Bonnie Adamson – Becky Levine

PiBoIdMo: A Wrap-up

Posted on 6 Dec 20116 Dec 2011 by beckylevine

A few days before November, I took the PiBoIdMo pledge, promising that I’d do my best to come up with 30 ideas in 30 days.

How many ideas did I get?

57!!!!

Which means, I get this!

I also treated myself to one of the PiBoIdMo mugs, with Bonnie Adamson’s darling art, from the CafePress store.

Yes, I’m proud of myself. Especially because I definitely got a bit muddled there with the stupid sickness that hit the family in the middle of the month. And, you know, some of those ideas are pretty…meh. But there are a few, maybe a half-dozen, that sparkle. At least for me. One of my critique partners who also did PiBoIdMo, has ranked his ideas, in order of how strongly they call to him. That’s next on my PiBoIdMo to-do list. To identify the ideas that I want to work on, or–I guess–that want me to work on them!

Because it’s not really time for pride yet. Happiness, yes, that I have way more ideas than I would have had if it weren’t for Tara Lazar and her awesome challenge. What really matters, though, is what I do with these ideas. What’s important is that I don’t simply shut them in a drawer, or drop them into that folder on my computer and forget about them.

Ideas aren’t stories. Yet.

One of my critique partners, who also did PiBoIdMo, has gone ahead and ranked his ideas–putting those that really call to him up at the top. I think this is the next task on my PiBoIdMo to-do list. I know I have maybe a half-dozen ideas that are sparkling for me, and the first thing to do is identify them.

The next thing is to grow them. I need to give them characters–characters with problems. I need to find settings and voices. I need to turn those ideas into plots. What I have is just what Laura Purdie Salas talked about in her PiBoIdMo post–I have seeds. I need to tend them–with my imagination, my creativity, and–here’s the most important: my time. This is the kind of gardening I can get behind.

This is the notebook I bought in October.

Pretty, isn’t it. It’s also something else…just the beginning.

Here’s my commitment to my PiBoIdMo idea list. That I will take at least one of the ideas on it and turn it into something more. Into a story that I will pass along to my critique group, a story that I will revise. And revise.

Who’s with me?

Friday Five

Friday Five: Restart

Posted on 2 Dec 2011 by beckylevine

Yesterday was a catch-up day. My to-do list had gotten pretty long while we were out of commission, so I plugged myself in at my desk and slogged through, checking things off and moving on.

Felt good.

I have dipped a toe back into my writing & reading, too. Just a bit. And today felt like clearing the decks on things that were getting in the way of doing more of that.

For this week’s Friday Five, a peek at the baby steps I’m taking back into my word world.

1. Ran through a very rough draft of a kind-of concept picture book. Made a couple of little tweaks, and then sent it out the door to my critique group, with a request that they give me feedback on the overall (if any) viability and any ideas for creating that viability if it doesn’t exist. Yet.

2. Completed PiBoIdMo with more than 30 ideas, took the PiBoIdMo Winner’s Pledge (which means I am officially entered for some awesome prizes!), and ordered my PiBoIdMo 2011 mug, with Bonnie Adamson’s fantastic art, from the CafePress PiBoIdMo shop. The big victory for me here was not just finishing the month with enough ideas, but not letting the last few days of the month slide away without any ideas, after I took a couple of days off for being sick. I wanted to actually, actively complete the challenge, and I did. Yay, me. Yay, anyone who also won or participated. Yay, everyone who spent any time writing speedily for NaNoWriMo, too. November is really about doing more than you would/could have, if you hadn’t tried to take the challenge. So kudos all around!

3. Opened the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook again. Got started on the next exercise. Picked a scene to view from the other way around. And today I’ll dig in and really start looking at the YA historical. Again.

4. Read something other than an Agatha Christie mystery or a Terry Pratchett novel. All of you know with what high esteem I seriously hold both these authors, but they are also restful for me in a way that goes well with being ill, or tending the ill. So I’ve been reading a LOT of both. Yesterday, I started and finished Ruta Sepetys’ Between Shades of Gray. It felt great to pick up something new, something intense and powerful. Okay, probably not the smartest choice for a cold day when the sun set by 5:00, but definitely a read to recommend. And, again, a historical novel with tight, short chapters–something I want for my own YA and something I am really going to have to push myself to get right.

5. Critiqued pieces from two of my critique partners. Lovely to get back into reading good stuff and digging in for helpful feedback. Have I mentioned that my brain was starting to atrophy?

What little pieces of reading and writing did you keep going in your life the last week or so. Did you push through for NaNo, pass the great number THIRTY in PiBoIdMo, or even just get an hour in here or there to move words from your mind to your computer’s? Whatever you managed, you have my admiration and my congratulations!

PiBoIdMo, Picture Books

PiBoIdMo 2011

Posted on 26 Oct 2011 by beckylevine

PiBoIdMo: Picture Book Idea Month.

Tara Lazar’s answer to NaNoWriMo for all those picture-book writers who weren’t sure what to do with themselves when November hit. You know, other than order a turkey, buy a turkey, eat a turkey, reheat a turkey and eat more of it.

And, hey, let’s all see if we can come up with a non-turkey themed picture-book idea on Thanksgiving Day, okay?!

I wasn’t actually ever one of those novelists. NaNo has always intrigued me, but it also never quite hit the right timing. I was always in the middle of drafting a book, or working on yet another revision. November, as the start of the holiday season, has always presented enough of a challenge to keep up with whatever writing I’m doing, never mind embarking on something new and trying to finish it.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of NaNoWriMo and the thought of pushing that first draft out so quickly. Someday I hope to participate.

Just not this year.

This year, I am again in the middle of drafting. And revising. And, well, you can read about the current state-of-mind in my Novel World here.

But I’m also in the middle of a picture book. And nearing the ending, revision-wise, of another. And I’m loving them. This year, I discovered the magic that is the picture-book genre–playing with big things like STRUCTURE and PLOT and CHARACTER and VOICE in such a tiny form. It’s like doing a jigsaw puzzle the size of a postage stamp. Yes, in true geekdom, I’m finding that…well, fun.

And I want to do more.

What better way than to follow Tara’s lead and try to generate 30 picture-book ideas in 30 days? When all around you, out in the internet-zone, hundreds of other picture-book writers are doing the same? And then, in December, there you are, looking through your new treasure trove of ideas and digging around for the one, three, or many that you want to work on first, that you see real potential in.

That you want to turn into a story.

I’m SO in.

For full information and to sign up, go to the 2011 PiBoIdMo starting post on Tara’s blog, Writing for Kids (While Raising Them). And make sure to check her blog all month, for great posts and giveaways!