—heaven forbid—your mother. Those are fine people to consult with when you’re brainstorming or writing, but they don’t count as the kind of sounding board I’m talking about.
Next, you have to choose someone you work well with. This does not have to be someone you will be using as an active collaborator, but it does have to be someone who feels comfortable giving you honest feedback—because telling you something is good when it isn’t is really just a waste of everyone’s time. As Roxie says, ain’t nobody got time for dishonesty.
Thirdly—and this is perhaps the most important—your sounding board should be someone who doesn’t think like you do. In fact, the less your artistic points of view overlap, the better it is. You are already thinking of your idea the way someone like you would think about it. What you need is someone different, who comes at it from a totally contrasting viewpoint, and who might even bring a completely new skill set.
For me, my sounding board is most often my agent. (After all, I can threaten to fire her if she doesn’t listen to me.) We’ve been working together for over a decade, so there is a high level of comfort there. She’s still unflinchingly honest and I respect her knowledge of the market. Unfortunately, she also tends to nag me about ideas I’ve bounced off her that I…never seem to finish. Which means, sometimes, I have to hide from her—and I have to find a different sounding board. Which brings me to the story I want to share.
A few months ago, my agent nagged reminded me about a Project-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named that I have been trying to write for years. She even asked one of her illustrator clients, Mike Ciccotello, to draw a character sketch to help inspire me. So, of course, I immediately began working on…a completely different project. I guiltily shared that information with Mike. To my surprise, he both liked the new project and had suggestions.
The second project is called CHEESE & QUACKERS. The story centered on a lamb (Cheese) and a duck (Quackers) who have an odd couple-type relationship as roommates at summer camp. I had the idea that the story should be told in sparse text in a comic book-like format, but that would require rich, expressive illustrations. Luckily, Mike had the idea that the story should be told with rich, expressive illustrations in a comic book-like format and therefore should have sparse text.
Thus, the idea bouncing—really an elaborate version of the “What If” game—began.
What if one of them was neat and organized and the other was a slob? (Good idea.)
What if one was a summer camp veteran and the other new to camping? (Also good.)
What if one had lots of friends at camp and the other was totally reliant on his roommate? (We’re on a roll!)
What if the characters wore shirts but no pants? (That’s a hard “no.”)
What if one of them likes pancake batter and jelly sandwiches? (Also no.)
What if we put two llamas in their core friend group so I can name them Dolly Llama and Kendrick Llama? (Umm, of course!)
Because Mike and I were collaborating, the “What If” game was reciprocal and ran concurrently with drafting the manuscript. This typically won’t be the case, but luckily, your sounding board does not need to be a collaborator. The important thing is that he or she needs to be able to ask you “What If” questions to get you to think about things you hadn’t considered, and he or she needs to be able to answer your “What If” questions to toss out new ideas. Answering “What If” questions makes the eventual story become clearer in your head. It also helps you block off the paths you shouldn’t take your character down (see pancake batter and jelly above), which makes the idea stronger.
Sometimes, you need a little feedback.
Sometimes, it’s a long back-and-forth.
Sometimes, you hear something you didn’t expect.But every round of the game helps you hone in on the good ideas, discard the bad ideas, and gets you closer to where you need to get your story.
Mike and I were fortunate to have found a home for CHEESE & QUACKERS, tentatively scheduled for 2022. So we get to continue playing the “What If” game through at least two books. It’s very exciting.
Though, Mike is definitely more excited to play than I am.
Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is an award-winning children’s book author whose books include Chicks Rule, The United States vs. Jackie Robinson (2019 ALSC Notable Children’s Books List), Duck Duck Moose (CBC Children’s Choice Award Finalist), Tyrannosaurus Wrecks (Junior Library Guild Selection), and the Purrmaids chapter book series. She has visited schools and libraries for the past 15 years, talking to kids about writing, reading, and finding their voices.
She lives in Princeton, NJ with her husband, three children, and an adorable pug named Roxie (featured above). You can learn more about her and her books on her website sudipta.com.
Special announcement! Sudipta will be teaching at our premiere Storystorm Retreat at Highlights Foundation, March 5-8, 2020. Learn more about our fun and intensive picture book retreat here!
This event will fill up quickly! Sign up today!
Hope to see you there!
I awoke this morning and thought, “What a fine day for a new blog post.” Of course, I also thought, “What a fine day to go swimming” and “What a fine day to finish reading that book.” Sensing that I have packed today’s schedule, I decided that said blog post would have to be ultra-short. (I would have said “uber” short, but that word has been bogarted by some taxi service.)
So here I have pieced together quick quotes and sage snippets from the SCBWI events I attended in the spring—New England SCBWI and New Jersey SCBWI.
I hope you enjoy while I do the backstroke with a soggy book.
“A picture book is an amazing thing, a world unto itself. You can do anything in those 32 pages and that is the thing I love about it.” ~David Wiesner
“As I create, I am continually asking myself ‘why is this happening?’ You know you are desperate when you go to the ‘magic button’ solution.” ~David Wiesner
“Be nice. Be resilient. Set goals. Adapt & learn. Your biggest achievement is just around the corner.” ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
“Don’t do a $50 job like a $50 job, you’ll get $50 jobs your whole life. Do it like a $500 job and you’ll start getting those.” ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
“It’s not necessarily ‘write what you know.’ Write what you want to know ABOUT. The passion for that subject will come through.” ~Wendy Mass
“When it comes to the nitty gritty marketing of your book, always remember, something is better than nothing.” ~Laurie Wallmark
“A postcard is the best way to get our attention. I get 60 emails a day…it’s too much. I like the tactile nature of a postcard. I love feeling them and looking at them…if they hit anything in me, I keep them.” ~Laurie Brennan, Associate Art Director, Viking
“Characters who make interesting mistakes are inherently interesting. The kind of mistakes your character makes defines her. How a character acts in the wake of a mistake should be unique and personal to her. Failure is fertilizer: a world of things can grow from the mistakes your character makes. Someone who is always right is BORING.” ~Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
“I wanted to write a book where my daughter could see herself—that’s me!” ~Suzy Ismail
“Writing from a multicultural perspective is no different than writing. All writing is about crossing boundaries.” ~Suzy Ismail quotes Debby Dahl Edwardson
And, finally, my favorite quote…which is still making me think long and hard:
“How are you creating a literary world besides being a literary creator?” ~Donalyn Miller
by Thirty days, thirty picture book ideas. At first, that doesn’t sound too hard. And you’ll undoubtedly have terrific ideas in the first few weeks, nuggets that have been waiting to be uncovered for a while that PiBo is forcing you to excavate.
But then, if you’re like me…it’ll start getting harder. Maybe you’ll even hit the wall…and start to think you’ll never have another good idea again…and then maybe never any idea at all ever again…and then you’ll be tempted to quit the PiBo challenge and give up on your writing dreams and move to the Adirondacks and live in a small cabin you hand-make out of fallen branches so you’ll never have to face anyone ever again…
OK, maybe it won’t get that bad. But it is not uncommon to hit the “idea wall,” so to speak – and that is always disheartening. So before you start your official PiBoIdMo journey, I wanted to share three things you can do to re-fill your idea well if it starts to run dry.
(1) Words You Love:
My son and I have a secret password that we plan to use in case either of us suspects the other has been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with a life-like humanoid droid designed to help the aliens get a foothold into Earth society as they plan to take over the planet. That password is “Capuchin Echidna.” (Of course, I think we’ll have to change that now that I am announcing it on the internet!) How did we come up with that? Simple: capuchin and echidna are so much fun to say, and together, they sound HILARIOUS.
Capuchin. (Credit: David M. Jensen)
Echidna
When I wrote a book about the bond between parent and child (which I talked about during last year’s PiBoIdMo), my publisher wanted a super-fun phrase to serve as the call and response between mother and son. The result was RUTABAGA BOO—which, like Capuchin Echidna, is a ton of fun to say or shout or giggle.
Keeping your own list of words you love can serve as a source of inspiration for a full-fledged picture book idea. Often, these words are not just fun to say, but very evocative. Think of kerfuffle, or fidget, or crybaby – don’t they get your wheels turning? Or cantankerous, shenanigan, or fartlek (which is actually a training system for runners, not whatever first popped into your head)? What are you already imagining when you hear those words?
Your word list may never do anything for you but make you smile—but remember, it easier to be inspired when you are smiling than when you a frustrated, frowning, and pulling your hair out.
[Tara’s note: check out this word list!]
(2) Things You Hear:
I’ve long been a fan of stealing from children. Not candy, mind you – just ideas. If you have children of your own who are picture book age, you probably already know that listening to them playing with their friends or telling a joke they found hilarious can be a great source of inspiration. But here’s the thing – if you do have children of your own, at some point you will have bled them dry and you won’t be able to get a fresh idea out of them (also, things you find interesting in your own children can, from time to time, on occasion, be completely uninteresting to people who are not biologically related to you, as most of your audience will be).
So seek out some other children (not in a creepy way! Don’t stalk a school or surveil your neighbor’s toddlers!) and listen and take notes. Some great places for this: library story time, walking around a toy store, the subway, the bus, the aisles of your supermarket, the local ice cream shop. Sometimes it’s not a matter of stalking or pursuing so much as just keeping your eyes and ears open in familiar places. I know some of the most hilarious conversations I’ve ever heard have been while some weary, frazzled parent is trying to buy the groceries while keeping his or her children relatively close and relatively calm. Here’s one from last week:
“Daddy, can I have turtle?”
“No, honey, we can’t get any more pets.”
“No! I mean for dinner.”
These eavesdropped ideas are free, and they get you out of your own ruts and thinking like someone new.
(3) Memory Mash-up:
Most of us have memories that make us smile. And I’m not just talking about the cute thing your daughter did when she was two or the time when you were five that you did that thing that your mother still talks about. Those memories are great—and you should definitely mine them for story ideas—but push that farther. Think of the stories your family tells every Thanksgiving that still make you laugh or the tale behind that photo your grandmother keeps on the mantle that makes her smile. Think about that story that makes half your family tear up every time—that also makes the other half of your family roll their eyes.
All those memories are a great place to find a story idea, if—and this is important—if you are willing to fictionalize them.
Remember that thing I said about other people not finding your children as interesting as you do? That pretty much applies to your whole family. So don’t be afraid to reimagine Uncle George as a buffalo or Cousin Edna as an ostrich. Grandma’s living room can become a swamp and Dad’s office can be a snowy mountain. Use the memories as a starting point—and then go in the direction your imagination takes you.
Happy PiBoIdMo and have a great month!
Sudipta is an award-winning author of over 40 books and the co-founder of both Kidlit Writing School and Kidlit Summer School. Her books include DUCK DUCK MOOSE, TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS, ORANGUTANGLED, and over thirty more books that have been acclaimed by the Junior Library Guild, the California Reader’s Collection, the Bank Street Books Reading Committee, the Amelia Bloomer list, and many more. Find out more about her by visiting SUDIPTA.COM or KIDLITWRITINGSCHOOL.COM. She’s on Facebook and Twitter @SudiptaBQ.
To help you put your PiBo ideas to use, Sudipta is giving away a free online picture book writing course in 2016 through kidlitwritingschool.com.
Leave a comment below to enter. One comment per person, please.
This [amazing] prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You will be eligible for this prize if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge.
Good luck, everyone!
y It’s still early in Picture Book Idea Month, and hopefully you’re all still overflowing with ideas that you can put down on paper. It does get tougher as the month continues, but bravo to you for taking up the challenge!
You’re going to come up with a lot of different kinds of ideas. You’ll think of titles, puns, and images that you see in your mind’s eye. You’ll imagine complicated scenarios and Holy Grails. You’ll draft punchlines and scenes that tug at the heart. All of these varied things can eventually grow into a beautiful, successful picture book.
But no matter what you start with, character is almost always the key to crafting a book that will be published.
POPPYCOCK! you say. CODSWALLOP! BUNK! After all, there are so many other things we hear about that make editors want to publish a manuscript. Compelling plots. Flawless writing. Powerful marketing hooks. And those are all vital things! Your plot has to be gripping and unique. The writing must be impeccable and beautiful to read. There has to be hooks to help the book sell.
But all of those things pale in comparison to the character.
It is the character that the reader will fall in love with. It is the character who he will root for. It is the character he will draw on his fan mail to you. It is the character who will live on in his imagination for week, months, years to come.
It is the character you have to get right.
Let’s talk about some ways to do that.
Character is Like the Salt
Every once in a while when I’m cooking dinner, I totally forget to add salt. The meal I end up with is nothing short of disgusting and inedible. Salvageable, yes—as long as I add some salt to it. But without that one ingredient, dinner is nothing like what it is supposed to be.
Character is the salt in your picture book idea.
Some meals use a lot of salt. Others, just a sprinkling. But salt is essential. The same holds true for character.
Even in a high concept idea (which is becoming increasingly popular in picture books), you still need that sprinkling of salt, errrr, character. Here’s an example: I have a book coming out soon called RUTABAGA BOO (which will be illustrated by the uber-talented Bonnie Adamson). The entire book is about the unbreakable bond between a son and his mother. Whenever the son needs his mother, he says, “Rutabaga!” To show that she is there, she answers, “Boo!”
On the surface, it may not seem like there is a lot of character in this idea. (I mean, how much character development can you show in 22 words?) But while the heart of this story is the mother/son bond, what draws the reader in is what you learn about the characters—and how much those details endear the characters to the reader. Every spread tells you something more about the characters—what they like to do, what scares them, what makes them feel better. The characters in this case may just be a sprinkling of salt—but without them, the story doesn’t mean nearly as much to the reader.
Think Wedding Cake, Not Cupcake
Let’s belabor the cooking theme some more.
As you are thinking of you PiBoIdMo ideas (and you are focusing on character because you, like me, believe character is the key), make sure you incorporate layers from the beginning. Just like a wedding cake is more impressive because of its tiered layers, you want to create a character that has, well, tiers and layers. Don’t let your idea stand at “Cindy wants a new puppy.” Push it to the limit (even at the idea stage):
- Can you enhance the theme? “Cindy wants a puppy so she can join the kids who walk their dogs afterschool and make some new friends” or “Cindy wants a puppy so she isn’t so lonely”
- Can you ratchet up the conflict? “Cindy wants a puppy but her father hates dogs” or “Cindy wants a puppy – but she only wants responsibility for the top half (the bottom half – and anything that comes out of the bottom – should be her brother’s responsibility!)”
- Can you make your character a study in contradictions? “Cindy wants a new puppy—and yet, she is allergic to dog hair!” or “Cindy wants a puppy but she already has a kitten who is deathly afraid of dogs”
Every time you add a layer to the idea, you make your story inherently more interesting. And no matter where you add the layer, try to leverage into making the character more complex.
To go back to the RUTABAGA BOO example, layers were very important to make that story meaty enough to merit a hardcover picture book. It wasn’t enough to say that the son wanted to be with his mother in a whole bunch of different scenarios. When I wrote the story, I thought about all the different reasons that children want their parents. Would he look for her when he was hungry? When he was scared? How would those look different? How about when the boy was excited – how would he look for his mother then? When he was lonely? When he was tired? What kinds of scenes would show all these diverse interactions that create a relationship?
I started with the cupcake model of “sons like having their mothers nearby” and added tiers to make the story mouthwatering. In 24 words (and Bonnie’s beautiful illustrations, the reader is left with a full depiction of the mother / son bond – and meets characters that they can identify with.
Envision Your Character
After I’ve lectured you on the importance of character, I’m sure you’re all committed to brainstorming great characters every day of PiBoIdMo 2014. So now I’d like to give you a tool to help you with that.
When I teach kids at author visits about developing characters, I give them a graphic organizer to help them get their thoughts down on paper. As it turns out, that organizer works really well for picture book authors, too. (I know. I use it!) So here you go, PiBo-ers! Your own Character Graphic Organizer to help you develop your ideas…
Click for full-sized, printable version.
Sudipta is an award-winning author of over 40 books and the co-founder of both Kidlit Writing School and Kidlit Summer School. Her books include DUCK DUCK MOOSE, TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS, ORANGUTANGLED, and over thirty more books that have been acclaimed by the Junior Library Guild, the California Reader’s Collection, the Bank Street Books Reading Committe, the Amelia Bloomer list, and many more. Find out more about her by visiting SUDIPTA.COM or her blogs NERDYCHICKSRULE.COM and NERDYCHICKSWRITE.COM.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SudiptaBardhanQuallen
Twitter: @SudiptaBQ
One lucky commenter will receive a free picture book course at Kidlit Writing School! Our next picture book course will be on character development in picture books. The winner can opt to take that course or any other picture book course offered in 2015.
This prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)
Good luck, and happy brainstorming!
As a bonus, ALL PiBoIdMo participants who register for a class during PiBoIdMo can get a discount on picture book courses at Kidlit Writing School by going to the secret PiBoIdMo page: http://www.kidlitwritingschool.com/piboidmo-special-registration.html. Find the coupon code to get your discount—just make sure you register before November 30!
by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
It’s back to school season here in New Jersey (or, outside Philadelphia, as I typically refer to it) and that means big changes in my household. All summer, my kids and I are bums. We hang out at the beach, at the pool, at the mall. We travel, we sleep in, we do nothing. Summer is heaven.
But come September, my children’s lives change. Gone are the no schedule, no stress days and in their place we have wake up alarms, agenda books, and deliverables (and, it seems, a LOT of laundry!). The kids aren’t the only ones who go back to school—as a children’s book author, the school year means that I go back to school as well.
Every year, between school visits, Skype visits, and events like Dot Day or World Read Aloud Day, I connect with about 100 different schools all around the world. Because I spend so much time with school kids, I end up doing quite a bit of teaching, especially teaching writing. Which happens to be a completely different skill than actually writing.
There is a very stupid expression that you sometimes hear people throw around: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” I want to be very, very clear here: that is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. Not only is it disparaging, inflammatory, and demeaning, it also has the distinction of being very WRONG. I definitely knew that before I personally started working with schools, but now that I teach on a regular basis, I can tell you that those who teach can do better than anyone else.
It has to do with the nature of teaching. In order to teach someone a skill, you have to know it so well that you can explain every step, even the ones you do automatically or on muscle memory. Here’s an example: when I was in graduate school, I bought a brand new Mustang that I couldn’t drive. Because it was a stick shift and I only knew how to drive an automatic. So I had a friend try to teach me how to drive stick. We got in my car, I started it up, and I asked him what to do next. He said, “OK, now drive.” I looked at him blankly. “Just don’t stall the car,” he added. I had no idea what that meant. So he said, “Don’t ease off the clutch to quickly. Or too slowly!”
At that point, I threw him out of the car. He, to this day, doesn’t understand what had upset me.
He knew how to drive a manual, and things that I needed to know—how to properly come off the clutch when changing gears, how to tell when to shift up or down, etc.—were things he’d stopped thinking about. So he couldn’t teach me to do them because he hadn’t been thinking about all those little steps that you do to succeed that once you’re successful, you completely forget about.
(For the record, I can now totally drive a stick.)
When I started teaching writing, I struggled with this same thing. I thought to myself, How can I teach something that I just DO? Trust me, this was very difficult to figure out. But the more I did figure it out—the better I got at teaching others how to write—the better I actually got at writing. Just like my friend who failed at teaching me how to drive my Mustang because there were so many things he was doing on autopilot that he couldn’t explain, as writers, we do that same thing. When you get to a certain point in your writing journey, you don’t even think about certain things like how to conceptualize a complex character or add layers to your plot, you just do it. But if you try to teach someone else how you do what you do, you have to break down every action into baby steps so that you can show your students how to mimic your actions. This forces you to think through your methods, and in the process, refine them even more.
So even if you’re not at the point in your publishing career where you are teaching, I’d like to encourage you to think like a teacher to become a better writer. For example, instead of saying, “I’m going to create a charismatic main character,” I’d ask you to analyze what steps you’d take to do that, like:
- Start with something familiar
- Add some positive unique features
- Give the character some flaws that make him or her relatable
- Give him or her positive relationships (family, best friend, etc.) and negative relationships (nemesis, villain, etc.)
- Temper every extreme (like “good” or “bad”) with something that brings it back a notch (like “good but hates kittens” or “bad but rescues kittens”)
The more you go through this process of treating your writing objectives like lesson plans, the deeper you’ll understand what you’ve done when something work—and what you may have left off inadvertently when something doesn’t work.
When you’re a good teacher, your students will benefit. When you yourself are your own student, your teaching skills make you so much better at doing.
Happy Back to School!
Sudipta is an award-winning author of over 40 books and the co-founder of both Kidlit Writing School and Kidlit Summer School. Her books include DUCK DUCK MOOSE, TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS, ORANGUTANGLED, and over thirty more books that have been acclaimed by the Junior Library Guild, the California Reader’s Collection, the Bank Street Books Reading Committe, the Amelia Bloomer list, and many more. Find out more about her by visiting Sudipta.com or her blogs Nerdy Chicks Rule and Nerdy Chicks Write.
Sudipta’s new class: Picture Book A to Z’s: Plotting in Picture Books
The Picture Book A to Z series is designed to be a collection of master level classes that cover all of the fundamentals of picture book craft. While each class is complete on its own, taken together, the series will teach you everything you ever wanted to now about picture books- and a lot more!
The ability to craft a strong picture book plot is one of the factors that separates unpublished writers from those who consistently sign publishing contracts to see their work in print. This course will teach you the essentials of creating compelling plots, starting with Arcs, Beginnings, and Climaxes — then literally taking you through the alphabet. Each topic will be explored in depth, both in the lessons and in the discussion forums and webinars. The writing exercises that are a part of of the course are designed to help you apply the lessons to your own writing seamlessly and immediately. By the end of the course, you will never look at plotting the same way again! The first course in this series, Plotting in Picture Books, will begin on October 6, 2014.
Bonus Critique: Register for Plotting in Picture Books before September 20, 2014 and receive a free picture book manuscript review and 20-minute Skype session with Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, redeemable within six months of the course’s completion.
Thanks, Sudipta! And now for the giveaway…either a 20-minute telephone/Skype PB critique with Sudipta or one of her signed books. The choice is yours. Just comment once below by September 16th to enter!
Today there’s not one guest post, but TWO. On the radio, this would be called a TWO-FER TUESDAY. But it’s Thursday. Yeah, this is why I’m not on the radio.
My Favorite Parts of Writing for Kids by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
So far, 2014 has been a really big year for me. I’ve had four picture books come out in the first four months of the year—DUCK DUCK MOOSE, ORANGUTANGLED, TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS, and SNORING BEAUTY. I’ve had books selected for the Junior Library Guild, chosen as Amazon Big Spring Picks, and reviewed in the Wall Street Journal. I also joined the faculty of the Children’s Book Academy and began teaching writing.
Almost 12 years ago, I made the decision to leave graduate school in biology and begin writing books for children. In that time, there have been many highs and lows, though right now is certainly one of those highs. In light of the good fortune I’m experiencing right now, I wanted to share my three favorite parts of being a children’s author.
- Nobody tells me what to write about.
Every project I take up, I do so because it is something that interests me. I get to decide what to write about, and if that means spending one day on a concept book about the bond between a mother and a son, the next day on a picture book biography of Jackie Robinson, and the next on a story of some ducks whose best friend always MOOSES everything up, I can certainly do so (and I have!). It is a wonderful thing to have complete control over what I have to work on. - I can work barefoot in my bed in my pajamas.
In the spirit of no one telling me what to do, I don’t even have a boss who makes me get dressed before I go to work! Some of my finest writing has come out of the left side of my bed, under the covers with my feet poking out. - I get to create something out of nothing.
This one’s the key. In so many jobs, people follow instructions, push paper from one end of their desk to the other, execute against a task list. I’m not knocking those jobs at all—without them, our world doesn’t work. I’m just saying that it’s very rare to be able to start with nothing—just me and my imagination (and my laptop!)—and end up with something that is real and good, that didn’t exist before, that is entirely the product of my willing it into existence. Artists are driven to create. To be able to follow that imperative and still be able to support my family—well, that’s what I’m most grateful for. That’s my favorite part.
Happy Writing!
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My Favorite Parts of Teaching and Agenting by Mira Reisberg
That part is easy–helping!! This helping boils down to helping make dreams come true, helping people improve their skills, helping to create a more level playing field with Children’s Book Academy scholarships, helping get great books and art out into the world created by great people, and finally helping bring more happiness and joy in the world (oh and having fun playing with people, words, and images).
Being a creative is hard. We live in a culture that generally undervalues and underpays us though this seems to be shifting a bit with new technologies where there is more of an emphasis on storytelling and image-driven messages.
But the payoff, and it’s big, even if it does take a long time for the money to come, is having a meaningful, heart-filled, and very fun life. I was talking with another agent this morning where we were helping each other out and it was just so lovely. That’s what we do in community-oriented organizations like PiBoIdMo, Rate Your Story, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Children’s Book Academy, and this is another thing that I love about what I do.
In the old days, being a writer or illustrator meant slaving away in isolation. Now we have all these fantastic resources that not only help us with our craft, but also with our hearts providing support, resources, companionship, and practical assistance. So if you are feeling isolated or stuck, just reach out and ask for help. How amazing that we can do this. I certainly couldn’t be doing what I do at any other time in history. In some ways I love what I do a little too much and having a slightly addictive personality, tend to do too much. But this is a small price for all the joy and happiness that I get from being creative and helping others. So I guess this is another thing that I love about what I do, getting to live a wildly creative life and do good at the same time.
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Tara’s Favorite Part of This TWO-FER
Years ago, I attended NJ-SCBWI events to learn about the business and craft of writing for kids. That’s where I met Sudipta. She has taught numerous picture book courses. She’s the most savvy and knowledgable instructor I know. She has taught me story techniques that no one else has ever divulged!
And now everyone has the chance to gain writerly wisdom from Sudipta. Along with Mira, she’s teaching the outrageously interactive online course: “From Storyteller to Exquisite Writer: The Pleasures and Craft of Poetic Techniques” starting May 19th. Mira and Suipta have nicknamed this course “The Missing Link” because it really is what most writers are missing in foundational knowledge. CLICK HERE for details and top secret discounts. This is the only time that Sudipta and Mira will be co-teaching this course together with the wonderful Mandy Yates assisting.
Thanks, Sudipta & Mira!
So now it’s your turn. What are your favorite parts of what you do?
by As an author, I look forward to my next book release the way parents look forward to the birth of their child. After all, the release date is a birthday of sorts—the day my creation is real to everyone, not just me! If you’ve ever known someone expecting twins, the excitement is even higher—though, the fear associated with the event is also heightened.
This year, I’m having the publishing equivalent of quadruplets:
- DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE in January,
- ORANGUTANGLED in February.
- SNORING BEAUTY in March.
- Then, TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS in April!
Like I said, I’ve got 99 problems, but a book ain’t one.
I get it. To have her problems, you might be thinking. After all, too many things publishing is a far better problem than too few. Or none at all. But there are problems created by my multiple birthing. Here are a few things you might not consider when praying for a year like this:
- The whirlwind of marketing becomes a tornado.
Since January, I’ve done three blog giveaways (the first was a DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE package of a book, a book, and a package of magic erasers, the second was a piece of Aaron Zenz’s original art, and the third is the autographed book we will give away here on this blog) with a fourth one coming up. I’ve done 42 Skype classroom visits—not including the 14 I have scheduled for the TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS launch. I’ve flown to a conference in California and done a bunch of signings. I’ve revamped my website, I’ve had educator guides created, I’ve read the books so many times I have them memorized. And on the 7th day I rested…except, not really. Remember, all these marketing things are in addition to my regular job of writing, revising, preparing workshops, creating professional development. Oh, and raising all my kids. 
Too much of anything is good for nothing.
As much as we want to see our books in print, publishing is about more than just personal accomplishment—t’s about sales. While my ego might be excited by multiple books out at the same time, the market is another story. Have you ever heard of market saturation? Economic theory says in a given market, only so much growth can be supported. For authors, that means there are only so many new books a consumer will buy at a given time. Having too many books at once can actually reduce the probability that a fan will buy all of them, just because he may not want to buy more than a certain number of books within a short time period. This principle also extends to recognition. It’s highly unlikely that you’d have multiple books nominated for a given award in the same year. So you’ve increased your overcall competition by competing with yourself.- The “what have you done for me lately?” problem.
Let’s face it—people are basically raccoons, distracted by whatever is new and shiny. And if you have a bunch of books come out at once, chances are, that will be followed by a long gap until your next release. But a book only keeps it’s “new car smell” for a finite amount of time. When something else new and shiny comes along, you won’t be able to compete and the raccoons will move on.
So, who still wants to have lots of books published at once? And who doesn’t?
Well, let me tell you a secret—it’s not up to you.
For the most part, publishers work on their schedule. And their concerns aren’t your concerns. So books may come out slowly at regular intervals, or they might appear all at once. As authors, we don’t have much say in this.
So how do you deal with this? How can you turn all these negatives into something positive for you?
I’ve given you the problems, so let me propose some solutions:
- Find your overarching narrative.
Whenever I have a book release, I take the details of its inspiration and craft a storyline that matches to a theme. For example, every night at bedtime in my house, my kids go nuts. My son, especially, when he was younger, he refused to sleep—no naps, no bedtime, no nothing. He was absolutely convinced I was going to do something awesome. This became the backstory for CHICKS RUN WILD, and I’ve introduced the book to hundreds if not thousands of readers by telling this story. With each of your books, you should be creating a narrative as well—but when you have multiple books at once, think of an umbrella narrative that talks about all the books. For example, DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE and ORANGUTANGLED are both about having bad days (though they resolve that issue differently). When I talk about them together, I tell my audience about taking bad days, mistakes, blunders and turning them into inspiration. They’re also both about friendship, and the different ways your friends can help you get through a rough patch. When you have one narrative, that message starts to represent you as a brand instead of the individual products/books. And at the end of the day, you want fans of your brand, not just your book. - Coordinate efforts.
When you start marketing one book, leave yourself openings to market the others. For example, when I was booking release day virtual visits for SNORING BEAUTY and I had too many requests, I offered the folks I couldn’t schedule in March a spot on the TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS release day. So instead of having to start from scratch for the next release, I’ve got some legwork done already.
Use this principle in your marketing materials, too. Having bookmarks printed? Think about designing something that works for all your new releases. Making postcards? Create a “New for 2014” card instead of individual designs.
Just breathe. As I said before, in the grand scheme of things, having too many things published at once is the better dilemma to have. Because if you’ve got to have 99 problems, at least a book ain’t one.
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Thank you, Sudipta! This is all good to know since I will be having two books released in 2015! Yikes! TWINS! Somebody boil some water!
Do you have any questions or comments for Sudipta? Leave a comment below and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of one of her 2014 books, YOUR CHOICE! (And a tough choice it is!)
Also be sure to visit Sudipta’s awesomely nerdy blog, Nerdy Chicks Rule.
by It’s Picture Book Idea Month, and I’m going to give you a math lesson.
Who remembers high school math? A long time ago, we may have learned about combinations of variables. As we go through PiBoIdMo, we need to explore different combinations to discern the optimal result.
Now, you’re thinking, well, no kidding. How does that help me?
Aren’t you lucky? I’m going to tell you.
- Step One: Finding the Variables
If you are like me, you try to come up with picture book ideas as complete entities: a character with a specific problem/resolution. But just like in your manuscript drafts, your first idea isn’t necessarily your best idea, and it definitely doesn’t need to be your last idea. If you allow yourself the freedom to separate your idea into it’s entities, you might end up with something better.
Think of it this way: if you come up with 30 characters over the next month (let’s call this variable C) with 30 definite story outcomes (this variable will be O), all you have is 30 ideas to work with. On the other hand, if you have 30 characters, each of whom has 30 story outcomes, you have many more possible ideas to develop. Mathematically, the total number of combinations is represented by this formula:
Number of combinations = C x O
In this case, you end up with 30 x 30 = 900 story ideas at the end of PiBoIdMo. That’s accomplishing a lot, isn’t it?
Basically, separating your ideas into building blocks—into variables—allows you to have useful partial ideas. How many times have you realized that there really needs to be a book about a certain topic? Or come up with an adorable character for whom you can’t think up a story?
Write these down. Add them to your C and O lists. Every once in a while, look over the lists and see if there is a combination you see that resonates with you that was different than what you originally imagined. Allowing these partial ideas to have value takes a lot of pressure off you as a writer and creator. It is very hard to have a good idea every day! But just because something isn’t the perfect idea doesn’t mean you can’t make it work for you.
- Step Two: Expanding the Combinations
A good book has a main character and a primary plot. Many books, however, have secondary characters. Some books have secondary plots.
What if some of your PiBoIdMo ideas don’t work as stories because you came up with a secondary character or a plot?
Some books even have a pair of main characters (mash-up, anyone?) What if one of your character ideas would be four times as strong if you combine it with another character?
If you combine even more variables, you make your work go even further:
Number of story ideas with 2 characters = C x (C-1) x O = 30 x 29 x 30 = 26,100 ideas!
(and a secondary plot on top of this…you get the idea…)
Again, allowing yourself to have incomplete ideas gives you the freedom to pursue many more possibilities.
Obviously, some of the combinations that come out of this process are not going to work. So you really won’t have tens of thousands of ideas to sort through. But hopefully, you’ve picked up on the fact that I’m trying to encourage you to look at your work over this month in a different way.
Whenever you can have a complete story idea, that’s fabulous. Run with it. But don’t get frustrated if inspiration comes in drips and drops instead of a flowing stream. It’s all going to be valuable in the end.
- Step Three: The Idea Wheels
I want to leave you with something fun. I’ve asked you to take your building block story variables and consider them in various combinations. You could create a spreadsheet and be very orderly about it, but what I really want you do to is have fun with it and let the random ideas percolate through your brains. So I’m inviting you to create your own Idea Wheels.
There’s a great site called WheelDecide.com, where you can create your own wheels of fortune, if you will. You can create one wheel for your character ideas and another for your story outcomes. Then, spin away until the wheels hit upon something that really works for you. It’s visual and fun, and if nothing else, there’s a winner every time!
You are all just beginning your PiBoIdMo journey, and it will be a long month ahead. But I hope you stick with it—I bet you’ll come out on the other side with valuable starting points for writing. Good luck!
BONUS!
Last week, this blog hosted a double cover reveal for two of my upcoming picture books. In honor of the reveals, I held a book cover caption contest. It was not easy to pick the winner because there were so many captions that were great! But after careful consideration, on the basis that this caption works so well for BOTH covers, here is the winner:
“Is this as awkward for you as it is for me?”
Everyone, please put your hands together for Dawn Young! Dawn wins her choice of a signed copy of ORANGUTANGLED or SNORING BEAUTY! Yay!
And one more bonus…
BONUS: If you’d like more PiBoIdMo tips, pop over to my blog at NerdyChicksRule.com for a great post about knowing what your character wants.
Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is an award-winning children’s book author whose books include Chicks Run Wild, Pirate Princess, Hampire!, and Quackenstein Hatches a Family. She visits schools around the country to talk about the craft of writing to children of all ages. “Every book is an autobiography” is a favorite saying of hers, and a big part of her message is that everyone, grownup or child, has a story that is interesting and compelling—if you can find the right words to tell it. Sudipta lives outside Philadelphia with her children and an imaginary pony named Penny. You can learn more about her and her books on her website www.sudipta.com or at her blog www.NerdyChicksRule.com.
by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Next year—2014—is going to be a hectic year for me. In January, I’ve got a new book called DUCK DUCK MOOSE releasing, illustrated by the fabulous Noah Z. Jones and published by Hyperion. But that isn’t it for the year! No, I’ve actually got THREE more picture books and a couple novels in the pipeline. It’s going to be quite a year!
I can’t share all the upcoming books with you, but I am thrilled to be able to do this:
A DOUBLE COVER REVEAL!
That’s right, folks, not just one gorgeous cover, but TWO!
ORANGUTANGLED:
Two orangutans reach for some mangoes, fall, and land in a gooey, gummy mess. Other animals join the fray until there’s a big ball of mango-juice-covered animals rolling down a long hill to the ocean—will they be okay? Or will they make a gooey-gummy tiger treat?
Illustrated by Aaron Zenz
SNORING BEAUTY:
Tucked in his little bed inside the castle walls, Mouse is eager to get a good night’s sleep before his wedding tomorrow. But just as he begins to drift off, he’s awoken by a tremendous roar. SNOOOOGA-SNOOOOOM! KER-SCHUPPP! Sleeping Beauty is snoring . . . again! When the handsome Prince Max arrives, Mouse thinks he’s found the perfect scheme: He’ll convince the prince to kiss Beauty and wake her up! But when Prince Max learns that Beauty is the one making such monstrous noises, will he still want to kiss her . . . or will he run away from the noisy princess, leaving her snoring for another hundred years?
Illustrated by Jane Manning
Now, these covers are in no way alike at all. BUT…what strikes me about both of them is that they are screaming to be captioned!
What are those tangled Orangutans saying?
What is the Princess thinking as the prince gets closer? Like this:
CAPTION CONTEST!
IN HONOR OF THE DOUBLE REVEAL, I’m happy to announce a new giveaway. Here’s what you have to do—just write a caption for one of these covers and put it into a comment below. We’ll keep it open for 7 days and then I will pick my favorite one. The winner will receive a signed book of his or her choice as soon as the books become available!
Good luck, and I’m looking forward to reading your captions!
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 