Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)

PiBoIdMo & My Lightening-Fast Reactions

Posted on 10 Nov 201110 Nov 2011 by beckylevine

It’s November 10th. Ten days into the month that is PiBoIdMo. It’s been an interesting week and a half. The guest posts at Tara Lazar’s Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) blog have been great! And it’s as much fun as I thought it would be to just open up my senses and imagination for picture-book ideas.

So far, in terms of numbers, I’m being successful. I’m pretty sure I’ve had more than one idea on every day, and many days in my notebook have three or four ideas jotted down. Are they any good?

Hmm…

What I’ve found is that, apparently, PiBoIdMo turns me into something an awful lot like this:

No, it doesn’t make me eat spiders. Ew.

It does make me quick. Quick to snatch up any idea that comes into my brain–be that an image, a question, a phrase, a character. I don’t know if it’s the anxiety that I won’t get any ideas that day, or the determination NOT to get anxious about that possibility. But I am not spending a lot of time filtering the possibilities through any questions about whether I can actually develop this idea into a story, or whether this idea has already been done.

I think this is okay. I think it’s probably the right way to go. It’s not that different from the idea behind NaNoWriMo–you’re shooting for quality, not necessarily quantity.

With the assumption, the commitment to yourself, that you will take some of that quantity and actually turn it into quality. No matter how hard that transformation is.

Do I have any ideas that actually feel like winners? Winners to me, yes. I do. There are a few that come with a spark, a smile, a thought that this one is going on the post-PiBoIdMo list of things I want to spend time with. That makes me feel a lot better about all the others that don’t—yet—have that pop. Plus, I have a sense of even more as starting points–ideas that need a twist, or a reversal, or a quirky angle that will turn them from unlikely to likely.

If you’re participating in PiBoIdMo, what have the first ten days been like for you? What have you discovered about yourself, about the way you search for ideas and how they feel when they do come into your brain?

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!