Novel Craft: Picture Book Lessons

Hi folks, a brand new shiny year! Love it! I hope that you are making goals and opening up to new possibilities. Fold up all those disappointments and failures. Take anything you learned from these experiences and move on. Look forward. Huzzah!

In January, I always explore one of my great passions and that is novel craft. I'm a novelist at heart. My first published book was PLUMB CRAZY.  It was out from Swoon Romance in June 2014, but is going away soon. Cancellation--just like so many fantastic TV shows that get cancelled (cough, Firefly), so goes my book. C'est la vie.

Don't despair, you who hunger for a paperback of PLUMB CRAZY to hold. I am going to self-publish the book for anyone who is interested. It's going to take a little time to put that together, but the book should be ready to be a summer read again. :) Thanks to all the people who have supported this first novel publishing effort of mine!  Galaxies of stories are ahead!

Anyway, onto to novel craft. I am an extremely visual person. I see three dimensional landscapes in my head. I also write in many genres and find that the skills I use in one genre inform me as I approach a different genre. These skills serve me well.  Writing picture books helps me write novels.

When I write a picture book, I write the text and then I write what is going on in the picture. From an absolute telling perspective, I write what is going on in the scene before I actually write the text for the picture book.  I do this for every page. It turned out that this is an effective technique to write novel scenes, especially ones I'm stuck on.  I just tell what is going down in the scene in a fat paragraph. When I'm finished I write the scene with that word picture I created in the back of my mind. Writing the scene rolls out a lot more smoothly.

Picture book structure helps me plan the structure of my novels. Picture books have the same beats as a novel but they come much faster. I make sure that my novel has clear beats that echo picture book structure.  What is a beat?  Plot points, turning points, plot twists. If you are having a tough time figuring out if your novel has a decent story arc. Study a few picture books. What launches the action? How does the mc react? What happens at the midpoint? How does the action rise? What is the climax? How long does it take the story to resolve? All these questions and a picture book in hand should send you on your way while writing a novel.

Well, there is a tea cup of usefulness for your creative journey. I hope you come back next week for more Novel Craft.

Here is a doodle. :)  PINK

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Robert F. Kennedy

April Showers: Small Steps

Hi folks, brilliant sunshine, perfect warmth, and blue skies -- not exactly writing weather, but perhaps I can grab a notebook and find a sweet spot under a tree.  I'm continuing my series about what waters our creative soul. I think one important piece to thrive as as a writer is to take small steady steps.  So many want to leap, and leap right now. I think there is some deep truth in that story of the tortoise and the hare.

One way to make serious forward  leaps  is to make a list of small steps you can complete over time. As you complete each small step you feel deep satisfaction that you are drawing closer to your goal. You build confidence layer upon layer. Small steps help you avoid becoming stuck. You have a plan and the next thing to do isn't that big.

For example, a problem I'm facing right now is a main character who needs to shift her goal. I'm going over two or three pages a day and underlining anywhere in the manuscript she thinks about this goal  Then I journal little paragraphs about various ways her new goal might work in the underlined sections. I've made a chart of chapters vs. goal change. I'm writing an overall plan about how I will achieve the change. Next, I plan to  underline sections and then make my planned revisions. I will highlight each revision and let the manuscript rest for a few days.. I think you get the idea. Small steps. I find puddle jumping is the way to go.

I hope that you water your work with some small steps this week. I hope that you make progress and celebrate that progress. Be kind to yourself. Think happy thoughts. Seek the best of everything, the best in everyone, and the best in you.

I will be back with more showers next week!  Meanwhile seize the day!


Here is the doodle:PINK BLOBBY. 

It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward. Chinese Proverb.