Writing one picture book and seeing it published was a dream come true, but writing a second is definitely a different challenge. With Oliver's Hunger Dragon, I knew what I wanted to write, and quite frankly, I think it was a fluke. Why? Because I am having trouble writing another one. So what is a writer to do? If you are me, you get help. And, that help came in the form of Susanna Leonard Hill's course, Making Picture Book Magic.
     Making Picture Book Magic is a 4 week course developed by children's author, Susanna Hill. An award winning author of picture books such as NO SWORD FIGHTING IN THE HOUSE, NOT YET, ROSE, and CAN'T SLEEP WITHOUT SHEEP, Susanna developed a course that guides wannabe picture book writers, like me, from the beginning idea to the completed draft.
     The advantage of this course besides Susanna's guidance is that it allowed me to proceed at my own pace. Since the loss of my daughter, I have been tasked with homeschooling my grand daughter just as her mother has done for the last 4 years. It is a task I dearly appreciate, and one that has come to mean more than I could have ever realized before. However with that said, I now find the time I can commit to my writing greatly reduced. With Making Picture Book Magic, I was able to work at my own speed and time. 
     The best part of just completing the course--or at least I will on Monday--is that I now have not one, but two picture books completely outlined and ready for revision. An added bonus of taking this course is that I am encouraged, enthused, and extremely excited to now have the knowledge to complete my next goal--Picture Book #2. 
     If you have ever wondered whether or not you could write a picture book, check out Susanna's course. With her, I learned to Make Picture Book Magic, and you can too.

http://susannahill.com/MAKING_PICTURE_BOOK_MAGIC.html

This month, I am proud to be a participant once again in PiBOLDMO. 

PiBOLDMO is a 30 day picture book challenge originated by children's author, Tara Lazar. Conceived in 2008, Tara opened the challenge to everyone interested in writing picture books in 2009. I discovered it in 2012, but didn't participate until last year.

The idea behind the challenge is to write something down each day in the month of November that could be used to develop a new picture book. It can be a title that reached out and grabbed you in the middle of the day, a character that floated through your mind while making dinner, or even a word you heard on the kids' playground while you watched your daughter try her new trick on the monkey bars. 

According to Tara, the idea is to "heighten your picture-book-idea-generating senses. Ideas may build upon other ideas and your list of potential stories will grow stronger as the days pass".  To help generate those ideas and keep the juices flowing, Tara's blog offers daily insight from children authors and illustrators. 


Last year, I came up with 37 ideas. I chose two to work on, and my book, Oliver's Hunger Dragon, was one. The second one is still in the works. This year, I hope to discover two more gems to develop. 


If you have ever thought about writing picture books, check out Tara's website at http://taralazar.com/piboidmo/.  Maybe you will decide to join us next November.

Until the recent loss of my daughter, I thought I knew exactly what my priorities in life were. I wanted to walk and talk with my husband of 45 years. Since we have worked opposite schedules for the last twenty years, I looked forward to actually sharing our lives. I wanted to be there for my children and repair relationships that have gone astray.  I wanted to spend time with my enlightened and inspiring grandchildren through sleepovers, bake-offs, reading challenges, long phone calls, and lots of hugs. I wanted time to be a big sister again to my baby brother. I wanted to enjoy the bond I share with my two best friends, and above all I wanted to write. Then my world changed, and I had to ask myself--why write?

I think Shakespeare said it best: "To be, or not to be, that is the question."

For me, that is a deep, soul searching question because writing is not easy.  I can't sit down at the keyboard and hammer out a new novel in a week, or write a 500 word article in an afternoon, or even tackle a letter if my mind is not on it. I need to be inspired first. Then, that inspiration takes time to germinate, to evolve, to motivate, and finally to write. It is a process, and I needed to know the time involved was worth it. So, for the last two months, except for my blog on children's issues, I have written very little. Instead, my days have revolved around homeschooling my 9 year-old granddaughter, and hoping I was honoring her mother with my teaching process. 

Then two weeks ago, my granddaughter asked me, "Nana, why aren't you writing?" I gave her the usual answer of not enough time, to which she replied, "But you have so many books in your head. How am I going to read them, if you don't write them." 

It is truly amazing to me how a child's smile and honesty can spark creativity in an adult. I had lost the important reason to write, but she helped me find it. I write for her, her sister, my other grandchildren, and all the kids whose voices are too low to be heard. I write so that someday, somewhere, a child will read one of my books and his or her day will be a little better. That's why I wrote Oliver's Hunger Dragon, and that's why I started writing my next picture book yesterday. 

So, if you write, have you ever asked yourself why. I know the answer most writers--beginning or not--tend to give is, "I have always written since I was a child." Okay, but why? If it's for fame or fortune, you've chosen the wrong field. Not many of us writers and authors reach that platform. There has to be a deeper, soul-searching reason for willingly putting your thoughts down on paper for all the world to see.  So maybe it is time to set your priorities by first asking yourself: Why do I write? You might be surprised at the answer. I know I was.