PiBoIdMo: First 6 days!

I plan on doing a six pack of a review for PiBoIdMo.

What is PiBoIdMo? It’s the picture book writer’s equivalent for NaNoWriMo. 30 ideas in 30 days!

I’ve got myself a nifty journal:

I have 54 ideas (not counting any from today!) and am going strong!
I love checking out the posts on Tara’s blog, and have condensed down some of what I’ve read, because I know next year I’m going to want some snapshot information! Thankfully Tara has all the full blog posts too, so I can always check those out. Here’s my notes from the first 6 pack of blog posts (which is actually more than six, because there are previews and double dip days. Hmm…double dip days…IDEA! Must write down!)

Ok, here we go…

I loved this one, mostly because I agree with the challenge thing. I LOVE CHALLENGES!
See Reading Journal, and look out for The Real Life Letter Project and Thankful 365 coming soon!

It’s good to know that some ideas don’t have to be ones that are going to make it into books. I am used to “dealing” with my ideas and giving them fair time, and realizing if they are just written down and that’s all they will ever be, that’s OK!

I love the “let your mind off leash!” Though I never thought mine was on one…..no comment please family 🙂
Creativity to me is letting it all out, listening to every idea, giving it space to live and breathe and do what it needs to do. Creativity is seeing things that aren’t made yet in the world, and then making them. Creativity is also taking unrelated things and bringing them together in a new way that’s all you. I am creative every day because I don’t know how to live life any other way. Every day the world has a little more Kathy Ellen in it from the things I make to the things I say, and I like it that way!

Ok, Official DAY ONE!
I agree with the seeds that plant a lifetime love of reading.
One of the books that I absolutely loved as a kid was Aliki’s How a Book is made, and I imagined myself an author from even back then (5 or 6 I think!)
Also, my all time favorite book, Monkey Monkey’s Trick, has spread it’s love from me to the kids I babysat and to everyone who looks at my battered copy that I carry around with me (true story!).

Also, quick shout out here to my Mother, Kathy Joyce Davis, who taught me how to read. I knew from such a young age that I could be anything, and I have a great family supporting me. Thanks Mom and Dad and siblings!

I love this very simple piece of advice.
Thinking “What If?” really helped me focus my ideas and get more details from thinner ideas. Thanks Karma!

I love this comment about the one idea thing. I don’t think I’ve ever thought that, because I always wanted to have many many books. My problem is fleshing out all of my ideas! I feel like I move on to the next one quickly, and have decided to make a chart, maybe in Excel, maybe on a huge piece of paper with block crayons, of all my stories and at what point they are at (if they’re ready for critique group, have already been through, things like that…)

I also like that he commented on reading inspiring works!(Again, reading journal!)
And his book trailer is the cutest thing I have seen in a while, and I even watched that video about the kids thinking their parents ate all their candy!

OK, is anyone else thinking Arthur from the rhythm comment?
“You gotta listen to your heart, listen to the beat, listen to the rhythm, the rhythm of the street, open up your eyes, open up your ears,  get together and make things better, by working together….

It’s a simple message, and it comes from the heart,
Believe in yourself, for that’s the place to start…..”

Ok, I’m done with that theme song.

I love these ideas though, especially the illustrator one, since I have a lot of talented illustrator pals!

I love this because I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about and being in nature, getting ready for my third year practicum/student teaching for my Waldorf Teacher Training program. Currently I’m looking a lot at astronomy, and it’s so cool! How could I live in this world and not be awed by the stars each and every night? I know there are many more things in nature that I need to hang out with more. Thanks Tamara!

LOVED hearing this from an editor!
Heard a lot of the “you need to write the story you need to write” stuff at the SCBWI conference too, and it’s true and it is so nice to hear.  This made me wonder what my imagination’s dance looks like. I think probably a lot of disco in there, and some choreographed dancing for sure.

I like the idea of a story whispering or a character sneaking into your brain and refusing to get out until you write about it. That has happened a few times to me, and those are the times that I get the whole story down in 15 minutes.

But don’t worry, I revise forever!

I didn’t know Becky Levine wrote the book on Critique groups…!
I bought the book at the SCBWI conference and have read about half of it (not for its lack of awesomeness, for my lack of time and for my lack of time with my books..) and it was great! Can’t wait to read more of it, after learning about astronomy of course.

I love the reminder that every word is important, because it is. I like to go back and revise like that. Sometimes I don’t know what word and I just write, “better word” or, my favorite, “needs to be funnier!”

Well, there it is.
Today so far, three ideas, including a name for a character that is so long it needs an acronym, and that’s a bit ironic for this guy.

Hope everyone is getting tons of ideas!

KE