Writing When You're Not A Writer
How to get your picturebook story down on paper when you're an illustrator.
Do you ever feel under obligation to write for children as well as illustrating?
Is it a natural progression? I don’t know.
A conversation I had last week with my husband made me realise that I have a really specific formula for doing it (just for a bit of background, I have no training in writing past GCSE English).
What you need is determination, imagination and as much support as you can find - whether that’s online of offline. Don't underestimate the power of cheerleaders, people backing you up and telling you to keep going, someone telling you that the housework is not something you'll be remembered for, that they believe in you. People to make suggestions, lend you books and send you links, people who will listen to your concerns, people who will ask your advice and trust in your creative decisions, people who will build you up.
When I wrote my first story I wanted a project to illustrate that was new and mine so I just wrote and drew pictures - I wasn't too bothered about grammar, tone or how to set out a manuscript for a publisher. If I had been, I would never have considered writing a children's book, let alone submitting it. Load of rubbish, right? Wrong. That manuscript was how I got signed by my agent and got my first contract as author/illustrator (Pi-Rat, Little Tiger/Caterpillar Books, 2012).
You don't have to have an English degree to write an engaging story, although I’m sure it helps. Semi-colons don't make a child's eyes light up. Children's stories were originally passed on by words, talking to each other. That's why there are lots of versions of the same fairy tales. Then people like Perrault came along and wrote them down, edited them and compiled them into treasuries. The original story tellers weren't thinking about anything other than how to tell them well, what was going to be engaging.
The point is, don’t let your level of academic writing hold you back from telling a story if that’s what you want to do.
Write the story. Evaluate the story. Hire an editor or, if you have one, ask your agent to cast an eye over it. Don’t ask your friends or relatives - they’re biased and will always say it’s great. That is what we love them for, but they make the worst critique partners.
My partner is a screenwriter with a $50,000 degree in creative writing and he agrees with this 100%.
Writing is a skill, but it can absolutely be self-taught.
In the end it’s all about storytelling, no matter if you’re writing or illustrating.
As an illustrator I love brave and quirky texts where the writer has the confidence to cut away unnecessary details and dare to not follow the stream - I’ve seen a few scripts that are, well, not that…
Could it be time to write my own? ;)