Erin Murphy (l.) and Liz Garton Scanlon at the 2010 Newbery-Caldecott Award Banquet, where Marla Frazee, illustrator of Liz's All the World (Beach Lane/S&S), was awarded a Caldecott Honor.
by Erin Murphy
So, you’ve got 30 picture book ideas. Now what do you do?
FILE.
Keep them. All of them. Do you have an idea file of some kind? You should. It’s obvious that you might turn to the idea file when you’re casting about for something new to write, but it also can do wonders for unlocking writers block. You never know when some seemingly unrelated idea will be just the thing to add the missing layer to another piece. Sometimes it’s less direct than that; just reading through ideas is a way of getting you out of a stuck place, much like taking a walk or strolling through a gallery can knock you out of a creative rut.
CHOOSE.
Sort through them to find the most promising ideas to spend more time with. Laura Purdie Salas had some great suggestions about how to evaluate your ideas last week.
WORK.
Budget time to work on each of those most promising ideas. Not just once, but two or three times per idea before you decide if they’re worth pursuing further. Even if you schedule 20 minutes of writing time a day, you can spend 10 on a new idea, and 10 on an idea you’ve already worked on some, and by the new year, you’ll most likely have a couple of solid ideas that are coming together into a real picture book manuscript.
GIVE SPACE.
Some ideas seem to have promise, but they resist any time and attention you give them. This is a sign that they need to sit in your subconscious for awhile. They will most likely kick and scream when they’re ready.
OBSERVE.
After a concentrated creative period like PiBoIdMo, you’ve got a great opportunity to take stock of where and when you do your most creative thinking. Did you get your best ideas in the car while waiting for your kid to come out of your piano lesson? Well then, perhaps a copy of your promising idea list needs to stay in the car so you can keep using that time for best results.
SORT AND EVALUATE.
I’m not talking about evaluating the idea; you’ve already done that. I’m talking about general trends. Try putting all 30 ideas into categories (character-driven, concept-driven, voice-driven, plot-driven; lyrical, funny, quiet; spontaneous-feeling or intellectual…). Are you heavily weighted towards one type of story? Is that your strength? (Or, conversely, are you limiting yourself unnecessarily?) What research can you do about that type of story to help you grow in your picture book writing craft?
REVISIT.
Don’t forget to go back to that full list of ideas now and then. Who knows what discarded idea ends up turning out to have legs! Kathy Duval’s I Think I See a UFO, forthcoming from Disney-Hyperion, to be illustrated by the wonderful Adam McCauley, was a nearly discarded idea that found a home at the first publisher we sent it to!
Erin Murphy was born and raised in Arizona, and founded EMLA
This is excellent, Erin. Thank you! I will add your suggestions of 1) working on an idea more than once before heading to the draft or re-file stage, and 2) categorizing the ideas to the daily “look at one idea and flesh it out a bit” process I’ve been going through this month.
Thank you, Erin, for sharing your thoughts. Keeping things organized helps me work and your ideas definitely help contribute to that!
Sounds like a plan – esp. the idea file.
Thank you for the continued nudging to get those ideas worked over until something becomes SOMETHING. I appreciate the experience shared here.
Wonderful post! I’m delighted to learn about you and appreciate your advice. I particularly appreciate the suggestion to take second and third looks at ideas before re-filing them. Kind of reminds me that sometimes it takes a few — or more — exposures to a new vegetable for a child to decide it’s palatable. LOL!
Thank you Erin.
I like having a process as my writing and illustrating life gets more and more complex.
“Sort & Evaluate” – this might be my favorite. I re-read my ideas yesterday and felt there was a common theme to a few. Am I limiting myself? I’ll take a few and twist them into places that I’m not comfortable with as a writer. Flex my creative muscles. You never know what might happen.
Thanks!
Thanks, Erin! Your post completes the picture….we have come full circle. I love your idea of categorizing our ideas, to see where our preferences lie. Mine would fall into the non-fiction category, but, as I mentioned in my PiBoIdMo blog post, this challenge has propelled me into the fiction world. I like it! I appreciate your helpful suggestions on the last day of PiBoIdMo. It will be missed, but, 12×12 in 2012 is just around the corner, thanks to Julie Hedlund!
LOve your suggestion of the ideal file and of course how to sort and organize them.
Great advice– going back more than once and do more than give the ideas a thumbs up or down. A nice checklist of things to do with the month’s output to get the most out of it. Thanks so much, Erin.