NaPiBoWriWee 2012: Day Two – May 2, 2012

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National Picture Book Writing Week is this May 1-7, 2012!

Good morning! Welcome to DAY TWO of our marathon 7-picture books-in-7-days annual National Picture Book Writing Week! Thank you for all your comments on my blogs so far. I’ve been blown away by everyone’s hard work and enthusiasm for this event. Congrats to everyone for finishing their first book!

I’m live blogging every morning with thoughts on my own writing journey plus writing advice from myself as well as my friends. I’m also posting new updates and breaking news about our prize drawing contest at the end of the week which will feature a lot of fun surprises! So please keep checking out my blog – https://paulayoo.com/napi – every morning. I’ll try to get the blogs posted before 12 PM (PST) every day.

I’m also live tweeting here: http://twitter.com/paulayoo

Today’s special guest is picture book author LISA WHEELER (http://lisawheelerbooks.com). Please keep reading after the jump for her writing advice plus more news and updates!

Meet picture Book author & poet Lisa Wheeler!

Let’s start off  DAY TWO with some fantastic advice from picture book author & poet LISA WHEELER.

To date, Lisa Wheeler has thirty titles on library shelves, with more to follow over the next few years. She’s written picture books in prose and rhyme, an easy reader series, three books of poems, and creative nonfiction for the very young. Awards include the 2004 Mitten Award for Old Cricket, given by the Michigan Library Association, the 2005/06 Great Lakes, Great Books Award and 2005 Missouri Building Blocks Award for Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum,the 2006 Bluebonnet Award for Seadogs , the 2006/07 South Carolina Picture Book Award for Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum and most recently, the 2008 The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award forJazz Baby given by the American Library Association. Her newest titles include Spinster Goose: Twisted Rhymes for Naughty Children, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Simon & Schuster) and Dino-Basketball, illustrated by Barry Gott (CarolRhoda). Lisa shares her Michigan home with one husband, one dog, and an assortment of anthropomorphic characters. Check out her website at www.lisawheelerbooks.com

When it comes to brainstorming and writing a picture book, you always need a STORY. Plot can sometimes be the trickiest thing to write because you have to make sure your plot’s structure is rock solid. Without a solid foundation of a plot, your entire story can fall apart.

Lisa also runs a FANTASTIC “Picture Book Writing Boot Camp” all over the country. The event is exactly what it sounds like – an intensive one-day session of lectures and workshops with Lisa on how to write and craft a picture book draft. For more info on her Boot Camp, check out this link: http://lisawheelerbooks.com/LW/boot_camp.html

When it comes to PLOT, Lisa gives the following advice:

“One of the things I tell the people who take my Picture Book Boot Camp is that plot in a picture book has to be fairly simple. For instance,

1.       character wants something

2.       character tries to get it 3 times

3.       fails

4.       fails

5.       fails (rule-of-threes)  

6.       succeeds,

7.       the end. 

“In a novel, the plot can be layered and have all these twists and turns and multiple characters, but in a picture book, we try to capture a moment in time—one plot point. Whether it is an hour, a day, a week, or a month—it is all about that same singular plot point. So, even though you have a great story like Carolyn Crimi’s The Louds Move In, which takes place over months of time, the entire plot point revolves around that fact that the family is too loud for their neighbors.  Keep it simple. Keep it tight.”

So as you work on Book Number Two for today, keep this advice in mind! Let me know if this Rule of Three’s from Lisa Wheeler helped you come up with a SOLID storyline for your latest picture book draft!

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But… what if you have writers’ block or are stuck on an idea? Lisa has some MORE advice on her website in this fantastic article she wrote on how to get into the mindset of a picture book author. The article is entitled, “FIVE TIPS TO HELP YOU RELATE TO YOUR YOUNG AUDIENCE.”

Her main advice? BE IMMATURE. When Lisa was asked how she knew that she could write for children, Lisa joked, “I’m immature and have a limited vocabulary.” 🙂 Later, she realized her joke actually had some truth to it. “Am I suggesting that those of us who write for children are less professional, less intelligent, than other writers?” she says. “No way Jose! We just need to be more in tune with a child’s world.”

To find out what Lisa’s five tips are, please visit her link here: http://www.lisawheelerbooks.com/LW/beimmature.html

I list this article as well because I hope it gives you a NEW way to think about how to approach writing Book Number Two today! 🙂

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Finally, I know that many of you have full-time jobs and/or you also are a parent! I know life can be very busy. But the point of this NAPIBOWRIWEE event is to train everyone to learn how to write EVERY SINGLE DAY NO MATTER WHAT. I write every day. I HAVE to write every day. It wasn’t easy at first, but I learned how to do it. It’s like exercise – at some point during the day, you have to exercise, whether it’s a real workout at the gym or just taking a brisk walk after dinner. Even chasing your toddler around the house can be considered exercise. Every day, we MOVE. So why not treat writing like exercise? You gotta keep writing to keep those writing “muscles” from going slack. 🙂

So… to let you know that I am human and overwhelmed, yesterday, I did not have the perfect writing day. LOL! When I’m not hosting NAPIBOWRIWEE at my website, my job is a bit diverse. In addition to being a picture book author and YA novelist, I am also a TV writer and producer. But right now I am not working on a TV show because my last series, SyFy’s EUREKA, wrapped in August 2011. (Our fifth and final season is currently airing on SyFy every Monday at 9 PM EST/8C.)

So I’m currently between TV jobs. Every May, the networks announce which returning and new drama and sitcom series will air in the fall. There’s a frenzy of job interviews where thousands of TV writer/producers try to get jobs on these shows. It’s called STAFFING SEASON and boy is it a roller coaster ride. I’ve been lucky so far, thankfully. BUT because the “P” in “Paula” also stands for “Paranoid,” I am very conservative and work between all my book sales and TV jobs. I am also a substitute teacher in the public school system in Los Angeles, and I teach everything from Kindergarten to the 12th grade. Talk about great RESEARCH for my future books! LOL!

So yesterday, I had a last minute subbing gig for 7th grade social studies. Gone was my perfectly planned day of carefully working on Book Number One for NAPIBOWRIWEE! Boo! I was EXHAUSTED when I got home, plus I had to prepare for the blogs I plan to post every day for this week. AND I had to read more TV scripts to prepare for hopeful job interviews during staffing season.

By the time I was ready to write, it was 10 PM! Oh noes! And I was bleary eyed from lack of sleep. So I snuggled in bed with my three cats Oreo, Beethoven and Charlotte. (Yup, get ready for lots of Crazy Cat Lady moments from moi! LOL! My cat Oreo has his own Twitter feed @oreothecatyoo!) I decided to handwrite this Book Number One. I had an idea from a few months ago that was gestating in my subconscious, so I wrote a very simple draft. I thought of Lisa’s advice on The Rule of Threes and came up with three conflicts and problems that my character had to solve. I finished this literally minutes before midnight. So now I have a super rough first draft that I can revise later in the year. Yippee! One down, six to go. 🙂

Today I hope to have more time to write. I’m about to disappear into my writing bat cave. My inspiration for today? My cats, of course. I’m using this photo to inspire my Book Number Two. I’m posting this cute picture below to inspire you as well. 🙂

L-R: Sleepy Oreo, Charlotte and Beethoven!

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Finally – as always – please comment on this blog with your progress today. I haven’t had time to individually address your comments, but I will try my best to catch up. 

Everyone who posts a comment or emails me (paula at paulayoo dot com) will be included in the PRIZE DRAWING CONTEST to be held at the end of the week. The winners will be announced in a special blog on Monday May 8th. The prizes will include not only souvenirs from our NAPIBOWRIWEE STORE (link here: http://www.cafepress.com/npbww2012) and autographed copies of MY picture books (Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story & Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story from Lee & Low Books), but they will also include specially autographed books from LISA WHEELER and more special guest authors to be included this week! So keep visiting my blog for more prize announcements as well!

Okay, I’m off to the writing batcave for the day. Stay tuned for Day Three’s blog posted tomorrow Thursday May 3rd. I will be live tweeting today @paulayoo ! Good luck everyone!

And as always… HAPPY WRITING! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT! 🙂

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60 Comments »

  1. Okay, so I am anxious to please–the first to write. The world needs people like me. I am off to a slow start today. It’s early—lots of time to get it done. Here’s an ironic aspect of time. It only goes slow when you have a lot of it to spare. Then wham, you’re short on it and it races by. So I better focus better than a seven year old with ADHD. Or, around ten o’clock tonight time will speed up. Thanks for letting me ramble. And, thanks so much to Paula. Love ya for it:)

  3. Picture book #2 done! Honestly, it’s a very, very rough draft. It needs a lot of work. But I really like the concept! Not bad for someone who didn’t have any idea what to write about today.

    Yesterday’s book uses the concept of the Rule of Threes. This one…not so much…wait, be right back…as I was writing this comment I had an idea. How about a Rule of Sixes? That’s where this current book is going.

    • Congrats on finishing book 2! I love your idea of the Rule of Sixes. You can never have too much conflict! 🙂

  4. #2 down… Used the rule of three on both, but today’s take’s far too long to get to the ptoblem… ah well its’ a draft. The title is a killer though!

    LOVE the kitties!

    • Killer title will probably help you focus later with paring down and getting faster to the problems in your draft. I can never write without a title. Good job! And my cats say meow and thank you. 🙂

  5. I almost feel lucky that Day 2 is as rainy, dreary and cool as Day 1, because that keeps me snuggled close to my laptop for warmth!

    Today’s draft was inspired by the multitudes of robins sucking spaghetti-like ribbons of earthworms from the front lawn.

  6. Hi! I’m so excited: I wrote a draft!
    It’s quite raw, sure needs editing, but it’s my little personal achievement 🙂
    Thank you for the motivation and for the wonderful advice on picture book writing.
    Sasha (aka The Happy Amateur)

    • YES! CONGRATULATIONS! Raw, rough drafts are what we are aiming for here. The real writing will happen in the rewriting and sometimes these drafts might inspire another idea instead. You never know until you write. Congrats!

  8. After a slow start yesterday, I have managed to write two and a half picture books. The half book is in rhyme so I am trying to write one to two stanza a day. Thanks for cheering us on Paula.

  9. #2 done—happy dance! Thank you, again, Paula! Enjoyed Lisa’s tips! May have to rewrite my #2 after reading.

    EUREKA??? You wrote for it?? I did not know – I’m new to your blog. We LOVE the show and are very disappointed it’s in its last season. The imagination, humor and creativity are appreciated by our whole family.

    • Aww thanks Laura! I’m glad you are a Eureka fan. I kept pitching the idea that they change the name to YOOREKA but for some reason, the creators didn’t like my idea. Hmmm. 🙂 I hope you enjoy our final season, and I agree, I love that it is a family friendly show, which is rare these days in TV land, so it was a privilege to work for this show. 🙂

  10. Day 2’s draft was a bit harder to get down on paper than Day 1’s. It was an idea I’d been kicking around for awhile so it was good to write a rough draft to see if it’s even viable. The jury’s still out on that but it’s done and I’ll go back to it soon.

    Thanks, Lisa for your advice. I’d love to go to Boot Camp with you one of these days!

    Thanks for the funny cat pictures and motivation, Paula.

    See you all tomorrow! 🙂

    • Merci Dana! BTW did you know Austria and Germany SCBWI are participating too? So excited. I know what you mean tho about the tougher writing days when you’re just trying to draft it and see if it even is viable. Fingers crossed you approve your own draft later! 🙂

      • Hey Paula! Actually I did know about SCBWI Germany– I posted a link on our SCBWI France facebook page and the word spread to the German, Belgian and Dutch chapters. Pretty cool! You’re conquering northern Europe! 😉

  12. Wrote about half of my story first thing this morning. Then I went off to critique group and I actually brought yesterday’s draft – and – they – liked – it. Crazy. I thought it was bad, really bad but they liked the concept and most of the draft. Nice to hear but didn’t help my finish today’s. I will finish the last half tonight.

  13. Paula, I love reading your blog and the advice from your guest authors. This morning I took a walk around Hancock park and got two book ideas. Just finished a first draft on picture book #2, “Ugly Betty’s Beautiful”

  15. Well done everyone! I’m inspired by your success.

    I am almost done with Day 2 – with hope. Again, writing a picture book failed pretty early on, and I think I’m ending up with something more along the lines of an early reader.

    I’ve written to the climax, the desperation. Now, just like the character, I need to push through 🙂

  18. The word for today was “ugh,” as in – this draft is ugh-ly! However, had lightbulb moment in that I discovered I really can wake up before the kids and write. Did not kill me!

    • The lightbulb moment? AWESOME. Sometimes our best writing gets done at the most unexpected times. I am NOT an early bird but I forced myself to write before going to work when I was at one job and some of my best writing got done despite my cranky morning attitude. LOL!

  19. Ooh, I’m going to look into Lisa’s picture book boot camp! And Paula, you amaze me with the many hats that you wear. And I thought I was busy. Well day 2, picture book draft 2 is done. I wrote it while waiting between heats at my son’s track meet. I carry my notebook wherever I go. It’s easier than carrying my netbook/laptop. Anyway, it’s a very rough draft. Not too happy with the story. Nevertheless, it’s done.

    • Aww thanks Romelle but your schedule sounds crazy busy too AND you’re a mom! Wow! You got me beat, period. 🙂 (I have three cats but it’s not quite the same LOL). I too carry a notebook – I heart my Moleskine, plus you never have to worry about finding an outlet for a plug with a real notebook! 🙂 Glad u got something done. Don’t worry about not being entirely happy with the story – you will solve that with the revision later!

  20. I just finished my second draft. It needs work, but I really like it and will flesh it out as part of my
    12 x 12 in 12 total.

    I hope everyone had a fantastic day!! I’m not sure when I will find the time tomorrow as the day will be spent undergoing medical testing & then treatments on the legs. Depending on how I feel I may take tomorrow off and shoot for two drafts on Friday.

    • Congrats on Draft 2! I’m sorry tomorrow is gonna be tough for you – good luck and well wishes for your health. If you have to take tomorrow off, by all means, do. Your health comes first. Keep us posted and hey, you can always write more on Friday when you feel better again. Hugs!

  22. I couldn’t believe how creative I could be with a one picture book a day deadline. I came up with another creative idea today. WOW! Love it.

    • That’s awesome! See, I was hoping this experiment might help people jumpstart their creativity. Glad you are having fun!

  23. What I am enjoying most about this challenge is that I am forced to write something new and different everyday without preparation. I like structure and often want to write under the most perfect conditions. Here lately, quiet moments on sunny mornings sipping green tea are few and far between. But I am writing anyway. I have two drafts in two days and looking forward to where my imagination takes me next!

    • Great to hear Raychelle that you are having a good experience so far. I too crave the quiet moment/green tea writing times, but often we have to write in the midst of a lot of busy work and family chaos. So my goal with this event is to help people learn how to “switch on” their writing zen even though everything around them is distracting and overwhelming. Good luck today!

  24. It’s 9:18 here, so I’ve got to get off this computer and get writing. Sorry I haven’t kept you up to date this week. Here goes.
    Day 1: finished sequel to my previous picture book!
    Day 2: child home from school sick, oh no! Still found a quiet corner and wrote a very poor rough PB. But now I understand the kind of prep I need to do for next year.
    Day 3: goal – Write draft of pb that’s been in my head since 1998.

    My blog features NaPiBoWriWee today, with due links. ‘Hope it inspires someone like you’ve inspired me.
    Thanks
    http://bookish-ambition.blogspot.com/

    • Hi! Thanks for the lovely blog shout out – I appreciate it. Sorry your child was sick this week, hope they feel better soon. I’m glad to hear you were able to get some rough drafts done though – and if you can get the 1998 pb idea down on paper by Day 7, that would be AWESOME. Good luck!

  25. Thank you, Lisa Wheeler for sharing your insightful tips. You’re books are outstanding.

    After years of reading millions of PBs, I wrote the first half of a long picture book that might end up with 1500 words. The second day, I revised my website and worked on a chapter book, but now my mind is clear and I’m ready to plug away and finish the story.

    • Thanks Janie, Lisa is awesome. I agree! Don’t worry for now if your draft is 1500 words – there ARE longer pic books out there, plus it’s always easier to cut than to add anyway. I’m glad you kept writing on the second day (even tho it was for the cp book) and hope you finish the PB today. 🙂 You also bring up a great point – we have to READ lots of pic books in order to write them. Reading = better writing! 🙂

  27. OK. I had the outline last night, but totally too tired (and a little tipsy after a few after work beers and a much stress-filled day) that I was not able to complete the draft til now. 501 words…and not bad. 🙂

    Thanks, Lisa for your post! Good luck everyone on Day 3!

    • Oh noes! Sorry work was stressful for you yesterday, Marcie. I’ve had those days too. An outline and 501 words despite the happy hour? NOT BAD! 🙂 LOL! Good luck today and hope it’s not as stressful!

  28. It has been a very rough week, so nada in writing, but I can feel the tension releasing as I read through the blogs and everyone’s comments. Thanks, Paula, for giving us this experience!

    • Hugs kpfenni! I’m sorry you had a difficult week, and I’m glad you are feeling better from our NaPiBoWriWee sessions. 🙂 Writing can be like therapy – or yoga – LOL because you get to treat YOURSELF to a nice treat of writing. The outside world disappears and you are in your own happy world that you created. Hope your week gets better and keep writing! 🙂

  31. Day two is done. Very short. So was day one’s. I am trying to keep the stories at 150 words. Short and sweet.:)

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