Congratulations on completing PiBoIdMo!
This activity generates such a feeling of abundance. Ideas everywhere! Some of these ideas have great promise, and some of them…don’t.
Photo: Daniel Plazanet (Daplaza)
I characterize ideas as pebbles or seeds. Pebbles are hard and immutable. They might be shiny, or pretty, or just dusty. But whatever they are, they’re rocks. They aren’t going to grow into something different.
Photo: Mrmariokartguy
But seeds…oh, seeds! Some look like pebbles. They seem hard and small and nondescript at first. But if you nurture them with questions, and time, and creativity, the seed ideas can grow into more—like a picture book.
So, how do I sort them out? I ask questions. I play around with answers. I try to be honest, even when I don’t want to. Here are some of the things I ask:
One premise from my PiBoIdMo list this year is: “I Won’t Come Down: Rhyming pb from pov of a kitten stuck in a tree. With a refrain? Who tries to get me down? Kid climbs up, but I climb higher. Fire truck? Where’s the fire? Need a personality for the kitten. Is she witty and clever? Scared to death? Sassy?”
1) Who is my main character?
Does my idea or premise suggest a particular character? Does she fit the situation perfectly? Or totally clash with it? In this case, as I re-read the idea, I know my main character kitten HAS to be a witty, clever girl. She appears to be stuck in the tree, but she’s really perfectly happy up there.
2) What is the conflict?
Easy-peasy. Everybody assumes she wants to get down, but she doesn’t. Sometimes the conflict isn’t obvious. Another of my ideas is about a pet cloud. Just an idea—but I don’t have a clue what the conflict would be (yet).
3) Does it make me ask more questions?
A good idea expands. It makes me want to explore possibilities. My treed kitten does that for me.
4) Has it been done a million times?
Uniqueness is key in publishing picture books. I’ve had manuscripts turned down recently that editors said they loved but that were “too similar” to books already published—even though the similarity is broad at most. In this tight market, publishers don’t want two “pet books” or whatever. I start on Amazon. I find 27 picture books including the words “kitten” and “tree” published over the past 25 years. Dang. That doesn’t mean any of them have the same premise, but I’ll need to do further research.
5) Can I see the book in my mind?
Picture books, of course, need pictures. Does my idea make me immediately visualize tons of images?
6) Is it a seed that will grow a short story instead of a picture book?
It can take years of reading to absorb the intrinsic difference between the two forms. Illo potential is part of it, but there’s more. If your idea depends on a twist/joke ending, it’s likely to be a short story. (The ending of a picture book should be surprising and satisfying, but not a joke/punchline.) If you can picture one great illo for it, but not 14, it’s a short story. If it involves complex plot points and many details, it’s a short story.
7) Does it stand up to repeti
Thanks for some thoughtful ideas about getting our little idea seeds to germinate. Love the idea of even putting the rocks to work!
Wonderful advice on how to grow my ideas into picture books. Thanks, Laura! And congrats on your new book!
Love the pebbles border. *smiling* Great questions and super analogy with the pebbles and the seeds. I have a picture book about a cat stuck in our tree. It is a true story. Not rhyming though. Now for the fun part. Actually writing these stories.
Great information, I am printing this off as a reminder when I am going back through my ideas.Pebble or Seed, that is the question?
Ah, but pebbles…. you crack them open and maybe there’s a glint of pyrite or a brachiopod or …..
Being a gardener, however, I tend to think in terms of germinating ideas and nurturing stories. Thanks for the images.
Wonderful post, Laura!
Most of my ideas are pebbles. But one of them turned out to be a real deal seed.
Helpful, thank you.
I am going to print this post and keep it on my desk as I go through my ideas. Very helpful!
You have to find a lot of pebbles before you find a seed –
Thank you for the practical advice on how to tell if your idea will take root, Laura–I especially liked your short-story-or-picture-book test: most helpful!
Thank you Laura this is great advice. I’m sure out of a month’s worth of ideas there has to be some seeds mixed in with some pebbles.
Thanks for all the thoughts about how to work with our ideas. Hoping for some seeds!
Love the post. This is a bit scary, for me, but I like writing pet books and I had a kitten stuck in a tree on my idea list. Now what? If I do it now I will feel like I stole an idea.
Has this ever happened to anyone else, and if so, what did you do?
Thanks, Laura. I’ll use these ideas to test my seeds. It’s great to have this continued encouragement after birthing PB ideas for a month! I’m looking forward to reading your new book.