Happy November!
I'm a few days late in the wishing, but that doesn't make it insincere. Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes day and, more pertinent to current politics, perhaps, election day here in New Jersey.
At present, autumn is showing off here in South Jersey, in that last, startling blaze of color just before everything turns brown and/or falls to earth. There is an astonishing gingko tree in my neighborhood that could be an advertisement for the color yellow, and some maples that are vying to be named prettiest shade of red or orange. With the recent dip in temperatures here, and the coming rise at the end of the week, I expect all the leaves to become confused and jump ship soon, but until then, they are a sight to behold!
As it is November, I am participating in Picture Book Idea Month over at Tara Lazar's blog. There were a few posts counting down to the start of the month, and now there's a post a day, sometimes with a writing prompt (or 30) and sometimes with an inspirational story. The official goal of most participants is to come up with one idea each day, so you have 30 by the end of the month. Then later, you go through your ideas and write picture books. Below is the list of authors and illustrators posting this month:
I am running my personal practice a bit differently. (I hear your lack of surprise, people of the internet!) I have decided to designate a full hour a day to this task. First I read the Picture Book Idea Month post of the day, then I take notes on a page in my composition book. Then I read the Picture Book Month post of the day, which is something completely separate run over at picturebookmonth.com, which consists of authors and illustrators posting about why picture books are important. And then I take notes on that on the next page in my composition book. Then I turn to the NEXT page of my composition book and try to come up with at least three ideas per day. After all, I have the balance of a full hour to do so, and they don't have to be awesome ideas, necessarily, but I do try to make sure that they are actually possible as a picture book. And hey, after day 4, I'm at 20 ideas, so obviously it sort of works. (I should confess, though, that I came up with 11 on the first day thanks to Tammi Sauer's (tamarak's) awesome prompt, and then it's been three a day.)
I also spent part of the first day of November signing books at Children's Book World's Author and Illustrator Night in Haverford, PA. It was lovely to sign copies of AT THE BOARDWALK for readers, and to mix and mingle with so many authors and illustrators!
And speaking of books, I'm anxiously waiting for my copy of Jeannine Atkins's latest book, Views from a Window Seat: Thoughts on Writing and Life to arrive. It's a distillation/expansion of Jeannine's thoughtful, inspiring posts from her blog, and I cannot wait to get it in my hands. Here's a link to her announcement about the book, though I note that the book is now available for Kindle, too.
So, tell me: Are you writing this November? Are you doing Picture Book Idea Month? (If you aren't doing it officially, you can read the posts and find inspiration anyhow.) Are you reading the Picture Book Month posts? Are you (dare I ask?) doing NaNoWriMo? (I rather expect nobody who is doing NaNo to answer, since it requires a rather dedicated time commitment, but hey, I thought I'd ask!)
At present, autumn is showing off here in South Jersey, in that last, startling blaze of color just before everything turns brown and/or falls to earth. There is an astonishing gingko tree in my neighborhood that could be an advertisement for the color yellow, and some maples that are vying to be named prettiest shade of red or orange. With the recent dip in temperatures here, and the coming rise at the end of the week, I expect all the leaves to become confused and jump ship soon, but until then, they are a sight to behold!
As it is November, I am participating in Picture Book Idea Month over at Tara Lazar's blog. There were a few posts counting down to the start of the month, and now there's a post a day, sometimes with a writing prompt (or 30) and sometimes with an inspirational story. The official goal of most participants is to come up with one idea each day, so you have 30 by the end of the month. Then later, you go through your ideas and write picture books. Below is the list of authors and illustrators posting this month:
I am running my personal practice a bit differently. (I hear your lack of surprise, people of the internet!) I have decided to designate a full hour a day to this task. First I read the Picture Book Idea Month post of the day, then I take notes on a page in my composition book. Then I read the Picture Book Month post of the day, which is something completely separate run over at picturebookmonth.com, which consists of authors and illustrators posting about why picture books are important. And then I take notes on that on the next page in my composition book. Then I turn to the NEXT page of my composition book and try to come up with at least three ideas per day. After all, I have the balance of a full hour to do so, and they don't have to be awesome ideas, necessarily, but I do try to make sure that they are actually possible as a picture book. And hey, after day 4, I'm at 20 ideas, so obviously it sort of works. (I should confess, though, that I came up with 11 on the first day thanks to Tammi Sauer's (tamarak's) awesome prompt, and then it's been three a day.)
I also spent part of the first day of November signing books at Children's Book World's Author and Illustrator Night in Haverford, PA. It was lovely to sign copies of AT THE BOARDWALK for readers, and to mix and mingle with so many authors and illustrators!
And speaking of books, I'm anxiously waiting for my copy of Jeannine Atkins's latest book, Views from a Window Seat: Thoughts on Writing and Life to arrive. It's a distillation/expansion of Jeannine's thoughtful, inspiring posts from her blog, and I cannot wait to get it in my hands. Here's a link to her announcement about the book, though I note that the book is now available for Kindle, too.
So, tell me: Are you writing this November? Are you doing Picture Book Idea Month? (If you aren't doing it officially, you can read the posts and find inspiration anyhow.) Are you reading the Picture Book Month posts? Are you (dare I ask?) doing NaNoWriMo? (I rather expect nobody who is doing NaNo to answer, since it requires a rather dedicated time commitment, but hey, I thought I'd ask!)