I just read a fascinating article by Justin Kramon on how writers earn their living.  He looks at four different types of job a writer could do to support their ‘habit’.  Find the article here.

I followed his fourth choice, although I’m not sure I would have thought to call the work I did “life experience’ jobs.  I worked in a Pilates Studio, belly-danced at a Greek restaurant, and managed a small independent bookshop.  I’ve also tried the teaching/editorial route and found that it made writing very difficult indeed.  I’m teaching right now and I find that I get so caught up in the work of my students that I don’t have as much time for writing.  I’m using the same part of my brain as I do for my own writing when I read the work of students and I end up not wanting to write, even if I have been inspired by something someone has said.  I loved the physical aspect of some of the other jobs – they got me out of my head and gave me enthusiasm to sit at the computer when I was done.  How does your job influence your writing? Could you make changes to give you more time for that book you want to get onto the page?

1- Don’t preach to your readers or try to moralize, the story will come off as heavy handed.

2- Unless you are an illustrator yourself, publishers tend to want to choose their own illustrators.  They usually have a bank of artists that they like to use and they don’t necessarily want to work with your friend/aunt/neighbour etc

3- If the story is over 1000 words, it is probably too long.  Just as an example, Where The Wild Things Are, one of my favourite picture books, is less than 400 words.

4- According to rumour, Dr Seuss wrote a thousand pages for every page he published.  Even if this is not exactly true, it gives a sense of how many times a picture book needs to be rewritten to make it perfect.

Just because it is short, doesn’t mean it is easy.

5- Read contemporary picture books.  There is scope and opportunity to write some wonderful, cool things.  See what’s out there so you don’t limit yourself.

6- Read your own text out-loud.  It doesn’t have to rhyme, but it does need rhythm and cadence.  Language is key.

7- Remember you are writing for people who can’t yet read themselves.  This is the thing I find most exciting about picture books – the author is introducing words and stories to fertile imaginations.

8- Strong characters, strong narrative, and beautiful language are baseline requirements.  Again, don’t think that because the book has only a few pages, that you can skimp on any of these elements.

9- 32 pages is the conventional length for a picture book.  Make a dummy book by folding eight sheets of paper in half.  Don’t use the first couple of pages, these will be for titles.  The dummy book is for your eyes only (i.e. don’t send it to a publisher), but it is very worth doing as it shows you visually exactly where your text is working well and where it is lacking.

10- Now get someone else to read your book out-loud to you.  Notice where they stumble.  Remember, your readers will be children and also their caregivers – keep in mind the adult who has to read the book again, and again, and again to a tiny inquiring mind.

Tomorrow morning, we’re going to Derbyshire for a long weekend with old friends.  There will be lots of opportunity to make notes about a new landscape (see the photo), the interior of a building I’ve never stayed in before (a large place with many bedrooms), and about the ways we spend our time with four small children to hang out with.  The notes I make will only be short, a sentence here or there, a short piece of descrition, fragments.  Think about ways you can make notes on a new, or on an old experience.  Perhaps the notes will be helpful in a later piece of writing.