When Picture Book Characters Evolve - Lynne Garner

Sometime in 2007 I started working on a picture book idea which featured a mischievous rabbit by the name of Cottontail and his annoying little sister. I loved the idea.  But it didn’t matter how many drafts I wrote, ‘their’ story wasn’t working. So, the story was filed away in my WIP (work in progress) file.

 

Burdock's favourite toy

A year later I started a book illustration course. I decided I’d resurrect this story and reconnect with my two characters. I hoped by drawing them the story would ‘write’ itself. However, as I worked the original characters evolved into Burdock the rabbit, who had adventures with his toy rabbit. Again, I fell in love with the characters, but the story wasn’t quite right. So, into the WIP file it went.

 

Five years later I was clearing out my files and rediscovered Burdock and tried again to write a story that worked. Eventually after a rename and many rewrites I reached the point where I felt I could send to a freelance proof-reader come editor. After she’d worked her magic and with a lot of support from some very clever people a set of book apps featuring Burdock Rabbit and his toy rabbit were release. A year later, I decided (I have no idea why) to design a crochet pattern for Burdock’s toy rabbit. 

 

Whilst researching how to do this I fell down the internet ‘rabbit hole’ and rediscovered Brer Rabbit. I was surprised to find that Enid Blyton (whose versions I had enjoyed as a child) wasn’t the first author to write about this character. I couldn’t help myself and found eBook versions of the originals, which were written in the late 1800s. The results of this reading resulted in my third self-published short story book, Ten Tales of Brer Rabbit in 2017.

 

Last year I decided to try my hand at script writing. I was extremely lucky to find a wonderful mentor, who is supporting me in my endeavours. Having fell in love with Brer Rabbit I decided to use my versions of his stories as my starting point. As I've worked on my scripts I've discovered I'm using some of my picture book writing skills, both being very visual forms of story telling. I’ve also realised my latest character is made up of little bits of Cottontail, Burdock, and Brer Rabbit.

 

So, although those very first picture book stories still languish in my WIP file little hints of the characters are creeping into my first set of scripts. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Flip of a Coin – Lynne Garner

In my last post I shared how I'd collaborated with a specialist proof-reader/editor to hone some of my picture book stories. And that I planned to create a list of agents and publishers to contact. I’ve managed to create that list but not taken the next step. Which was to send my stories out to those on the list. My plan didn’t quite go as planned. I became a little, well a lot, side tracked by working on another two projects. 

 

Project one:
In January 2022, I wanted to learn how to turn my short stories in scripts. I was lucky enough to find a wonderful mentor. With his support I’ve rewritten one of my Moon Meadow Farm stories as a short film script. My mentor suggested I should hone my new skills and repeat the process. So, I chose one of my Brer Rabbit stories and have rewritten it in script format. This script is now in its first draft and resting.
  
Whilst it’s resting, I’ve been working on my other project. 

 

Project two:

During the pandemic I treated myself to a guitar like instrument called a Merlin M4. In my teens and early 20’s I used to play, badly, the classical guitar. But I haven’t played an instrument since. Once out of the box I quickly realised I had a steep learning curve ahead of me. It was during this learning curve an idea formed for a non-fiction book.

 

An hour or so before writing the first draft of this blog I completed my final draft of my music related book. I’ve found a proof-reader/editor and a beta reader and plan to send my draft to them and return to… well I’m not sure what to return to. I want to find new homes for my picture books. I also want to get my second script to the point where I feel confident enough to send it to my mentor.
 
Which one to do?
 
Decision made!
 
I’m going to let fate decide and flip a coin. Heads it’ll be my picture books. Tails it will be my script. 
 
I’ll let you know in my next blog which it was. 

 

When a story makes demands of you – Lynne Garner

A few years ago I ventured into writing stories for older children based on traditional trickster characters, these being Anansi the Trickster Spider and Brer Rabbit. This move away from picture books meant a great deal of reading and research, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. As part of my research I downloaded a huge library of books that contain the first written form of many of these traditional tales. Reading some of these books was a challenge because of the language used. As I read these traditional stories I always had at the back of my mind the age range I was writing for. So I put aside the idea of using the devices I often use in my picture book writing such as rhyme, rhythm and repetition and others such as alliteration. I also had to remember I wouldn't have images to help me tell the story.     

However this recently changed whilst I was researching a new trickster character, this being Coyote. As I ploughed through yet another book I came across a story which for some reason demanded “turn me into picture book.’ As I read it I could see where I could use repetition, feel the rhythm I would create with the words, how I could leave sentences 'hanging' so the reading would want to turn the page, where a little alliteration would work well and I could 'see' the supporting images which would help me tell the story. I found myself grabbing a piece of paper, folding it into twelve equal sections and I was soon plotting a new picture book story.

I now find myself with the first draft of a picture book story based on a traditional Native American Indian story. I also find myself wanting to revisit the books I read whilst researching Anansi and Brer Rabbit to discover if another story makes the same demand. So over the next few months I plan to continue to work on the stories for older readers. However I’m also going to read with the view that if one of these traditional tales makes the same demand I’ll fold a piece of paper and get out my little bag of picture book writing tricks and try to make it’s wish a reality. You never know one of these may just become my next picture book.

Lynne Garner

My writing eCourses which start this month:

How to write children's picture books and get published

5 picture books in 5 weeks (advanced course)

How to write a hobby-based how to book