The One-Hour Picture Book -Be More Quantity by Juliet Clare Bell

There’s an anecdotal story told about surrealist photographer Jerry Uelsmann and how he tried to motivate his Beginning Photography students at the University of Florida:

(c) Giuliano De Portu

He gave half the class a quantity assignment, where they were to take photos and their grade would be based solely on quantity: 100 photos at the end of the semester would get an A; 90 would get a B, and so on. And he gave the other half a quality assignment. They only had to submit one photo and it would be graded according to its quality. At the end of the semester, Uelsmann found that the best quality photos were actually from the quantity half, where the students had experimented and learned along the way through the practice of actually taking multiple photographs.

This has been described in Atomic Habits by James Clear, and less accurately in Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

(by their own admission) but however accurate, I know that if I’d been in the quality group, I’d have taken that one photograph so seriously and the thought of it not being amazing would have weighed so heavily on my mind that it would have massively stifled my creativity. My take home message from the story is clear:

·         * Stop feeling pressured about an individual project you’re working on

·         * Don’t think of yourself being a picture book author as being someone who produces one book every so often (or not so often) after months of hard graft

·         * Don’t take yourself too seriously

·         * Sit down and get on with it

·         * Practise the form again and again and again

·         * Don’t worry if lots of your manuscripts are terrible and wholly unworthy of being sent to publishers/your agent

·         * That’s kind of the point.

·         * Just do it.

·         * And then just do it again.

·         * And then just do it some more…

·         * so you’re so used to the practise of sitting down and turning up to write that you’re going to come up with far more really good manuscripts/germs of an idea than you would by treating the production of ideas as wholly organic and the turning of the idea into a book as super complex

·         If you treat each idea like it needs to be executed perfectly from the start then you’re not going to get nearly as far as you would -even with the same idea- as if you’re freer and prepared to play and experiment rather than treat it with kid gloves

·         And there will be some gems, or at least gems of an idea, that you would never have if you were treating each idea as if it were ethereal and fragile.

 

I said the take home message for me was clear -not concise. And that’s part of the issue. If I don’t set constraints, then I over-write, over-think and procrastinate wildly. I make it way more complicated than it needs to be. In fact, it can be concise:

·         Be more quantity.

 

A few years ago, a small group of us picture book writers and illustrators, high on the excitement of a weekend spent together at a picture book retreat

                           SCBWI British Isles Picture Book Retreat 2023 (c) Tita Berredo

               (wrong year for the story but everyone from the 'Two a Month' group is in the picture)

decided that we should try and mimic Jerry Uelsmann’s practice. And for a while, we committed to focusing on quantity over quality in picture book creation (as an exercise) and agreed to show up once a month online with two completed picture book drafts, however rough (the point wasn’t to get critique on the manuscripts but to keep each other accountable for creating more, and really regularly). Whilst it lasted, it was really helpful and we were all more productive -and without actively trying to come up with even more ideas, I was coming up with way more ideas than the two drafts a month. But as is so often the case, life got in the way and we were all busy with other commitments and deadlines and we stopped.

It was a good attempt at channelling Jerry Uelsmann, and the constraint of writing two a month and knowing that we were celebrating consistent quantity over quality was helpful, but perhaps the constraints weren’t quite enough for me and I needed to constrain my parameters even more…

Constraints

I’ve always loved the constraints when writing a picture book (every word matters, twelve to fourteen spreads, making use of the form with page turns and reveals etc.). Constraints can be extremely helpful, especially for those of us who are prone to distraction (you’ve caught me mid-sentence, scratching away at my tab key as I try and type, but seriously, how did it get that grubby…?)

I’ve recently written a series of early readers for a publisher and the construction of the books is full of constraints -very low word count, restricted word choice, reduced spreads, specific characters, etc.. And because it’s for a series of educational books, the deadlines are close together, there’s a quick turnaround between handing the first draft in, getting feedback and editing before handing over the final draft, and it’s way harder to procrastinate… Research for the level and the individual books takes a lot of time but by the end of the series of books, I’d got into a half-decent habit of quickly mapping out and writing the actual first draft.

When we were talking at our local SCBWI at the weekend

                                       Our local SCBWI Central West group this weekend

another picture book creator talked about needing to stop taking her work so seriously and I mentioned the quantity vs quality story. I also said how we’d tried a two-a-month group, how we’d previously done speed-dating with picture book ideas generated in Storystorm month (if you want to know how, here’s a guest blogpost I wrote for Storystorm 2019, we remembered how we’d done a ‘picture book in a day’ session a year earlier in one of our local meet-ups and I mentioned how I’d been mapping out and writing my first draft  stories for the early readers really quickly. I said it was amazing what you could actually do in a hour if you really focused…

So she called me on it. Why didn’t we write a picture book there and then in an hour (without any preparation -and for me, at least, any idea of what I’d write about)?

I spent the first ten minutes brainstorming and identifying what I might write about (what issues have been on my mind lately that might resonate with young children) and then drew out twelve spreads and wrote the story.

Did we finish a scrappy first draft in an hour?

    Yes. We both did!

Were we surprised?

    Yes. Extremely!

In fact, by the end of that hour, we’d even both managed a light edit.

Was it our best manuscript to date?

    No. But that’s not the point. We both created a whole (scrappy) manuscript in an hour, a whole story that had not existed just sixty minutes earlier.

Was it helpful that the other person was there, body doubling, to keep up accountable?

    Absolutely.

Would it be replicable back home, alone?

    It turns out, yes… I tried again yesterday, specifically for this blogpost, and I managed it. It's not as interesting as the first one (which I'll definitely do more editing on and see how it goes) but that doesn't matter at all...

 

Memory

My memory is terrible. As someone who is perimenopausal on top of ADHD and aphantasia (where I can’t visualise, see https://picturebookden.blogspot.com/2016/03/picture-yellow-square-rotating-towards.html) I need all the help I can get to remind me that I’m a picture book author. I literally forget almost every day -like I literally forget we have a garden for most of the year because we can’t see it from the house as the windows don’t overlook it. And in the way that I actually have a picture of me looking happy in the garden, displayed prominently to remind myself that we have a garden and I love being in it, I need prompts to remember I’m a picture book writer. Making myself write picture book drafts really regularly is a very practical way of helping me remember that I am actually a picture book writer. 

Why not have a go? This could be for you if you

·         Take yourself too seriously

·         Take your writing too seriously (to the point where you stop taking risks because you don’t want to get it wrong)

·         Struggle to start writing

·         Struggle to finish writing

·         Forget that you’re a picture book writer (and want a really regular reminder)

·        Have ADHD and need the dopamine boost of a super-quick deadline

       Just want a fun challenge

 

I try loads of different strategies all the time to make me more productive and procrastinate less. I’m really keen to get this going and I’ll be doing another tomorrow at our local Society of Authors meet up where we’re writing together for one hour (perfect timing!) After that, I’ve got hundreds of tiny ideas from various Storystorms and in general. I’m going to write each one on a slip of paper, put the slips of paper in a jar and pull one out at random at least three times a week to create at least twelve picture book first scrappy drafts in the coming month. I write for an hour each morning at 6am anyway as it’s my best time of day so I will just be more organised in what I write during those times. I can certainly afford to spend three hours a week working on something new (three somethings new) and out of those twelve there might even be one that’s worth pursuing. And if there isn’t? Has it been a waste of time?

Absolutely not. I’ll be strengthening my picture book muscle, getting better at ignoring my inner critic and absolutely remembering that I am a picture book writer. My new motto:

Be More Quantity.

(The quality will follow.)

Are you up for trying it out? Do you have any tips for non-precious writing? If so, I'd love to hear in the comments. 

Juliet Clare Bell is a children's author of over 35 picture books and early readers. www.julietclarebell.com

 

 

Could overlooking some of your physiological needs indirectly be holding you back from completing creative projects? Oh No, George! realisation and ADHD by Juliet Clare Bell

 

I happened to read Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton in bed last night (having not read it for about three years).

 

                                          My bedtime reading for the last couple of weeks

Do you ever get that thing where something you’ve read loads before suddenly resonates in a new way?

                                                  Oh No, George! (c) Chris Haughton (2012)

…because for the first time (that I remember at least; I may have read it and completely forgotten that I had) I saw the quote before Chris Haughton's dedication:

“Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of one’s desires, but by the removal of desire… No man is free who is not master of himself”  Epictetus.

Without throwing myself into ADHD books, research, podcasts, getting some really good ADHD help over the last year and then trying something really new back in August, I would not have understood that quote at all. But suddenly it illuminated perfectly how the removal of a specific desire had allowed me to uncover something fundamental that was getting in my way (which I'd not realised) and which I could finally work on, freeing me to finish creative projects in a new, improved way. What’s holding you back (if something is) will be different from what was holding me back but thinking about your physiological needs and whether they are really all being met might help you uncover it so you can thrive creatively…

So back to Oh No, Clare (sorry, George)!...

Harris (George’s human) asks George if he’ll be good whilst Harris is out:

                                                 Oh No, George! (c) Chris Haughton (2012)

He’s (I’ve) even got his (my) eyes closed -I’ll genuinely fool myself into believing I'll be good/stick at something. Once he’s opened his eyes, he’s already moved to hoping rather than knowing…

And then when he inevitably stuffs up, here comes the ADHD disappointment of having done it again…

                                               Oh No, George! (c) Chris Haughton (2012)

But he’s forgetful, too (ADHD, anyone?) and he soon moves from mistake to mistake. The next time he’s tempted…

                                                Oh No, George! (c) Chris Haughton (2012)

he’s even got the ADHD eyes… those ‘I could just quickly do this other thing and still be able to make my deadline’ eyes…

Eventually, after a LOT of distraction and being found out comes the real ADHD shame, perfectly encapsulated by this page:

 

                                               Oh No, George! (c) Chris Haughton (2012)

 And the cycle repeats. I absolutely love this book and always have done -as have my children and all the children I’ve read it with. It’s beautiful, funny, poignant (but I'd never seen myself in it until this time round)…

We don’t have to feel sad (for long) for George. He forgets his mishaps pretty quickly. We’re seeing a snapshot of their lives together and Harris is clearly very familiar with George and his urges. Harris and George have a lovely relationship and Harris still loves George when things go wrong (every ADHDer needs a Harris!). BUT happily for George -and Harris, George doesn’t have adult responsibilities and longer term hopes and dreams that he’s just aware enough of to know that he’s messing up (like lots of adults with ADHD do). George doesn’t need to be free (a la Epictetus) to pursue his projects. He can have an awesome life with the ever-understanding Harris. But what about us?

Like the lovely George, I had also always been happy and optimistic about getting it right this time (whatever ‘it’ is) but for me, it was always followed by ‘if I can just…’ I was George-level un-self-aware: self-aware enough to feel shame when it went wrong (which it did, a lot) it but un-self-aware enough that I genuinely thought I was self-aware. I was definitely George (until recently). I knew what I was meant to do/not meant to do, but I couldn’t make myself do it/not do it. But unlike George, I wasn’t a really appealing dog, beautifully crafted by Chris Haughton that we all love and feel compassionate towards. I was an adult with adult responsibilities who kept not showing up how I wanted to -in writing and in life, but without the lovely Harris to help pick up the pieces.

  

Do you find yourself thinking

This is the year I’m going to be different/do things differently?

I know I can write/illustrate/create more, be more, be better

[followed by the inevitable] if I can just…

use better systems, have a better year plan, be a new and better version of myself?

I always thought that. Each year, each new productivity planner (there are very, very many), each new conference, retreat, goal-setting session, in fact pretty much every day…

But

What if we’re trying to treat the symptoms and not the cause? Maybe we’re starting way too high up in our hierarchy of needs? Maybe we really need to attend to what’s near the bottom?

And if you’re interested, check out Translating ADHD’s podcasts on a slight reimagining of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for people with ADHD… (and episodes 149-153).

Physiological needs

How aware are you of your physiological needs? It might sound like a silly question but I think I was pretty unaware for most of my life until the powerful combination of ADHD and perimenopause left me dangerously forgetful, brain-foggy and lacking in the ability to follow even the most ordinary routines (keys in the fridge, frozen food in the cutlery drawer, leaving the hobs on, forgetting to lock up). You can’t be responsible for children and be forgetting to turn off the hob… so things that had seemed advisable but optional (getting enough sleep etc) became absolutely necessary.

The needs, discussed below, whilst being considered crucial for people with ADHD, are really important for everyone -and fit pretty neatly into Rangan Chatterjee’s Four Pillar Plan to a healthier life, too.

                                                The 4 Pillar Plan (c) Rangan Chatterjee (2018)

So maybe think really honestly about these needs…

Are you really getting enough sleep and at the right time -for you?

I can’t burn the candle at both ends like I did up until even three or four years ago. It’s different for different people and at different points in your life. I used to be a night owl but I love waking up at six to write which means being asleep as close to 10pm as possible. I'm a wreck for days now if I go to bed later. But most of the time now, I wake up, not feeling tired (which is a real revelation for me).

Are you getting enough movement -for you? And is it movement you like? (A note: I need to not think of it as exercise, because I’ve always connected exercise with losing weight/changing shape/being a better version of myself. For me, movement now is to do with being able to think more clearly -and that’s a positive motivator as my job is mostly about thinking! My movement comes mostly in the form of: [1] walking to places I need to get to, fast (so I'm on a mission); [2] dancing unfiltered to loud music on my own (usually with a disco light I can move from room to room) to get me in the proper state for sitting down at my desk and writing if I feel a bit sluggish or tired or don’t feel in the right mood yet; [3] very gentle jogging on the spot to get my focus back on my work if I’m feeling a bit jittery because I’m finding it hard; and [4] regular moving of my feet back and forth on my wooden roller foot massager (costs about £6).

These are the types of movement that work for me. I wanted to be the person who wants to go for a walk for its own sake, especially as there’s a lovely park five minutes’ walk away but I’ve learned that it’s not the kind of movement I like for its own sake. If you stay curious and non-judgemental, can you think of anything you’re doing because you ‘ought’ to like it and if so, if there’s anything you could swap it for that is something you actually do like? It really helps to keep it up when it’s not about self-sacrifice…

 

Putting the right things -for you- in your body.

For people with ADHD that may well mean: Vitamin D, omega 3, iron, lots of protein (including at breakfast) and very possibly stimulant (or non-stimulant) ADHD medication. And for people who are perimenopausal, this may well mean hormone replacement therapy (HRT; I absolutely could not function without it.) As someone who is still on the waiting list for stimulant medication, I’ve tried all the other ones and they’ve been helpful. But by far the most life-altering thing I’ve found has been not eating sugar (except fruit). I can’t stress enough that it is nothing to do with trying to change shape (please read Sonya Renee Taylor’s excellent The Body is Not an Apology

                        The Body is Not an Apology. 2nd Edition (c) Sonya Renee Taylor (2021)

or listen to the Sonya Renee Taylor in conversation with Brene Brown). I had noticed that I seemed more sluggish/brain foggy/forgetful when I was eating lots of sugar (which I’d do when I was feeling stressed about anything) and I decided to do an experiment for a week and stop eating sugar at the same time as stopping scrolling on my phone before 11am. Within three days, I noticed a big difference in terms of my focus. And I realised that it wasn’t so much that the lack of sugar improved my memory, but that I was no longer feeling anything like as impulsive as I’ve felt all my life (and I’ve never had the desire to scroll on my phone since, either, having scrolled for hours every day prior to experimenting with it). Prior to that, if I was writing and got to a tricky part and started feeling discomfort, my thoughts would have immediately turned to chocolate as a way to make me feel better, or failing that, scrolling. Once I’d stopped eating sugar, I found that when things got hard when I was writing, I didn’t have that jittery compulsive feeling, and my thoughts didn’t turn to external ways of removing the discomfort. And something quite extraordinary (for me, at least!) happened…

I have learned to tolerate discomfort and sit with uncomfortable feelings! Sophie Hannah, poet, novelist and writing coach,has talked about this: if you’re trying to write and you start feeling uncomfortable thoughts, what is the worst that will happen? You’ll feel uncomfortable. What’s the best that will happen? You’ll finish the piece that you’re writing. Not having something to take away the discomfort immediately in the form of chocolate or scrolling has allowed me to feel more comfortable with discomfort and finish (and even dare to start) projects that I wouldn’t have finished (or even dared  to start) before. I would never have guessed that refraining from eating sugar would reduce my distractibility and impulsivity, improve my focus and help me learn to tolerate discomfort -in an easy way. But it has. Maybe once I’m on stimulant medication, I’ll get a similar level of calm and lack of distractibility with the increase in dopamine. I’m all for desire -wanting something, and working towards getting it as long as it’s not hurting anyone else, but many of us with ADHD have experienced the unpleasant side of desire that feels all-consuming and out of our control. We so often go for the big emotions because they give us that dopamine hit but it’s a very short-term hit and having experienced the absence of clawing desire for the last four months, I have to say I’d choose peace and control, or Epictetus’s freedom, over chocolate -even as a lifelong devotee.

Are there any changes to putting things or not putting things into your body that might help you with your focus, concentration, distractibility? Again, this has nothing to do with changing body shape or appearance, but has to do with thinking more clearly so you can be more creative.

   

Mindfulness

Finally, it’s worth thinking about how mindfulness in its wider form might help you (not directly physiological needs but still relevant I think). Personally, I really struggle with sitting-down meditation or yoga as I don’t feel still enough for it so I’ve looked for other ways to feel mindful. Think about what makes you still? What helps you feel at peace? It might not be what works for someone else. For me, it’s dark and water, and I’ve learned to incorporate both into my life during my working day and week.

Writing in the dark stills me like almost nothing else. I do it at 6am each morning, in bed, and it’s like a magical time where it feels like all the world’s asleep (including my internal editor). Perfect.

And water -works for me. Top three water/work combinations:

3 Listening to waves sounds (or even rain) through headphones as I write or read

2 Writing by water -there’s a perfect spot by the canal in town where I write once a week for hours

1 Jacuzzi -joint first with writing in the dark for feeling still. Who knew? The bubbles mean you are constantly being moved around just enough (so you don’t have to be making those movements yourself as you would outside of water) and it’s noisy enough to block out most of the conversation around you and to still your own mind. It’s like the humming, vibrating baby chairs for fretful babies. Perfect. It’s where my mind is the stillest it ever gets and I can think really clearly about my work.

I am extremely aware of how fortunate I am and the privilege I have in being able to access these things, including a gym (which I literally only use for writing, in and out of the jacuzzi; if a jacuzzi would help you think, lots of Sports Direct gyms have a jacuzzi and cost £20 per month including all classes); the right kind of ADHD/perimenopause nutrition; an ADHD assessment; ADHD medication (which I'll get once I finally get to the front of the waiting list) and Access to Work support from the Department of Work and Pensions. If anyone wanted help with where or how to get ADHD support (particularly in the UK), please get in touch and I’ll try and get some information up on my website shortly, including a guide to getting Access to Work for ADHD, which I wrote but took out as the blogpost was already too long.

 

I’m glad George lacks the self-awareness to change -because it’s in his nature to be impulsive and he has such a great time and he’s going to forget his shame really quickly and get back to living his best life. And he’s a dog. In a story (thank you, Chris Haughton for such a wonderful book). But as adults with responsibilities and wanting to write and or illustrate our stories, and deadlines (and for some of us, ADHD), attending to our physiological needs might be a good place to start exploring Epictetus's possible freedom…

If you have any thoughts on what has helped free you up to make the most of your creativity, or would like to share what's been getting in your way and if something has helped, please let us know in the comments below. Juliet Clare Bell is a children’s author of over 35 picture books and early readers and is also branching out into some longer writing projects which she is now confident she can actually finish… She does author visits in mostly primary, but sometimes secondary, schools, and you can find her at www.julietclarebell.com

A New Year Brings New Challenges by Chitra Soundar

 The Cambridge dictionary defines a challenge as:

something that is difficult and that tests someone's ability or determination.

And this is true. We face many challenges in our lives that tests our ability to overcome them and even tests our determination. When we give up, regardless of our abilities, we fail. 

As a new writer all those years ago, I had the determination to write picture books. More than raw talent. I’m not one of those writers who writes a perfect word in a perfect sentence making up a perfect picture book in the first setting. (Does this mythical writer exist? If so, I don’t want to meet them). 

I had determination because I loved picture books. I wanted to write them. I read hundreds of picture books and wrote hundreds of really bad stories. Perhaps I didn’t have the ability right away. But lucky for us writers, ability can be developed over a period of time, if only you had the determination to stick with it. 

I learned by reading, writing, getting feedback from course leaders and peer groups. I never gave up. I just kept writing and writing and writing and through all this I was submitting too. If one idea grabbed my interest so much that I couldn’t shake it off, I held on to that idea. I wrote it and rewrote it in different forms and shapes. I modelled my text like an artist would model their paintings of great masters. 

Until one day I got an acceptance. Not in the writing of it – but for the idea. And the editor, showed me how to cut my words, kill my darlings, and spruce up the word salad (take your pick of metaphors, I’ve got loads where this comes from) with an example of one spread. 

It was my story and it was all there in my 1000 word essay. But she cut through all of that extra verbiage and created the first spread in 10 words. I’m a quick learner. Over the weekend I converted my 1000 words picture book novel into a 100-words PB manuscript. That was my first picture book and it did well. That story had stuck with me for years. I got some amazing rejections – a very famous editor from a big publishing house in the US sent me a 2-page rejection letter (if you must know, I’ve still got it). And my faith in that story paid off. 

Illustrated by Priya Kuriyan and published by Tulika Books, India.

But the lesson from that story is – don’t give up. Get better at your craft by putting in the work. Malcolm Gladwell’s famous 10000 hours of slog. 

I’m still working at my craft, my ability to write picture books.  I’ve published 20 picture books since – in India, UK and the US and they have been translated, shortlisted and even won prizes. But I’m still determined to make my craft better. I still work on every text for months and years, share it with my peer group, keep at the ones that tug at my heart and wake me up at night. 

If writing picture books was easy, and it didn’t need determination and improving my ability, then I wouldn’t be doing it still. I would have gotten bored and gone to something else. If I hadn’t had the success I had about 6 years into my struggle, I’m not sure how much longer I would have stuck at it. Perhaps all my life, perhaps not after a decade…

But this is where the ability part comes in. Sheer determination is not enough. You have to listen and be open to new ideas, feedback, improving your craft. You have to brace yourself and share it with your peer group, send it out knowing it will be rejected, enter competitions (good ones!) and read, read, read. Compare your text with the masters and analyse why you can’t do what they do. 

If you're not sure why you feel you're getting rejected after many years of work, also be aware the market is changing, what's being published is changing every day, and the readers are changing. The world is a different place every day and the kids of today need different books for today's world. You have to adapt with it and when your craft is solid, it will have the ability to flex and help you adapt. 

So how do you improve without paying thousands for a course or even finding a critique group. Self-help will always be the first step towards improvement. Here is one of my analysis / improvement tips. It's in two parts - so try both one after the other. Don't skip the steps. 

Writing Exercise 1

Step 1: Take a really good PB you love. Choose one that’s in the genre / tone / cultural context that you’d like to write in. Make sure it's critically acclaimed and not just one of your nostalgic ones. Find critically acclaimed picture books from places like Book Trust recommendations, Guardian children's round-ups, CLPE's recommended list, reputed magazines that cover books like Books for Keeps and reputed award lists like the Yoto Carnegie, IBC and Jhalak prize. 

Step 2: Read this PB a few times. 

Step 3: Copy it out word for word (by hand or type it up – doesn’t matter). 

Step 4: This is the important step.  Now put it away and tell the same story that you just typed up in your own words. Don’t judge it yet. Just tell the same story in your original words. Put it away.

Step 5: Come back the next day and compare what you typed up with what you wrote. What is the difference? What exactly did they do that you couldn’t replicate? 

List the differences and analyse if 

(a) It’s a craft thing. Was it the sentence structure or word choice?

(b) Is it a writer’s voice – what goes into it? Why is their text more appealing.

(c) Is it their unique way of looking at the world – are their metaphors and analogies and word choices different? 

Is it one of the above or some of the above or all of the above? That’s one of the craft / ability areas you need to develop in yourself. 

But how do you do that? Here is Writing Exercise 2. This must follow the above. No shortcuts on the path to glory. 

1. Pick a topic that is adjacent or similar to the PB you copied.

2. Go through your analysis – what was missing last time. Read and remember and be conscious of your shortcomings.

3. Now write the new story in your own words – keeping in mind the things you need to improve. 

4. Put it away for a couple of days.

5. Read it again after a few days and compare it to the master! 

6. Compare it with your rewrite of the master in Exercise 1.

7. Analyse the following:

a. Are you making the same mistake?

b. Have you improved on the things you said you were lacking?

c. Is this text better than the one you wrote in Exercise 1

Repeat these two exercises with a few different acclaimed PBs you love. See if your craft is improving. See if you are finding your own style even though you’re emulating the best.

Hang on, don't run away to read and write yet. I've one more thing to add. 

So now back to the Challenge! It’s a new year and a time to surge forward with determination. Last year this time, I set a challenge to the readers of PB Denners. Read it here.

There are not that many books about “being patient” for young picture book readers. Perhaps you can learn the art of patience by writing a story about it? That’s your new year’s challenge from Picture Book Den!

Be honest, how many of you actually did it? Did you submit it? Did you get it published, tell us about it. If you didn’t do it, why not? But I’m patient. You can have a go this year if you want.

Right, but that’s not the challenge I want to set you this year. My challenge is simply 

do Exercise 1 and Exercise 2 for at least 4 books this year. That means by end of the year you will have at least 4 manuscripts that you can work on! 

C’mon! You can do it! You have the ability to improve your ability and the determination to overcome your own procrastination! 

Happy New Year to you all and hope that peace returns to Earth and picture books bring joy in times of strife and hardships.

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The Highlight of Our Writing Career - The Picture Book Den

It's that time of year when the Picture Book Den team get together and create a group post. 

This year we wanted to share with you a highlight of our writing career. We hope you enjoy and wish you all the best for this festive season and a fabulous 2024!

Moira Butterfield 

There have been highs and lows in my writing career and there still are. It's part of the gig. Sometimes it feels as though, with every book, I must restart from scratch. I forget that I have any kind of track record and  it feels like I am at the bottom of the mountain again. It's then that I need to bring out my precious gems to look at - those surprising and unasked-for nuggets of good feedback from everyday folk that I store in my memory. These may seem trivial but are, in fact, priceless to a writer - like magic fuel that can keep us going when our tanks seem empty. Here's a very precious one - When I moved to a new house I met my new neighbour. She asked what I did for a living, looked amazed and said 'You're the writer of my boy's favourite book. It's up in the attic now. We read it to him so many times!". Yes - I did feel old because the  boy in question was at 'big school' by then, but I also filled up with pride that I had done this. So make sure you pass on good feedback to your favourite authors. You'll be giving them a shiny career highlight! 

Pippa Goodhart

    Ah, so many highlights after all these years! Most of them courtesy of my You Choose picture books illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Nick and I collect images of the tattiest copies of those books, ones loved to literal bits! But there was also the young man who is now a professional ballet dancer because, his mother tells, aged seven he saw the image of the ballet dancers in You Choose and said, 'I want to do that'. And the Ukrainian refugee child totally absorbed in choosing his own life in a copy of You Choose. And more. But I'm going to choose a topical and current You Choose highlight.

    Nick and my new You Choose Christmas book has the two of us, large and gloriously attired, on its final spread -

 

We didn't manage the Elvis jumpsuit and Flamenco dress, but we did try to match the headwear when we did signing session for the book last weekend! 

Chitra Soundar

I'm a picture book writer at heart. My first picture book came out in India in 2010 and it was a masterclass in editing. With the editor's advice, I edited a 1000 word manuscript into a 100 word manuscript over a weekend and to my delight that picture book had an amazing run. Since then I've written over 20 picture books. The highlights are so many... My series of Farmer Falgu books (illustrated by Kanika Nair) brought me Indian and international recognition. Pattan's Pumpkin (illustrated by Frané Lessac) is such a hit with children, parents and teachers. Mummy-baby books I wrote for Lantana Publishing, illustrated by Poonam Mistry - You're Safe with Me (the first book in the series) was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal and You're Snug with Me got shortlisted too, which is a huge honour. 

 

But the most recent highlight I feel is my proudest moment, because even though I've been publishing with Walker Books, my first picture book with Walker Books (the giant of picture book publishing) will be out February 2024 titled It's Time to Hush and say Good Night, and has been the Editor's Pick at The Booksellers and already making waves. It is inspired by  traditional Indian lullabies and beautifully illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat which is fantastic as both of us are from Chennai, India. 

Lynne Garner

My writing career highlight is a rejection letter. I know that may sound odd but it's the only rejection I've received which was handwritten on a complement slip. In essence this rejection said, "The story isn't quite right for us, but I like your style so do you have anything else you are working on? If so, please send to me." 

 

I’d an idea I'd been mulling over but hadn't written. So, I got tapping and the very first draft of 'Bramble's Diary' was completed. I placed it to one side and allowed it to 'rest.' I then edited, 'rested' it and edited again. Finally, I felt happy enough to sent it off. The editor who had sent me the rejection came back with a very positive reply. And after six rewrites and a change of title 'A Book For Bramble' was published. 

 

Hence why this rejection is my chosen highlight. 

Natascha Biebow

 

The most surprising and heartwarming highlight of my career has been connecting with children and wonderful teachers and librarians all around the world doing virtual and in-person school visits. Surprising because I am essentially quite a shy person and even though I do a lot of public speaking in my role as Co-Regional Advisor of the SCBWI British Isles, when my book THE CRAYON MAN was published, I was daunted by the prospect of 'getting out there' to promote it. I applied for an SCBWI Marketing Grant, and put down an action plan on paper (and on this blog), which meant I would be accountable and have to come out from under my rock:

I was surprised when I was awarded the SCBWI grant, which enabled me to do a week of author visits in Pennsylvania and DC, including a farmers' market in Easton, PA, home of Crayola. 

Nothing better than seeing children engrossed in your book!

That same year, I visited my school as an author!

 

 

Recently, I was invited to the International School in Panama, which was extra special because I attended an international school, so have a real connection with third culture kids.

 

Through my school visits, I have loved meeting children and hearing their curious questions about working as an author, the invention of the Caryola crayons and living in England. And sometimes, the opportunity to do messy art and mix cool colours together:

 

 

A couple of months ago, an unexpected gift arrived in my postbox:

 

These children are very lucky to have such caring teachers and librarians, seeking out opportunities to connect with authors and enrich their students' learning by making connections around the world. I love seeing their creative drawings and curious minds at work!

Mini Grey

My career highlight is finally being able to make the book it had taken me ten years to work out – The Greatest Show on Earth. I’m so grateful to Joe Marriott, my editor, for saying “Yes, let’s make this book!” 

The process of making it was a highlight because I had to get to grips for the first time with proper non-fiction science content, and try and process millions of years of evolution into a story that’s digestible by any one, any age. 

I loved doing the research – and the gift was that I found out how much I didn’t know, and how much there is still to find out – there are more and more stories to tell about animal evolution and our own human evolution: all the animal ancestors we carry inside our vertebrate bodies -  our inner fish, tetrapods, synapsids, mammals, primates… 

Once the book was published, working out exactly how to perform the 4.6 million year story of Life on Earth –  which bits of the story to focus on, and how to make all that time visible and immersive – that was a whole lot of new stuff to find out. And collaborating with audiences - especially the brilliant enthusiastic mix of adults and children you find at festivals -  to build a picture of the story of life on Earth with puppets and timelines has been a fantastic experience. 

And here are a couple of bonus picture highlights:

In other highlights: here I'm opening John Hampden School library in June 2022 with help from the Queen who was still alive then (but this Queen is a cut-out one...)

In other highlights: here in July 2023 AF Harrold and me are at Booktastic Bedford. Our book - The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice had come out in 2020 lockdown, so it was great to finally get to be on stage together.

Juliet Clare Bell

I feel incredibly lucky to be a children's author and there have been lots of wonderful moments. Here are a few highlights...

When Don't Panic, Annika! (illustrated by Jennifer E Morris) was read on CBeebies as my children loved CBeebies -and the presenter who read it

When The Kite Princess (illustrated by Laura Kate Chapman) started being sold by Amnesty International UK. It came completely out of the blue and it was an organisation I'd done loads of campaigning with as a child, as a teenager in college, at university and beyond. And then I was invited to a local International Women's Day event with vulnerable women and asylum seekers. They called it Subversive Sewing and we used The Kite Princess story and drew and decorated our own kites and put words of freedom on the kites and displayed them. It was incredibly moving

When people told me how Benny's Hat (illustrated by Dave Gray) had helped them when a family member had died

When I read reviews of Luka and the Food Cloud (illustrated by Dave Gray) from parents saying that their children felt seen and understood for the first time ever after reading the book

But working with young children is probably the highest of the highlights. Facilitating creative work with young people with life-limiting conditions at a children's hospice, and with bereaved and pre-bereaved siblings, when we were doing research for Benny's Hat, was an absolute privilege, as was interviewing people with ARFID and parents of children with ARFID for Luka and the Food Cloud

Bumping into children that I've done author visits with at a later date, outside of school, is so lovely and often very funny. I absolutely loved meeting a whole class-load of children I'd done an author visit with a few months before -at a bus stop in central Birmingham! They all called out to me as I approached the bus stop and it was a party atmosphere -which carried on when we got on the same bus and I sat and chatted with them on the top deck until they got off at their school stop about twenty minutes later.

And finally, one of my absolute highlights was when a girl put her hand up in an assembly I was doing and asked, completely seriously, in hushed tones, in front of hundreds of other school children...

Is your hair magic?

Clare Helen Welsh

This year, I was invited to speak at the SCBWI Conference in Manchester. I ran a session called Playing with Ideas, helping picture book authors and illustrators embrace the unexpected and find confidence as creatives.

I always enjoy the SCBWI-BI conferences. I've been every year  since 2013! It's fantastic to meet with new and old friends and to soak up the creative energy from the faculty . It's my professional development to myself - a highlight of my writing year.

But this year was extra special. 

I vividly remember my first conference. I remember the sessions I went to, I remember getting books signed by Catherine Rayner and watching Dave Cousins win the Crystal Kite Award. I remember looking around and thinking what a super tribe of people I'd found and wouldn't it be amazing to be published one day.

Fast forward almost ten years to the day since I first started writing, I am reflecting on just how much I have achieved. The 2023 SCBWI conference was a marker in my writing career, as well as a highlight. An opportunity to look back and reflect on everything I am proud of, how much I have learned and the people I've met on the way.