NaPiBoWriWee 2012: Day Three – May 3, 2012
Welcome to DAY THREE of NAPIBOWRIWEE 2012! (National Picture Book Writing Week where we attempt to write 7 picture books in 7 days)!
I just replied to everyone’s comments on all the blogs for 2012 and also answered some questions, so please go back and check if you want! Very impressed and excited by everyone’s progress. Yippee!
I carved out some time in the afternoon to write Book No. 2. I used a photo of my three cats sleeping (posted in yesterday’s blog) to inspire me. To my surprise, I came up with a really cute poem. Well, it wasn’t the greatest poem in the world – some bad meter and forced rhyme, but it was a good start and I carved out a fun story using Lisa Wheeler’s “Rule of Threes” advice from yesterday’s blog (link here: https://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=378) I desperately want to go back and rewrite it, but I’m forcing myself to wait until AFTER NaPiBoWriWee. Must keep chugging along – five more books left to draft!
Today’s blog is about CHARACTER. We talked yesterday about PLOT. But no matter how exciting your plot and no matter how solid your story structure is, your book won’t work if the reader doesn’t care about the main character. Remember – try to create an original and compelling character who is unique but yet readers can identify with!
Today I have a special guest – New York Times bestselling picture book author KELLY DIPUCCHIO – who volunteered to write a brief guest author blog for Day 3 of NAPIBOWRIWEE. Her guest blog is all about CHARACTER. Her latest book, CRAFTY CHLOE (illustrated by Heather Ross, published by Simon & Schuster 2012), features one compelling and unique character that has made her latest book a huge hit. Martha Stewart even featured it on her show along with a craft project segment with illustrator Heather Ross! (Kelly’s website is here: http://kellydipucchio.com)
(Keep reading after the jump for our Guest Author Blog on Character from KELLY DIPUCCHIO!)
Kelly DiPucchio is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including Grace for President and Zombie In Love. As a little girl growing up in Michigan, Kelly spent a lot of time outdoors, combining her love of art and nature by painting rocks, seashells, and pinecones. Today, Kelly satisfies her crafting itch by repurposing old furniture and other resale shop treasures. Just don’t ask her to sew; Kelly used to affix her daughter’s Girl Scout patches to her vest with a hot glue gun. You can visit her at: www.kellydipucchio.com You can visit Chloe at: www.craftychloe.com
Kelly was kind enough to write us a special guest blog about her experience in creating Chloe as a picture book character. We hope you are inspired by her writing advice to create a uniquely original character for your NAPIBOWRIWEE Book No. 3 today!
Kelly writes…
“When I came up with the idea for CRAFTY CHLOE I was really excited. I’ve been crafty kid at heart since childhood and I’ve been raising a crafty kid for the past 15 years. But I knew that in order for Chloe to be a successful character, she had to be so much more than crafty. A great hook is important, but it’s not enough to satisfy discriminating readers.
“When you think about your closest friends, you can probably think of several traits they possess that make you want to spend time with them. The same should be true for the characters you create in your picture books. But please don’t take that to mean that all of your character’s traits have to be positive. Nobody likes a goody two-shoes. When I sat down to analyze some of Chloe’s attributes, I came up with the following list: crafty, kind, uncoordinated, funny, melodramatic, determined, imaginative, humble, indecisive, independent, creative, forgiving, and just a little bit insecure. Keep in mind, these qualities are revealed through Chloe’s actions in the story. I will spare you the “show, don’t tell” speech. Also keep in mind; I did not make the list before I wrote the manuscript. I allowed Chloe’s personality grow organically out of the story. Two dimensional characters are boring, but characters that are overly contrived and unbelievable aren’t much fun to hang out with either.
“Diamonds sparkle for a reason – they’re multi-faceted. The angles and cuts in the stone reflect the light. If you want to create characters that really shine, make sure they’re multi-faceted, authentic, and worthy of your readers’ time.”
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Thank you, Kelly, for your writing advice on how to create unique picture book characters!
And now for another inspirational cat picture. LOL – I warned you guys that I am a crazy cat lady who owns 3 cats. 🙂 This is a picture of my troublesome troublemaker Beethoven. I want this picture to inspire me for a unique character for my next Book No. 3… I hope he inspires you as well to come up with an original character! Make your main character for Book No. 3 to sparkle like a multi-faceted diamond, just like Kelly advised! 🙂
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Now… a few random bits and pieces before I head off to my writing bat cave for Book No. 3. 🙂
NAPIBOWRIWEE writer “BookishAmbition” asked me the following question in the comments section of my blog: “I am so excited to take part in the 2012 NaPiBoWriWee. I am a complete newbie, so to prepare, I’m going to read all the posts/ interviews from last year. I’ll also be spending the weekend scouring my house for those scraps of paper with ideas written in the middle of the night, in waiting rooms, and at the bus stop. I would like to know what your idea of a NaPiBoWriWee manuscript looks like. I’m sure it’s rough, but how rough is considered reaching the goal?”
My answer: “Hi BookishAmbition! Glad you are prepared for the event. To answer your question, I would say the rough draft should at least have full sentences. I think as long as the draft doesn’t read like an outline, you should be okay. For example, a sentence like “The cat will either chase a ball here or bite the dog’s tail” is more of an outline suggestion than an actual draft. In a draft, you have to make a choice as to what your characters do, so go for it and have the cat chase the ball for now and you can always revise it later. I hope this makes sense.”
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Another NAPIBOWRIWEE writer talked about how hard it is to write sometimes without getting distracted. My trick? I often use this writing software called OMM WRITER. I’ve blogged about OMM WRITER before. It’s a simple text program that you can buy (for a very cheap price, under $5.00) where it blanks out your entire computer screen and gives you a lovely backdrop of winter trees (or other zen-like backgrounds) and plays this haunting music. It lulls you into a hypnotic state, I swear!
I often use this software when I am first writing a draft and want to just write and not stop every five minutes to check my email or revise what I just wrote. I swear this program works. Try it and let me know what you thought!
The website for OMM WRITER is here: http://www.ommwriter.com/
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In other NAPIBOWRIWEE news, turns out we have people from as far away as France, Germany and Austria participating. WOW! If anyone else is international, please let us know! Although NaPiBoWriWee is the official name, I think the unofficial name is really InNaPiBoWriWee (International Picture Book Writing Week)! 🙂
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Well, that’s it for my official Day 3 Blog. Remember – if you comment on one of my blogs or email me at paula at paulayoo dot com, I will include your name in our fun contest prize drawing at the end of the week. Prizes include items from our souvenir NAPIBOWRIWEE STORE (http://www.cafepress.com/npbww2012), signed copies of my own picture books from Lee & Low Books, and special guest author autographed books from LISA WHEELER and KELLY DIPUCCHIO… plus a few more surprise guest authors that I will introduce this week. So keep coming back to read the latest blog and updates on our contest prizes!
I will post the Day Four blog on Friday May 4th before 12 PM PST. This blog will contain new writing advice, thoughts, and more special guest author treats. 🙂
Good luck writing today – hope you can get Book No. 3 done today! BTW – for those of you still struggling on Book 1 or 2, don’t worry! I’m PROUD of you for WRITING! Keep going, I will be happy if you can finish even ONE book this week! GO GO GO!
I will continue to live tweet as well at @paulayoo (http://twitter.com/paulayoo) The hashtag is #NaPiBoWriWee 🙂 !
HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT! 🙂
Hi Paula,
another draft completed this morning! Super excited!
Thank you,
Sasha (aka The Happy Amateur)
You finished early today, Sasha! That’s fantastic! If you have energy, you are allowed to brainstorm and research/take notes/outline for another book (as long as you don’t write an actual draft). OR… you can take a break! Relax, you earned it! 🙂
I’m on the East Coast, maybe that’s why I finished “early” 🙂
Please, put Russia on the list of participating countries: I now live in the USA, but I’m Russian and carry Russia with me anywhere I go!
LOL that’s right, East Coast time is different. 🙂 As for Russia, yes, you officially represent Russia for NaPiBoWriWee! That’s awesome. Have you ever written a picture book with a Russian character or cultural theme? Publishers and librarians are always looking for culturally diverse characters and story lines.
I haven’t and I will definitely give it a try! Thank you for a great piece of advice, Paula!
Ooh…I’m 2nd to comment. That never happens. This morning my work schedule fell apart so I start work later. I decided to take the time to write my 3rd PB draft. Yay. So happy I got it out of the way. Thanks for Kelly’s post on characterization. I’ll have to work on that for tomorrow’s draft. And as far as the OMM WRITER goes, I’m pretty sure that’ll put me to sleep.
LOL Romelle! No. 2 comment, yay! 🙂 Yes, OMM WRITER can be TOO calming but I love it. Glad you got the PB out of the way so you can get work done. Yes, let your subconscious come up with a cool character based on Kelly’s advice. Good luck!
How in-depth should we get with our character when writing a short PB? Are most of the character be revealed in the illustrations?
Finished book 1. I revised and made it presentable, beyond a rough draft. 1674 words
Hi Janie. This is a good question. I would say you should reveal stuff about your character that is relevant to the actual plot. Character moves the plot forward. For example, if your character is short AND short tempered and loves baseball, and your picture book is about a little girl who is too short to grab the cookie jar from the shelf (silly example, please bear with me LOL), then her being short and having a short temper will help push the story plot forward (obviously she can’t reach the shelf because she’s short, and she’s short tempered so she has a tantrum). And if the story has nothing to do with baseball, then you don’t need to tell us she’s a baseball fan. BUT… what if she tries to reach the cookie jar by taking her baseball bat and ball and hitting the cookie jar so it tumbles off the shelf? And so on. See how her personality creates ways for her to solve the problem? By focusing on that, you can make sure only the relevant details of your character are on the page without revealing unnecessary stuff that is not related to the story. I hope this makes sense. As for character reveals in the art – don’t worry about that. If your character HAS to have a red dress for the story plot, state that. If the color doesn’t matter, then use visceral imagery, like a flowing dress or a bright dress. The illustrator will decide what color it will be and so on. I hope this makes sense!
Wow, Paula!
What an excellent explanation for “show, don’t tell.”
Is it autobiographical?
Thanks Cheryl! And no, not autobiographical. LOL! 🙂
Done and done! Day 3 complete. Shorter story today, finally 🙂 Under 1,000 words – complete with beginning, middle, and end.
Good luck everyone. Happy writing.
Beginning, middle and end – BRAVO! Good luck on Day 4 🙂
I love how Kelly analyzed Chole’s attributes AFTER she’d written the story allowing her character to grow naturally. And OMM WRITER sounds like EXACTLY what I need! Thanks for another great NaPiBoWriWee post Paula! By the way – story number 3 DONE!
Thanks Lisa. Yes, I also love the organic way kelly’s character was created. Now see – you can outline and sketch your character’s personality, but all that is just a blueprint. When you WRITE the draft, things can change unexpectedly. That’s why I started this event, too, to let people discover that an idea is just an idea until you write a finished draft and are surprised by some of the organic creativity that springs to life that you were not expecting during the planning/outlining/brainstorming session. Congrats on No. 3! Take a break, you earned it! 🙂
*** tosses confetti ***
Whee! Draft #3 done!
Not sure if that was really confetti or just some paper towel tidbits that Beethoven had shredded. Naughty kitty!
LOL Cathy, Beethoven just ripped up some toilet paper to celebrate your draft #3. 🙂
Hi day 3…story 3! I’m so thrilled-I haven’t been this productive in ages. Thank you for the picture idea. I have a shredder rabbit-so I got out some of his baby bunny pictures and the words just flowed. Thank you also to Kelly for her character post. I tried to apply her tips to my bunny story. Having fun – thanks so much for this week. Oh-P.S. I watched the Titan episode of Eureka at lunch today just so I could see your name on the screen (silly?) Naw – I am so thrilled to now know someone who wrote/produced for one of our favorite shows. So sorry it’s the last season.
Busy day, but 3rd down!! I wrote a very rough draft of my first kid’s poem. I like it. Needs work, but has real potential. Any suggestions for some reading material on writing children’s poetry? Never attempted it before. I think I could really get into it.
Thanks again, Paula. This has been one of the best things I’ve done for myself in a very long time.
Everyone have a great evening.
Holly
Holly – congrats! What a coincidence BTW that you ask about POETRY. Tomorrow’s blog (No. 4) will be about poetry! For now, a quick hint – get Myra Cohn Livingston’s POEM MAKING – Ways to Begin Writing Poetry, a must have for all aspiring children’s book poets!
Amidst barking dogs…I’m just happy to be done with #3…maybe the next one will include barking dogs.
Tomorrow’s blog is about poetry – how about a poetry book featuring barking dogs? Could be a good exercise – or a future bestseller! 🙂
Yay. I just finished– at 5 minutes after midnight though! I feel a little bit like Cinderella but I’ve got a rough draft instead of a pumpkin. 🙂
Loved the post on character. Thanks, Kelly.
I love the succinctness of these posts, Paula. Just enough advice to give me something to concentrate on while writing without being overwhelmed with ‘writing’ issues. Thanks.
Day 3 done! Is this flying by or what? 😉
Thanks Dana, I appreciate this. I decided to only post one blog per day and make them shorter versus the past three years where I would post three blogs (morning, afternoon, right before midnight). That got a little out of hand and I’m sure it was overwhelming not just for me but everyone else. Tomorrow’s blog is all about poetry! Glad there are no pumpkins for you. 🙂
Draft three is done! Thanks for the motivation and structure to actually get these down on paper, Paula.
Fantastic, Margaret! I’m so thrilled you are doing this while also writing/producing http://lizziebennetdiaries.tumblr.com/ ! You should join SCBWI.org too, it’s like the WGA of the kid lit world. 🙂 xo P.
Maybe you should read them before you start making sweeping pronouncements like that… 🙂
Ooo, this feels good! 3 days, 3 drafts. I have earned my dinner for today (just wish I didn’t have to cook it!).
Thanks Paula!
YIPPEE! Now remember to pace yourself – we still are barely halfway thru! 🙂 Eat your dinner, you will need to fortify yourself for Days 4, 5, 6, and 7! 🙂
I’ve managed to snag the unlucky 13th response two days in a row! My 3rd draft, “I Want To Go Home, Seriously” came in at a verbose 913 words. I think that deserves a glass of red.
Wonderful blog today. How do you do it?
Cheryl, I’m so proud of you. 913 is fine, it’s under 1000 words, so you’re fine. 🙂 How do I do it, you ask? A glass of red helps me, too. 🙂
Thanks, Kelly, for the words on Character. I took your advice and created an MC today that I really enjoy. Looking forward to spending more time in the future with her through revisions. 🙂
So Draft #3 done. 679 words. Bring on Draft #4 tomorrow.
Done before midnight tonight, woo hoo! Thanks saturnbull for the mean animals I was looking for 🙂
Thank-you so much for the great interviews and writing advice. Draft#3 done; ‘hoping I can keep up the pace. Tomorrow I tackle a retelling. The advice on character will be crucial to good writing tomorrow. I’m so excited. . .and sleepy. I’m turning in early to be ready for day 4.
Wow, there is so much great advice this week. I’m about to finish Book One, just wanted to actually get something posted before Day Three is over. I’m still hoping for a few more books this week. But at least, I’m almost done with one, which is further than I would have been before finding this site. Thanks.
I got my story done but it was rough. This seems to get harder each day I go on. I guess I used my easy ideas first. Tomorrow I plan to change things up and do a little non-fiction book, give the fictional half of my brain a rest. (I think I just accidentally implied that I only actually have half a brain.)
I like the switch to non-fiction. Research can often help! Don’t worry if you find it gets harder with each passing day – everyone feels the burn out around Day 4. 😛 But we’re all in this together. As always remember, I’m happy if you even finish ONE book. I”m just grateful you are writing every day, to me that is the most important part! Rock on! 😉
Thanks Paula, Day 3 and into Day 4. Four PIC BOOKS drafted. It is nice to work on new concepts than just focus on improving my old stuff. This process is giving my confidence a jolt. Thank you.
I’ve completed draft #3 and am working on draft #4. 🙂
Sorry, playing catch up. Day 3 was a fail. Ended up with one hour before bed and the story didn’t happen 🙁
Started day 3 at 10:00pm. It is a rough draft but it is started. Long day away from the computer. I love the post though.