Are Pictures A Writer's Business? Pippa Goodhart

I teach courses on writing picture books, and quite often students tell me that they have been told by other teachers that there is a ‘rule’ that an author mustn’t include any notes about design or illustration along with their texts.  To me, that’s wrong.  Very wrong.  The joy of picture books is the playing of the words, the pictures, and the book itself, together to perform a story.  If the originator of the story, usually the author, isn’t thinking about aspects of the book beyond the words from the story's inception, the result is going to be more limited than it should be. 

There’s a reason why many of the very best picture books of all time (Rosie’s Walk, Elmer The Elephant, Goodnight Gorilla, This Is Not My Hat, Handa’s Big Surprise, and many more) have been written and illustrated by the same person.  By thinking of the pictures and words together, those author-illustrators have honed the two to work together in powerful ways.  It’s no surprise that most of those books have very short texts.  Creators who illustrate as well as write, trust the illustrations to show most of the story, and they then use the text to tease the reader into reacting to the pictures, or they use the text to bring the pictures to life with dialogue.  They know that children ‘read’ pictures, even when they can’t all ‘read’ texts yet. 

Publishers usually have both editors and designers, but, traditionally, it’s the editor who is the first gate keeper for a publisher, deciding which texts to let in to further discussions which might then include designers.  A recent publishing experience has made me wonder whether publishers should always work along that set path towards a book.

I had a picture book story idea about a rabbit who wants some space for himself, away from the noise and activity of the other rabbits around him.  So Jack, the rabbit, runs to an empty space, where he draws a red line to define ‘his’ space in which he can read his book in peace.  Of course he then finds that being alone in a space can become lonely, and he wants to re-join his friends, but is now stuck because he’s made the rule about nobody crossing the line.  You can read the book if you want to find out how that problem gets resolved!  But my point here is that I felt that story was one which could be mostly shown in pictures, and then need very little text.  In fact, I thought it would be better with very little text.  So I wrote the text, adding notes about what the pictures needed to show.  Here’s an early version on which my artistic sister had made comments and sketches.

And I drew amateur sketches too, just to help me work out quite how the book might work.

I sent my text with its illustration and design ideas to a couple of big publishers who had published me in the past.  They didn’t want it.  I don’t know if the preponderance of illustration notes put them off.  I hope not, and I suspect they just didn’t feel that story was for them.  But then I read about a new children’s book publisher that was emerging from an existing publisher of beautiful adult comic books.  That was Flying Eye, just starting up within Nobrow.  So I sent my story to Sam Arthur of Flying Eye.  He, and his partner in the business, are both from a design background.  Suddenly it was the design idea (coming from an author!) that was of real interest.  This felt so different from the way I'd worked with other publishers! 

Rebecca Crane illustrated My Very Own Space very beautifully, and Flying Eye have published it equally beautifully, with felty thick paper within a hardback cover with gloss highlights and a fabric trimmed spine.  All of Flying Eye’s picture books are beautifully conceived and produced, and they are winning major prizes (perhaps most notably Shackleton's Journey by William Grill winning the Kate Greenaway Medal).  So I wonder if other publishers should include designers alongside editors as first filters on story proposals that come in? 

Boast alert!  Last week My Very Own Space was the Observer’s Book of the Week - hooray!  

So, yes, do dare to add notes about potential illustrations or design … but do it wisely, explaining story content and presentation rather than stepping onto the illustrator’s toes by detailing visual things that have no direct relevance to the story. 

Illustration Notes? by Natascha Biebow

At the SCBWI picture book retreat this summer, we had a debate about illustration notes. 

Some quite well-established authors and illustrators argued that we should be allowed to include these to communicate clearly to the editor how the book should work. How else would we explain everything?!

We put the question to one of the editors who came to speak. "Definitely not!" she said.

Hmm... So illustration notes are a big no, no...

Oh dear, we all wailed. As authors who don’t draw, this is so hard! However will we communicate everything we’re imagining in our heads?  How will we be sure the editor “gets” our stories?

OK, deep breath.  Remember two things:  

1. Picture book editors know how to imagine the pictures. It's their job.

When you add illustrator notes, you are interrupting the flow of the words as the editor is reading your story. It is distracting and highly annoying.

Editors are skilled at reading picture book texts and imagining the pictures. They instinctively know how to match a really good story with just the right illustrator to add an extra level of detail, humour and excitement.

2. The pictures are the illustrator’s job. 

They don’t want to be told how to do their job . . .

When you add detailed illustrator notes, it is as if you are trying to micro-manage the illustrator. Picture book illustrators are skilled at imagining stories and scenes when they read a story. They don’t want to be told how it should look. Chances are, they will add layers to your story that you never even imagined. This is why picture books are so exciting to work on – they evolve.

Remember, too, that once a book is commissioned, editors will offer authors the opportunity to share their vision and comment on the roughs and artwork.

But, how, oh how, will you be able to get across your story clearly without illustration notes?

First, take them ALL out.  

Eek, I know, it's hard. Now, pretend you are all cosy on the story carpet, ready to hear a story read aloud to you. Read the story out loud. It should be attention-grabbing!

You should be able to hear it flow without the need for any explanation. The story has to be strong enough to stand alone. If it doesn’t make sense, you’ll need to add more context, more specific scenes, more vivid dialogue.

But what about the word count, I hear you wail! 

Yes, this is a challenge. You will need to add more words to get it all in, and then cut, cut, cut, so that each word works extra hard. If you polish your ‘show, don’t tell’ skills, and create vivid scenes so we can be there in the moment, you don’t need too many words.

Make up a small dummy book and read it aloud, looking at how the page turns work. This is a great way to check the pacing of your story, but also to see where you can cut unnecessary explanations and words.

 

So can I never include illustration notes? Are there any exceptions to this rule?

One technique you can try is to include any really important notes concerning the story in the cover letter to the editor. This is where, for instance, you can explain that your main character is a particular animal or that at the end of the story, there is an unexpected visual twist.

Visual irony: if your story relies on visual irony, for example, with the text saying one thing, and the illustrations showing the reality, you can include a very brief illustration note.

Page turn surprise: sometimes, surprises are revealed when a page is turned, in which case a short, bracketed note will be enough. 

Visual twist or wordless page: if your story relies on a visual joke or there is a wordless page, you can include a brief note to this effect.

Novelty books: in the case of novelty books, you can consider mocking up your idea simply in order to convey how the narrative works. 

One author who came from a marketing background, used to send me stick figure drawings as part of his manuscript – one for his idea of the cover and one for the visual twist. It was simple and effective, and it didn’t interfere with reading and enjoying the story. But, generally speaking, if your story is strong enough, you shouldn't need to send any stick figures, gimmicks or chocolates. Your voice should speak for itself!

Do you have any illuminating or frustrating experiences with illustration notes that you'd like to share?

 

Natascha Biebow

Author, Editor and Mentor

Blue Elephant Storyshaping is an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission.  Check out my NEW small group coaching courses!

Natascha is also the author of Elephants Never Forget and Is This My Nose?, editor of numerous award-winning children’s books, and Regional Advisor (Chair) of SCBWI British Isles.  www.blueelephantstoryshaping.com