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And the next chapter of picture book writing …

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Picture books come in many forms, topics and shapes. This morning I had opportunity to listen again to a session from the recent Packaging Your Imagination by CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers). The session was given by Frieda Wishinsky about writing nonfiction stories for children. I found it most interesting. Writers come at a topic from different directions as I did with Harry’s Trees.

Much of my writing has been in the nonfiction area, but I have also written fictional stories and poetry that go their own way. Almost like a character who doesn’t do what you think they might do. That’s the way it is in author land. We (pantsers) don’t always know what’s going to happen, whereas an author who plots out the story knows the lay of the story before serious writing begins. I wonder if they’re ever surprised.

You could say that’s what happens when I start a story for children. I want a good outcome, but the characters that appear may not always do what I think they might do. And so it was with Sophie who got her name once I started writing, and the other characters too.

I drove down the expressway one day, going out of town and saw the vines creeping over the cement walls dividing a subdivision and people’s back yards from the expressway. A thought came to me. What if…?

Isn’t that the way good stories come to life? I vowed to hang onto that visual until my next stop when I could jot down a quick note. After all, it would be more than an hour before I was back home.

Later that day I recalled the image and started to write the story. The story took shape and showed me characters I had to name, characters that showed their real faces. I could picture them though I’m not an artist and couldn’t sketch what I saw. It was rough, but it was on paper.

About that time I attended the Story Barn for First Friday for my first time, in a space where oral storytellers gather to hear and share stories of many different kinds. Folk tales, author tales, and ones they create with their own experiences. I decided while I was there that I would tell this story. It was challenging to tell a story I’d written, right there on the spot, but I did it.

Over the months that followed, work continued on that story. I told it for World Storytelling Day concert at the Story Barn, and at the Heart and Hand Festival at the Schneider Haus in Kitchener. I still have photos of that telling. At that point I thought the story would be just for storytelling, not for reading, though I did envision it in book form one day. And I told the story again in other places.

In the fall of 2019, I felt that I wanted to put that story into a readable form, and I was quietly searching for someone to put the words into pictures. At an artist’s event in our community, I made a point of going to see a particular artist to see if that would be a good fit. Truth be told, I had two of my stories in mind. Which one would I commit to paper first? Which one would I invest time and energy to bring to life?

Sophie won that push and pull contest in my head. And the artist I met was excited to work with me. We met in early January after I’d shared the story with her. She already had done some sketching and I loved what she had come up with.

“Yes, that’s it.”

We agreed to work together. She brought Sophie and her fellow characters to life in a light-hearted way. She shared her work from time to time to show me what she had come up with. Did I like it?

When the art was done, we forwarded the pieces to the publisher to do what they do so well. And the story went through further revision until it felt ready.

The book that’s coming very soon is Sophie and the Giant Boy. I am grateful for my artist’s fine work and to Angel Hope Publishing for bringing yet another dream to life. Watch for it on my website book page.

Get in touch to pre-order the book for Christmas for a small child in your life.

https://www.carolynwilker.ca/books/

And because this post is part of a blog hop, I need to add this part, to look up fellow author blogs.

 Please check out books by my fellow Canadian Christian authors!

Comments

And the next chapter of picture book writing … — 2 Comments

  1. Hello Carolyn, I found it fascinating to hear how “Sophie and the Giant Boy” grew into a published book, like a seedling being nurtured over time to blossom greatly!

    It was so motivating to read and perfect for a Monday lunchtime. Do you have any tips for seeing a project from idea to completion?

    Best Wishes,
    Charlotte

  2. Hello Charlotte, lovely to hear from you. As you read, you noticed that it took time. Not all projects take so many years.

    The book before Sophie, Discover Your Story, was a couple of years in the making. My co-writer, Donna, and I worked at it between other projects. If you read the post before this one, about my first picture book, Harry’s Trees, that story started in May 2016 after my father died, and then the first copy of the book was ready for family in early January 2017. That was having my illustrator on board and willing to work with me.
    The tips I would offer are to stay with the project, get the feedback of others who can appropriately critique the efforts and offer helpful suggestions, and don’t rush the process. Carolyn

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