Last year I spent a good bit of time working on my first novel — a middle-grade historical piece. I researched and timelined and researched and wrote and read and researched and timelined and wrote and read and…
…my picture book brain stepped in.
My scope narrowed.
I started looking at minute words and phrases again. With tenderness.
I read everything I wrote out loud. Some of it I even sang.
I left my novel in a heap upon the bathroom floor like a dress that didn’t fit quite right.
Now, here I am.
I have two new picture books tucked in snugly with my editor. They are in her care now.
I can breathe again.
My scope is stretching wide.
I’m wondering if maybe that dress does do me right after all.
Can I do this?
Can I pick up where I left off?
Am I too fickle to be trusted?
Will my main character reveal herself to me again?
Do I really, truly want her to?
Are picture books going to come to me like needy little mice in the middle of the night?
If I put on the dress and go to the party, do I have to stay for the whole dance?
Will my coach turn into a pumpkin?
hitstorical picture books?
Hey there Liz,
You can do whatever you decide you actually WANT to do.
And on that note, remember I was telling you that we had read a couple of historical fictional picture books in our house recently? The Girl on the High Diving Horse by Linda Oatman High and illustrated by Ted Lewin is the one I was trying to think of. Beautifully illustrated and written.
Also, Roxaboxen is somewhat of a historical picture book. Yes? By Alice McLeran and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. Makes me cry everytime.
Re: hitstorical picture books?
Everything Barbara Cooney illustrated makes me cry. I’m going to go find The Girl on the High Diving Horse. Pronto…
I adore your writing style!! This just made me smile.
Thank you! You just made ME smile!
I love this; it’s like a poem.
Don’t you think that every bit of writing you do changes you as a person? Like every relationship you enter into changes you, be it as lover, parent or friend? Who knows what those two picture books taught you…some new dance steps?
Sara Holmes
You are so right, Sara. I’ve always been a crummy dancer so I’ll take all I can get…
It is amazing how we’re in our work and our work is in us….
Me too
Jane Yolen here. I’ve been doing the same thing for years. It’s like palate cleansing between parts of a meal. Since I just finished a 92,000 word novel, diving back into picture books forces me to go word by word by word.
Consider yourself the luckiest of writers, able to keep the brain supple by these different exercises. And your soul by these different exorcises.
Jane
Re: Me too
In a perfectly composed world, now would be the time for me to say, “thank you for the wisdom” if I weren’t having to lie down on the fainting couch because JANE YOLEN COMMENTED ON MY BLOG!!!! Thank you for the wisdom, Jane, and welcome. I’m absolutely honored. And, you’re right, I should be counting my lucky stars. For the exercise and exorcisms…