I’m playing along with other picture book writers
on this blog,
setting some goals for the week
and reflecting on how I did.
I really wanted to do this because I’ve sort of been in a writing slump.
I AM writing, but not as consistently as I want to be.
I’m taking a step back
from doing writing prompts
and trying to grow my social media following
and instead
investing that time
in my manuscripts
and posts that will further my writing goals.
Don’t worry, I’ll still be doing prompts,
but for now,
I’m changing it up a bit.
The format of each blogpost is similar.
Each week there is some sort of inspiration/discussion topic related to picture books, and then we set our goals and talk about how last week’s goals went.
We discuss all of it in the comments over there,
but I have decided to document it over here
on my blog as well,
to share my writing goals and process,
and to also have a record of how I’m doing.
The first post had us write out our session goals
(the session lasts eight weeks!)
I took a screen shot of my first comment and it came out all blurry, so I’ll type my goals here for you all:
Session goals (over the course of 8 weeks)
I mainly want to set a goal each week for my writing!
Right now it’s sort of hit or miss whether I work on it.
I’d like to revise a manuscript each week,
and maybe draft some new ones up.
My agent wants to see some new stuff, and I’d
REALLY like to knock her socks off.
I’d also like to work on building content for my blog/podcast
that I’m going to be relaunching this June,
featuring thoughts on books and actionable tips
for writers to improve their writing and presentations.
This first week:
Revise an old manuscript ( the one I got my agent with!)
draft up a new one,
and write out 4 actionable writing tip posts.
How did I do?
I did GREAT!
The first thing I completed was drafting up a new manuscript.
I thought about my childhood and 800 words later,
I had a story loosely based around
my adventures in the woodshop with my Dad.
It needs a lot of cutting, (no pun intended!)
but I think there’s some good heart in there.
I really like that it sort of lays out the creative process too,
because I think that’s something kids need to see.
I’m excited about where this one will go!
I revised FOUR manuscripts this week!
The first one I revised we’ll call B’NoNo,
and it is the manuscript I got my agent with in 2013.
The original version had great visuals,
awesome word choice, but, unfortunately,
not characters that people could entirely relate to.
Characters can sometimes be my weak points.
Basically there’s a bad guy and a good girl
and they end up becoming friends,
but the bad guy was too bad in the beginning
for it to be believable.
I got an idea the week before
about how to switch things up,
and thought long and hard about it
before jumping in and revising.
What if we just THINK the bad guy is so bad
because the good girl thinks he is?
What if he actually DOES have good intentions,
she sees that,
and then SHE has to make the choice
to be nice or mean?
I don’t feel like the heart is entirely there in the revision,
but I think it’s a better direction to be going in.
Now it feels more like a misunderstanding
on the part of the main girl character,
and I like the moment where she has to decide
how she is going to react.
I still got to keep some of the funny parts
and the great visuals,
which are SO IMPORTANT when it comes to picture books.
How did I end up revising more manuscripts?
I have Scrivener to thank for that.
I have all of my manuscripts set up as chapters there,
in a bigger book called “Picture Book Manuscripts.”
Basically this means that when I click on a manuscript
to work on it,
I can still see the list of manuscripts
in the side bar while I’m revising.
My brain sees them over there and
comes up with ideas or says,
“Hey, we should check in with that one,
see if we can change something up
or make it a bit more fresh.”
That happened this week with four.
The first I’ll call Wade’s Words,
and I shortened it a bit.
The second, centering around a storytelling robot,
got some good illustration notes and I cut a bunch of text.
The third, about friendship bracelets
and a retelling of a popular folk tale,
lost a few words
and I figured out it’s going to need to get to the story quicker.
The fourth, about two cloud creating brothers,
is getting closer and closer.
I’m excited about this one
since it sounds like a modern fable/myth
and is nearly ready to show my agent!
All in all a GREAT revision week!
Finally, I didn’t write 4 posts
on actionable writing tips.
I wrote SEVEN!
Again, I got on a roll.
A while ago I posted 12 tips for writers and illustrators;
I even did my first podcast on it!
I decided to expand upon each tip,
since, in the original post,
each tip only covered a paragraph.
Those paragraphs have turned into thousands of words!
Eventually these posts are going to be
partof the relaunch of the Kidlit with Kathy Ellen podcast,
and they’ll show up in shownotes
and probably in some sort of printable resource as well.
Right now they are in the rough draft stage;
I’m just getting ideas out.
Later I will go back through and read them aloud
to see what I can change.
Yeah, that’s not just a revision tip for manuscripts,
it’s a good tip for EVERYTHING that you write!
What am I planning on doing this week?
Well, I’m working more this week,
so I’m giving myself an easier time of it.
I want to write three more of the actionable posts, since I only have three more to go to complete the 12. Rough drafts are all I’m looking for.
I want to take an idea I have (any idea, I’m not picky!)
and flesh it out into a rough draft.
I want to revise a wordless book I’m working on, called Balloon. Basically I need to lay out the pages and spreads to see if the scenes I’m coming up with fit!
I’ll check in with you guys next week to tell you how it went!
I hope this is bringing some more insight into
what a writer’s week looks like,
and a little bit of behind the scenes into my process.
Thanks for following along and keeping me virtually accountable!
Bye for now,
Kathy Ellen
