(Dorothia Rohner, Jane Metcalf and I at Candace Camling's Exhibit). I had a couple of light-bulb moments yesterday. First, I am always amazed when things fall together at the right place and the right time. Praying ahead of time to pave the way for things comes in handy. Sometimes I wonder, what if I had decided at the last minute not to. Not to do what I was debating upon? If I hadn't said to Teresa at the last second [as I was walking away from her], that I was the area network chair for SCBWI, they [the newspaper] wouldn't have done a story on me, which launched a whole series of events in my "writing career."
Yesterday,I also decided that I need to surround myself with more picture book writers. Or be more cautious in the advice I heed. I need advice from people who know how to write picture books. Where to find them? I tried a pb critique group once. Novel people can steer you in the wrong direction quite easily, as the rules are different. The rules are different for picture books and chapter books!!! Keep that in mind.
On the other hand, everyone doesn't have to be a pb writer to tell you something is not working. For Driving Daisy Crazy, Daisy was supposed to empathize with Max, the cat. Dorothia picked the paragraph that was supposed to show this. She said I could cut the whole thing. I was all for cutting things. I told her the purpose was to show Daisy empathizing with Max. Like the Prince and the Pauper situation. Dorothia didn't catch that at all. I had two options. A: realize that Dorotia doesn't know how to catch, or B: realize that I'm not conveying to the audience what I thought I was conveying. Besides, Dorothia has a higher IQ than me. So I chose the latter, and pondered her words. Jane Metcalf was there too [check out her awesome illustrations on her website].
I was actually quite happy to hear that, as it gave me something concrete I could work on. The funny thing is, people always bring up the sentences or paragraphs that I'm not personally in love with. That's a clue. If I don't absolutely love the sentence, of my own work, then something is off. The problem is, sometimes I don't know how to fix it. So this was a great start! I was quite thrilled. I had something concrete to work on.
That same day, Ann said that my Daisy story was distant. I had to agree. I decided to try writing a different opening sentence to bring some voice and warmth into the story. I then also had a choice to listen to Ann [who also has a higher IQ than me, dognabit] or not. I pondered what she saw. I knew she was right.
Now this is something interesting. Here is the biggest way that people have steered me wrong. The most common advice given: Show, don't tell. That has tripped me up in big ways, more than once. Ann read aloud some of Officer Buckle And Gloria, and guess what? It was telling. Most picture books are telling, and I woke up this morning and figured out why. Because they are picture books! You can't spend a chapter to SHOW how somebody feels. Picture books are limited in words. The quickest way to convey and idea or emotion, is just to say it! You have to get to the point, and the quickest least wordy way to do that is TELL. Just say it. Therefore, picture books are TELLING, or a combination of showing and telling. If it is all showing, you have a cold & distant story. You have to TELL! Otherwise it will turn into a chapter book.
I gave myself permission to TELL! I woke up this morning with a new opening sentence for Daisy. A voice. If Officer Buckle can tell, so can I. So I gave myself permission to write story books, the way I write story books, and rewrote the whole thing from beginning to end, and I loved it. So much better, and TELLING made it better. Now, it sounded like a picture book. Now you could empathize with Max and Daisy. Picture Book Writers: beware. Beware of what advice you take, and who you take it from. Beware of not telling and only showing. But I almost didn't read it aloud to Dorothia yesterday, and decided to, at the last moment, and if I hadn't done that, I would NOt have my new story. Whew. Thanks guys!
Yesterday,I also decided that I need to surround myself with more picture book writers. Or be more cautious in the advice I heed. I need advice from people who know how to write picture books. Where to find them? I tried a pb critique group once. Novel people can steer you in the wrong direction quite easily, as the rules are different. The rules are different for picture books and chapter books!!! Keep that in mind.
On the other hand, everyone doesn't have to be a pb writer to tell you something is not working. For Driving Daisy Crazy, Daisy was supposed to empathize with Max, the cat. Dorothia picked the paragraph that was supposed to show this. She said I could cut the whole thing. I was all for cutting things. I told her the purpose was to show Daisy empathizing with Max. Like the Prince and the Pauper situation. Dorothia didn't catch that at all. I had two options. A: realize that Dorotia doesn't know how to catch, or B: realize that I'm not conveying to the audience what I thought I was conveying. Besides, Dorothia has a higher IQ than me. So I chose the latter, and pondered her words. Jane Metcalf was there too [check out her awesome illustrations on her website].
I was actually quite happy to hear that, as it gave me something concrete I could work on. The funny thing is, people always bring up the sentences or paragraphs that I'm not personally in love with. That's a clue. If I don't absolutely love the sentence, of my own work, then something is off. The problem is, sometimes I don't know how to fix it. So this was a great start! I was quite thrilled. I had something concrete to work on.
That same day, Ann said that my Daisy story was distant. I had to agree. I decided to try writing a different opening sentence to bring some voice and warmth into the story. I then also had a choice to listen to Ann [who also has a higher IQ than me, dognabit] or not. I pondered what she saw. I knew she was right.
Now this is something interesting. Here is the biggest way that people have steered me wrong. The most common advice given: Show, don't tell. That has tripped me up in big ways, more than once. Ann read aloud some of Officer Buckle And Gloria, and guess what? It was telling. Most picture books are telling, and I woke up this morning and figured out why. Because they are picture books! You can't spend a chapter to SHOW how somebody feels. Picture books are limited in words. The quickest way to convey and idea or emotion, is just to say it! You have to get to the point, and the quickest least wordy way to do that is TELL. Just say it. Therefore, picture books are TELLING, or a combination of showing and telling. If it is all showing, you have a cold & distant story. You have to TELL! Otherwise it will turn into a chapter book.
I gave myself permission to TELL! I woke up this morning with a new opening sentence for Daisy. A voice. If Officer Buckle can tell, so can I. So I gave myself permission to write story books, the way I write story books, and rewrote the whole thing from beginning to end, and I loved it. So much better, and TELLING made it better. Now, it sounded like a picture book. Now you could empathize with Max and Daisy. Picture Book Writers: beware. Beware of what advice you take, and who you take it from. Beware of not telling and only showing. But I almost didn't read it aloud to Dorothia yesterday, and decided to, at the last moment, and if I hadn't done that, I would NOt have my new story. Whew. Thanks guys!