Like many children's authors, I've been visiting a lot of schools
recently. In a couple of schools, we've even had the time to
make books. It's made me realise that when I'm writing a picture book text, I
have a lot in common with the kids.
It's exciting when your head is fizzing with ideas that might make a book!
Inspired? Fantastic! But now you need to make it into a
story and write it down….
It's hard to get your thoughts down on paper so that someone else can read and understand them.
The danger is that some of the fizz evaporates somewhere along
the way between mind maps, story plans, and writing, so it really helps when people are enthusiastic about your
ideas.
Thanks to all the fantastic, enthusiastic and dedicated teachers I worked with.
It's hard to be patient and polish up your work.
Oh yes. But it's worth taking time so that the finished book
is as good as it can be.
Congratulations to all the children who made wonderful books.
Making a book is a l-ooo-ooo-ooo-ng process. When asked to
guess how long one of my picture book texts takes to write, edit, be
illustrated and appear in the shops, children will often guess 'a week.' When I tell them it takes at least two and a
half years, and sometimes up to five years, they think that's an eternity.
Sometimes if feels like an eternity, too! But the fizz when
you get a new idea you just have to put down on paper somehow makes it all
worthwhile, especially if that idea turns into a book!
Jane's impatiently awaiting the publication of 4 toddler board
books, 3 picture books and 2 more books in her Dr KittyCat series and has
recently been lured onto Twitter
@JaneClarkeWrite
7 comments:
Yes, it takes patience all round - and that's something that many people just don't understand. looking forward to seeing your books in all the bookshops soon!
Thanks Moira x
Lovely photos, Jane. Yes, those first days of a new idea are almost euphoric. There's so much potential and of course at that point it'll be bigger than The Gruffalo!!
Made me smile, Peony, can't say I'm ever that optimistic. In fact I often have a moment when I wonder if my idea is worth writing because someone will already be out there with a similar idea. At least the children don't get assailed by that sort of doubt.
I agree patience is important and you have to rein in your excitement BUT I do also encounter the opposite problem ie I've worked and reworked a text until it no longer feels fresh. It's hard to get that balance right!
Absolutely, Abie. It's hard to recapture the fizz once it evaporates!
Love the enthusiasm on these children's faces! And isn't it great when we, as adults, get a little taste of that excitement in our own work?
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