Daily Doodle: Waterway!

This only appears to be a tremendous waste of water. The cement tilts toward the grass so the water is helping the grass and bushes along the other edge of the driveway.

Daily Doodle: Hoopin' on the Beach

Preparing for NaPiBoWriWee

Brainstorming Session

NaPiBoWriWee begins May 1^st and runs through May 7^th. This odd group of letters stands for National Picture Book Writing Week. The challenge is to write seven picture books in seven days. Maybe you’re thinking that this is crazy or simply can’t be done. It can. I participated in this challenge led by Paula Yoo, last year and had a great time. I met a group of caring, supportive, and motivating writers dedicated to writing for children and I am still in touch with many of them today. I am also participating in Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 challenge of writing twelve picture books in twelve months so combined; I should have 18 or 19 new drafts this year.

A key to being successful with both of these writing challenges is preparation.

First, if you haven’t done it yet, go sign up for NaPiBoWriWee. Signing up means go to Paula’s website and leave a comment at the bottom of the post that gives details about the event. You have to log in to Wordpress to leave a comment but don’t have to start a Wordpress site or blog – just create an account which means giving your name and email address and coming up with a password. During the week, Paula Yoo will post interviews with professionals in the children’s writing industry and she'll give prizes at the end. There is also a Facebook Group page and a Café Press store with notebooks, shirts, and mugs with the NaPiBoWriWee logo. Okay, enough about the event – let’s start brainstorming!

Start with making a list of at least 10 events in a child’s life. Be specific to the age of your target audience so think about zero to eight year olds.

Here is my list – make your own– the more ideas, the better. Think about unique experiences you or your own children had.

1. playdates
2. running in a sprinkler
3. losing a tooth
4. birthday parties
5. being line leader at school
6. participating in sports
7. taking the bus
8. joining girl scouts or cub scouts
9. making new friends
10. taking care of a pet

Now come up with a list of 10 locations. Be adventurous.

Here is my list – make your own and add to this one. Again, the more the better.

1. beach
2. doctor/dentist
3. playground
4. zoo
5. hair salon
6. pet store
7. grocery store
8. bus stop
9. museum
10. on the bus, or plane, or train

Now mix it up. Take an experience from the first list and use the location from the second list.

Here are some examples:

What if a child lost a tooth at the beach?

What if a child got to be the Line Leader on the class trip to the zoo?

What if a child went to a birthday party at a hair salon?

After you come up with a list of events at locations, think of what can go wrong. Does your mc forget something, lose something, break something. Is he or she afraid to do something?, etc...?

Try this. You need seven ideas. Come up with ten so that when you get to day seven, you still have choices. The pre-challenge is not to let yourself start writing them yet. Before NaPiBoWriWee begins, you can brainstorm and outline your thoughts but DON’T start writing yet.

Last year, each morning (after I got my little ones off to school) I would sit down at my computer, select an idea off my list, and write it. Try to develop your idea with a beginning, middle, and ending. Don’t worry about how great you think this draft has to be – we are not trying to write seven final drafts. Get your idea on the page. You have the rest of the year to tweak, edit, revise, rewrite, illustrate (if you are also an illustrator). We do not post and share our stories with other participants and nobody is checking your computer to make sure you do it. You are challenging yourself. Remember, a picture book is 0-1000 pages with the sweet spot being between 200-700. It is not a lot of words to get onto a page in one day so if you find yourself laboring over an idea, choose a different one for that day. You can always go back to the tough one or scrap it.

You can do this. You have a week to brainstorm your list of ideas. Have fun with it.

Leave a comment and let me know if this brainstorming session helped you.

Daily Doodle: Squirrel Watching

Daily Doodle: Homework

April Fool Phyllis's World Tour

April Fool Phyllis, a fabulous new picture book by author Susanna Leonard Hill, came out last month. In February, Susanna lined up a fantastic group of children's books authors and illustrators and sent Phyllis on a worldwide blog tour. This little groundhog gets to travel to various countries and to many states within the United States. While visiting each location, she learns about the local weather, meets children, sees local sites and shares her story. I feel very lucky to have been included in this event. Here is our story of her visit...

A package arrived on my doorstep on Tuesday evening. I anxiously opened the envelope and when I saw that it was April Fool Phyllis, I quickly took her out to get some fresh air. I welcomed her to Georgia and showed her the forest behind my home. She like it a lot. She wanted to meet the gopher who lives in the hole in my yard but I took her into the house to meet the family instead. My daughter read Phyllis’s story about April Fool’s Day before bed and I tucked Phyllis in for the night.

Wednesday morning, my four year old told me that Phyllis looked tired from her travels and asked if we could take her with us for a Spa Day. Phyllis rode with us to the salon. See photo. Erin got a haircut and Phyllis had a shampoo and blow dry to fluff up her fur.

Then Phyllis, Erin, and I went to Panera for a girl’s lunch. She was curious about Chik-fil-a but I told her that it probably wasn’t a good idea for a groundhog to eat chicken. Phyllis opted for a salad at Panera.

After lunch, we took Phyllis up to the top of a very, very high street in Marietta, Georgia so she could see the Atlanta skyline. Phyllis told us that she had never been soo high up. Erin held her really high to see the skyline (on the horizon in the distance).

The weather in Georgia was a sunny 82 degrees. Phyllis predicted that it would stay sunny for another whole week and then it would get a little drizzle of rain. She was right. Erin read Phyllis’s story again before bed and read another story to Phyllis about princesses. I tucked Phyllis and Erin in together for the night.

Thursday morning, Erin carefully put Phyllis in an envelope and we mailed her off to picture book author, Corey Rosen Schwartz for her next visit. She left Georgia pampered, rested, and refreshed. Phyllis was ready to visit more families in other states and countries.

If you would like to learn more about April Fool Phyllis, check out author Susanna Leonard Hill's website or blog. This book, full of adventure, suspense, and puzzles, would be a great addition to any child's bookshelf. I highly recommend this book as a read aloud. Click HERE to watch the book trailer.

FLAP! Coming Soon

FLAP!

A humorous picture book

written and illustrated by

Alison Hertz

Coming Summer 2012

A Lion in the Storm

This blog is called On My Mind. Today's post is not the usual story starter or writing tip. This was written while trying to grasp what happened that day. It has meaning beyond meaning to me.

The rain began slowly at first, falling gently in the morning.  I carried you both on our journey home. I held you close, as close as possible, and kept you dry.  I let you know how much I loved you and promised that I would keep you safe.  As the day progressed, the rain got heavier and everything changed.  The wind blew stronger and stronger until it became difficult to carry you but I would not let you down.  She thought she was ready to go or maybe it was something else compelling her to go but it wasn’t my idea.  I could see our blurry house in the distance but the storm was too heavy to get there.  I ran into the nearest building.  We huddled to stay warm.  The wind whistled as the storm shook the walls and the door opened, just a little at first, but continued to swing wider as the rain and wind steadily increased.  Holding on to you as tightly as I could, I tried to force the door closed but the wind picked up. It forced the door open and slammed me against the wall.  The air swelled into a hurricane and its pull ripped us apart.  I lost control of keeping you safe.  I was forced to let go.  The winds carried her, my baby girl, through the doorway.  I grabbed for her but she was swept too quickly out of reach.  We had to let her go but you weren’t ready.  You wrapped yourself around me.  I begged Mother Nature to let you stay.  You held on but the grip of the wind was too tight.  It wrapped us like a tornado, twisting, turning, and separating us. It refused to let you go.  The torrential downpour whipped across my face as it tore you from me.  I wasn’t ready.  You were too small to survive alone, but you found her, your sister, and stayed together.  You both struggled to live without me.  When the weather calmed, I found you battered and bruised.  I sat beside you both and held your hands.  I looked into your eyes and spoke softly. Your sister left us first but you continued to hang on.  Then you left us.  It was too soon.  You left me too soon.  Our dreams were shattered.  That day is here again and I can’t shake the memory of the storm, of losing you both, my babies. I remember the few moments that we had when I was able to look into your eyes and hold your tiny hands.  A lion in the storm.  Soo strong.   In my arms for just a moment but in my heart forever.

If you have ever lost a lion in the storm. I am very sorry for your loss.

Outlining & Planning Before You Write

Keep in mind that there are many, many authors who write without outlining first. They have an idea or a main character and just start writing. There is no wrong way to write a story. I taught writing to fourth graders and always had them use a Story Planner before writing so that I could see their plot before they spent a lot of time writing out the story. I like thinking about where the story needs to get to (the exciting part) so that I could help my students write a story that gets there. I do a very brief plan for picture books and slightly more detailed outline for chapter books. This is how I do it:

Picture Books

Students in first grade learn about Story Mapping. This is an exercise in breaking down a book into pieces to help with comprehension of the story.  Students learn that a story needs to have a beginning, middle, and an ending. Here are some examples of Story Mapping Worksheets from a first grade class:

Since kids have to think about what they read in this way, I use a similar approach to write picture book manuscripts. I often think of a character first since I love character driven stories so I jot down a few notes on the following things:

     Characters

     Setting

     Problem

     Important Events – Think in 3s. The mc’s first attempt to solve his/her problem doesn’t work and leads to the second attempt which doesn’t work and leads to a third attempt which either solves the problem or creates a new problem. The thing about working in 3s is that they have to make sense together and preferably are connected rather than 3 random ideas that simply don’t work. There are, of course, exceptions to every rule (and this isn’t a rule, just something I have noticed in the hundreds of books I have read).

     Solution

I also like to explain the plot this way: Main Character __________ wants to__________but can’t because __________ so __________.

Chapter Books and Early Mid Grade Novels

Taking the information I gathered in my chapter book and mid grade novel research (posted in a previous blog), I begin writing this way:

Main Character

Age

What makes this MC different?

Problem

Solution

Outline of Chapters:

I plan for 10 chapters but it can be as few as 3 and as many as 50 for a chapter book. I have read that the “sweet spot” for word count is 6,000-10,000 words for chapter books.

At the beginning, you need to show the reader (show don’t tell as often as possible) who is MC is, how old, what the setting is and what the problem or goal is?

After this is shown, let the reader know who or what is getting in the way of the MC solving his/her problem or reaching that goal.

Here come the attempts to solve the problem. Usually, the first and second attempts don’t work because something gets in the way. The first attempt leads to the second attempt which leads to either a new problem or the third attempt.

What is the new problem? Will solving it get the solution to the first problem or create a way that the MC can solve the first problem? If not, then take it out. There is no room for bird walking in picture books or chapter books.

Show how your MC makes a third attempt to solve the problem or reach the goal.

Solving the problem/conflict/reaching the goal now means what? What was the point? What was the point of getting there? Show the reader.

By now, you should be at chapter 10 or near the end of your story .  Wrap it up – Now that the problem is solved, what new problem is created?

Now go write…

Story Starter #11 - Retelling a Classic

This post is inspired by one of the many contests posted on Figment*. If you need a little inspiration for a new picture book manuscript or just want to try out a really fun writing exercise, this is for you.

First, select a fairy tale or a classic children’s story.

Here are some examples:       

                       The Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe

                        Little Red Riding Hood

                        The Three Little Pigs

                        Hansel and Gretel

                        The Three Bears

                        The Little Red Hen

                        The Princess and the Pea

                        The Tortoise and the Hare

If you don’t like these choices, look up Mother Goose or Hans Christian Anderson and select another classic.

Think about the POV this story is usually told from and retell the story through the eyes of one of the other characters. Don't forget to use "What if" questions to drive the plot.

Example:         The Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe

This is told from 3^rd person. Try telling it in 1^st person from the Old Lady with all the children. Even better for a pb is to tell it from one of the children’s POV or in 3^rd person sharing the story of one of those children who has to share a shoe with soo many brothers and sisters.

Example:         The Three Little Pigs

This story is told from 3^rd person and makes the “Big Bad Wolf” out to be a really bad guy. Take his POV. Maybe he has a reason for blowing down their houses (other than eating them). Time for a “What if” question – What if he isn’t blowing down the houses but is sneezing instead?

You get the idea. Now write…

* If you are a student in HS or College, consider entering your story into the contest on Figment.com

FLAP! Book Trailer

My debut picture book, FLAP!,is coming this June (2012) so I have been taking steps to promote myself as an author/illustrator as well as promote the release of FLAP!. The story takes place on a beautiful autumn day with colorful leaves in the background of many of the illustrations so I filmed a little girl who looks just like my main character running and flapping on top of a mountain in October.

Here it is:

FLAP! Book Trailer

Researching the Genre You Want to Write

Changing Gears

I have tons of ideas for picture books for children ages one to six. So many, in fact, that I posted 10 Story Starters on my blog to share ideas with other kidlit writers and illustrators. The Starters are open ended so it isn’t like I am giving away lots of specific ideas that I will use.

While I love writing picture books, I have a few ideas rolling around for books that are a little longer.  Jumping from picture books to chapter books or mid grade novels required me to do a little research. I had read a ton of books from this genre; I just had not studied them. There is a difference.

Research:

I went to the library and pulled the first books from three different mid grade series books for girls. I knew my target was a girl between ages 7-9 so I looked specifically at early mid grade books/older chapter books. I pulled from Junie B Jones by: Barbara Park, Clementine by: Sara Pennypacker, and Katie Kazoo by: Nancy Krulik.

I took my book choices to a quiet table with an outlet and plugged in my laptop. I opened each book and typed in the following information:

Series Name

Book Name

Author

Publisher

Agent (if mentioned in the Dedication or the About the Author section)

Number of Chapters

Number of Pages in the Whole Book

Average Number of Pages per Chapter

Then I propped up the book next to my computer and typed (yes, typed*) the entire first chapter, then the second. I did not include page breaks – I typed it as it would look in manuscript form so I could see it that way. I used Word Count to get a tally for the number of words in each of these first two chapters, added them together, and divided in two to get an average number of words per chapter. I also divided the number of words per chapter by the number of pages to get an average number of words per page. I typed this into my list of info about that book.

After typing (and thereby reading) the chapters, I added the point of view and the age of the mc.

Next, I set the View on my screen so that I could see 1 whole page on the screen. I looked at it for a few minutes, noting the length of the paragraphs, the amount of dialogue versus description, the tag lines, and the amount of italics and bold letters. I scrolled page my page just looking and taking mental notes (not typing in anything).

I gathered this list of information and typed in the first two chapters of all three books. Then I compared the data from all three. I highly suggest doing this research. I learn by doing so the act of typing in the words of another author helped me to feel the lengths of the sentences, the amount of dialogue, and the amount of description.

*Important Note: Do not use this typed in data and chapters for anything but research. It is plagiarism to copy someone else’s work and claim is as your own. This exercise was only to gather information about successful books in the genre in which I have chosen to write.

With that said, here's just a bit of what I learned from 2 of the books:

Katie Kazoo Switcheroo:

Book: 76 pages

10 chapters

All chapters 6-7 pages long.

Average words per page = 120 (there are b/w line drawings scattered through this book)

Clementine:

Book: 135 pages

10 chapters

Average length of chapters:  11.5 pages (ranged between 9 -14 pages in each chapter)

Average words per page = 103 (there were b/w line drawings scattered through this book)

Summary:

A chapter book or early mid grade novel for this target audience should be about 70-150 pages long – by this, I mean book pages which at an average of 120 words per page is roughly half of a double spaced, 12 pt New York Times with a 1 inch margin page. Translation – a book for this target age is about a 35-60 page manuscript and each chapter is only about 3-6 typed pages.

Next Blog Post:

Outlining your Chapter Book or Mid-Grade Novel

Happy Valentine's Day

Puppy Love

Valentine's Day Writing Contest Entry

I have entered a Valentine's Day writing contest posted by Susanna Leonard Hill. The guidelines are to post a story or poem of unlikely Valentine's (under 200 words) by 5pm Monday, February 13th. The winner gets either Ann Whitford Paul's fabulous book: How to Write Picture Books: A Hands On Guide from Creation to Publication or a manuscript critique from Sussana herself. I already own Ann's book so I would love to win the critique. At 172 words, here it is:

The Forbidden Love of Glassy and Dropper

I slid up close to her ear and whispered, “Classy, will you be my valentine?”

My heart nearly dried out when she said, “It’s Glassy, not Classy. Geez, you can be such a drip.”

“I thought you loved me,” I sighed.

“I did, I do, but,...hey! Stop pouring yourself all over me!” cried Glassy. “I’m trying to explain why we can never be together and there you go filling my heart.”

Then everything changed. I felt surrounded by her love as she held me close.

“Oh Dropper,” she said. “It is just too dangerous for us to be together. Don’t you see?”

“Glassy, you can be soo transparent,” I cried. “Sometimes you seem soo cool and empty inside. I know we’re meant to be together.” I closed my eyes and kissed her silky smooth surface.

“Dropper, my love. Your kisses are so soft and wet that I feel like we’re floating.”

“Glassy! We are lifting. Hold me! Our time is slipping away.”

GULP GULP GULP

“Dropper!” yelled Glassy just before her heart shattered.