by Molly Idle
It has been said that an infinite well of creativity springs within each and every one of us.
Well, I wasted a lot of time trying to draw inspiration from mine with a bucket that was already full. At least, that’s what I came to realize after years of worrying that my well had run dry.
Before I came to that realization however, this is the conversation I had with myself every time I was working on a book…
Me 1: I like the way this idea is shaping up. It’s all good right?
Me 2: Are you kidding me? Sure, this idea is ok, but what if I can’t think of an idea for the next book? Or the one after that? What if I’ve used up all my good ideas?!
Me 1: Um…I don’t have an answer to that.
Me 2: See! I’m out of answers just like I’m out of ideas!
Me 1: Oh. No.
*head/desk in a schlump of despair*
Thus I spent my time working on every project thinking that it would be my last.
Then, one day, as I boxed up a finished book, sent it off, and thought… “Well, that’s it then, I’m finished, this is the end…”
*Plink!*
A new idea sprang up in my mind.
And this mental conversation ensued…
Me 1: I have a great new idea!
Me 2: Wow, that’s lucky! I thought we were all out of new ideas…
Oprah: Luck is the moment when preparation meets opportunity.
Me1: Oprah, how did you get in here?
Oprah: (smiles mysteriously, then vanishes in a mist of chai tea)
Me 2: Okaaayyy…
When I finished up the next project it happened again (sans Oprah and chai). Another new idea came to me within days!
Mental conversation…
Me 1: Coincidence?
Me 2 : I think not.
Me 1: Alrirght then, prove it…
Me 2: Alright then, I will!
So, I started consciously keeping track of how and when I came up with new ideas, and what I discovered was this… It wasn’t luck. That is to say, it wasn’t random.
I discovered that my brain seemed to have a finite number of ideas it could hold as I worked on them. When my brain was full, I could try to pull up ideas from the wellspring of creativity all I wanted, and not be able to draw up so much a drop of inspiration. But, through preparing one idea, drawing it out—I simultaneously created the space, or opportunity, to draw up another.
So, Oprah, with her mysterious mental chai mist, was right! “Luck is the moment when preparation meets opportunity.”
Ergo, Luck = Work
Now, that’s not to say that every idea I draw up gets poured out into a picture book.
Sheesh, no!
Some ideas are forgotten (just like that two day old cuppa chai tea left sitting on my desk).
Some ideas get poured straight down the drain.
Some ideas may simmer for a bit, then get poured down the drain, only to be replaced by another idea that may not work out either, and another… and another!
But, as long as I keep working, sometimes, sometimes, I get lucky. Sometimes, I draw up an idea from the well, and it pours it out, through pencil and paper, into a picture book.
Molly Idle has been drawing ever since she could wield a pencil. But while she started scribbling before she could walk, her professional career as an artist began slightly later…
It was upon her graduation from Arizona State University, with a BFA in Drawing, that Molly accepted an offer to work for DreamWorks Feature Animation Studios. After five years, a number of film credits, and an incredibly good time, she left the studio and leapt with gusto into the world of children’s book illustration!
Molly now lives in Arizona with her brilliant husband, two wonderfully mischievous sons, and two snugly cats. When not making mischief with her boys or watching old Technicolor musicals, she can be found at her desk scribbling away, with a pencil in one hand and a cup of espresso in the other- creating a plethora of profoundly whimsical picture books!
www.idleillustration.com
Twitter: @mollyidle
Facebook: Idle Illustration
Instagram: @mollyidle
Molly is giving away a signed FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO poster!
This prize will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for this prize if:
- You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
- You have commented ONCE ONLY on today’s post.
- You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)
Good luck, everyone!
Welcome to the first bimonthly Read & Romp Roundup. Thanks to those of you who submitted posts this time around. I also happened to stumble across a few additional posts related to picture books and dance, so I've included those as well. Hope you enjoy the roundup!
Danielle at
This Picture Book Life shares a post about the picture book
Bonjour Camille, which will be released in August from Chronicle Books. Dressed in a tutu and a top hat, Camille is a little girl with a whole lot of things to do! Check out Danielle's post to learn more about these "things" and to see several bold and energetic illustrations from the book.
Atelierstorytime shares a blog post by
Anna Forlati -- the illustrator of the Italian picture book
Yoga Piccolo Piccolo. Translated as "Small Small Yoga,"
Yoga Piccolo Picollo may not be available in an English version, but the gorgeous illustrations in this blog post will speak to everyone!
At
Maria's Movers, Maria explores the wordless picture book
Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle, which won a Caldecott Honor in 2014. Read her post to see how she used the book in a workshop for 6-year-olds about creating new dances!
Maria was also featured in the
June Book to Boogie post at the Library as Incubator Project, where she shared movement ideas to go with the picture book
Here Are My Hands. A month earlier, the
May Book to Boogie post featured movement ideas to go with the picture book
SPLASH! by Ann Jonas.
At the
Dirigible Plum, Elizabeth reviews the nonfiction picture book
Dancing to Freedom: The True Story of Mao's Last Dancer. The book tells the story of Li Cunxin, who grew up in rural China and was selected as a boy to move to Beijing to train as a ballet dancer. Interestingly, the book is written by the dancer himself. The illustrations by Anne Spudvilas, some of which you can see in Elizabeth's post, help tell his emotional story.
And last but not least,
Reading Today Online shares a fun interview with Connie Schofield-Morrison and Frank Morrison -- the husband-and-wife team who created the new picture book
I Got the Rhythm. They actually interview each other about creating the book. You don't want to miss it!
Flora and the Flamingo, a 2013 Caldecott Honor Book by Molly Idle (Chronicle Books), arrived at my home yesterday—and how happy was I to see it. Like all truly outstanding picture books, this story about a flouncy girl and an elegant bird needs no words. On bright expanses of white, these two mostly pinkish creatures posture and pose, pursue and retreat, provoke and mimic—which is to say, they forge a friendship.
The flamingo stands on a single webbed foot. Flora does too. The flamingo rearranges its skinny leg. Flora flexes her own rather less skinny one. The flamingo stretches its wings, and look, Flora has wings as well. But soon things get complicated—the flamingo so happy to be looked at, so unto itself, that Flora (trying too hard to emulate the bird's strutting configurations) takes a tumble. Feelings get hurt. The flamingo turns, Flora turns. The you-do-as-I-do changes to a let-us-do-together. The two dance now, face to face.
What is remarkable about this book is how emotional it all becomes. How everything is said without the expenditure of a single letter. But also: how much like dance this really does become—graceful, exuberant, joyous, each character bigger by far within the wingspan of the other.
A better Beth would take this book to the nearest child as a gift. But I'm just going to have to buy a copy for the next little one in my life (and I know precisely who that is). I'm keeping this copy for me, for when I want to be reminded of the power of friendship and the necessary glory of dance.
For those who wonder, that is Scott Lazarov and Magdalena Piekarz, as I photographed them back in 2009 at DanceSport Academy in Ardmore.
Well, ok, it's really called International Book Giving Day...
But I AM giving away four- count 'em FOUR- copies of FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO!
In keeping with the "International" part of International Book Giving Day- I'm giving away
one copy each of the English, Spanish, French and Italian translations/editions of the book!
To enter for your chance to win simply leave a comment here... in any language :)
Winners will be randomly chosen from all of the entries, and I'll announce the lucky four
tonight at 9PM (MST)!
Thank you!
Gracias!
Merci!
Grazie!
Love the Oprah and chai references. Thanks for a fun post.
Great ideas on a Monday morning!
Funny and so true.
Chai is delicious but not as delicious as your books, Molly! Thanks!
Wow! Pink flamingo morning, espresso AND chai tea and mysterious manifestations of Oprah…my ideas have multiplied already!
I love you sharing how having one PB idea and working that idea leads to more ideas to work on. While not all become PBs, it is important to work through the process and silence the inner critic. Thank you for a great reminder to start the week!
This is really interesting…I’ve been struggling with coming up with good ideas–maybe I just need to work on the ideas that I have :)
Loved the mental conversation! It’s nice to hear others have these, too!
This post was just lovely. And yay! for including a good ol’ Far Side. Thanks, Molly!
Thank you for this inspiring Monday morning post AND introducing me to new illustrators! Gets those, only had one cup of caffine juices flowing and going!