Ta Da!

I posted this to our One Thousand Picture book group on Facebook, but it occured to me that this information might be helpful to many writers needing to find wise guides for their work.  Obviously, if you're writing longer works, the time constraints and numbers will be different, but these approaches work whether you're deciding what to read or reading through large numbers of books. 

1.  Author studies.  I found authors who were writing in areas I was interested in and ordered every single one of their books from the library.  Heck, if you do an author study of Jane Yolen, you'll be able to read about half the requirement.  This month, I've immersed myself in Jonah Winter, Dianna Hutts Aston, and Laura Purdie Salas. 

2.  New book and library display intervals.  I went to the library and pulled all the books I hadn't read off the new shelves and all the books I hadn't read that were faced out (twenty at a time) and sat down at one of the short little tables to read and add them to my Goodreads list.  I chose some to check out for further study, and then (because I love my librarians) returned the books to the proper places on the shelves. I brought my librarians cookies today to celebrate my 1,000th picture book.

3.  Bookstore power hour.  I did this twice during the past year, once in the early summer and today.  I went to Barnes and Noble and pulled books (ten at a time) from the shelves, logged on to my Goodreads with their network, and read until the hour was up.  Today, in that hour (and a half, I couldn't stop), I read thirty-two books, enough to push me over the top.  I made notes about authors I might want to do a study of and gave stars to the books I thought merited 4 or 5 stars.  This is a great thing to do because the face outs are either new books, classics, or books that are selling well.  I put the books back where I found them when I'm done. I heard one of the booksellers say they had 256 boxes to unpack and display.  I've worked in bookstores, so I know they have enough to do without replacing the books read by obsessive picture book readers.  I thanked them when I left. And they thanked me for putting the books back neatly.

(Note: This is adapted from a post I made to the One Thousand Picture Books Challenge group on Facebook.)

A Big Bag of Inspiration

My big bag of inspiration (Thanks, Jude).  This has carried over 800 picture books back and 

forth from the library this year.  A dependable bag indeed.  (Image © Lori Gravley)

I had waited until the last minute to write my monthly picture book.   I found one idea, then discovered a  picture book about her had already been published.  I hadn’t finished the research for the book I thought I would write.  I was starting to feel panicked. 

To assuage the sense of writer’s anxiety, I looked at the picture books I had just collected from the library.  A big bag of inspiration.

I sat down, pulled up my Goodreads account (LoriGravley), and immersed myself in this amazing world we picture book writers and readers live in where pictures and stories live together in joy and wonder. 

I read a book about pirates.  I read a book about a pharaoh’s cat.  I read a few books by Dianna Hutts Ashton and Sylvia Long.  I read some other books (46 total for yesterday, though I stopped to write half-way through).

Then I got up to get a cup of coffee, opened a Word document, and wrote a draft.   Doing a quick first read through this morning before I send it out to my new critique group, I could see all the books I read yesterday in the words I had written: an attention to a very specific detail, a conflict inspired by a little snippet in the pirate book, a detail inspired by a period in history in one of the books.  I had to go online and look some things up, so research is in there, too. My trip to Arizona last month is in there, too.  Something I found in Arizona set the story off. 

The book is nothing like the books I read yesterday, except that it’s a picture book.  However, the books I read yesterday showed up in my book in small ways. 

I am almost done with my picture book challenge (956/1000 books read, woot!).  My librarian asked me what I would do when the challenge was over, and my reply was immediate.  Keep reading.  I may not commit to reading 1,000 picture books next year, but I will still read picture books.  Because I love them.  Because I write them. 

Because they inspire me.

Over Half Way There: Notes from a Reader

I've spent a lot of time looking out at this view this year, but I've still read over 800 

picture books for the 1,000 Picture Book Challenge.  Photo © Lori Gravley

My husband, the librarians, the dogs—everyone around me is ready for me to turn the page on my 1,000^th picture book.  Perhaps other people who’ve participated in the challenge have been able to read a leisurely 20 or so books a week. But I’ve spent nearly half the year far away from home (and  away from the library that fills my picture book needs).

This week, I’ve checked out (and read) over 100 picture books (it's been my full-time job this week).  I’m aiming for the same number next week. I want to finish all my picture books before NaNoWriMo begins in Novemeber.  It’s intense. 

But most of all it’s inspiring and full of delights.  Here are some of the delights.

--Most of the books (8 so far) I’ve written for the 12x12 challenge this year have been inspired by my reading. 

--I’ve discovered new favorites, authors whose careers give me hope: Jonah Winter and Julie Fogliano are two such writers. 

--I’ve read some bad books.  Sometimes I’ll read a published book and think. Oh, I have so far to go.  Then, I’ll read the next one and I’ll think, Okay, I’ve got this.  My book is better than this and the topic is timely.  Reading so much, I’ve found that my skills and concept awareness are probably in the upper half (at least) of writers being published.  That gives me the inspiration to stick with my projects and send them to agents and editors.  I’m ready to be published.  I’m doing my best work.
 

--Reading gives me great ideas.  I have a document of over five pages with notes for future or possible books or approaches.

--Reading so many books has convinced me that I can tell the stories of people who are different than I am with respect and care.

--Reading all these books has revealed a particular passion for writing picture book biography.  I’d written one before this year, but this year, I’ve written three more, and I have oodles of ideas.

Reading all these books has taught me so much. And  I’m still learning.  As you read this, I’m probably sitting at the dining room table, making notes and updating my Goodreads account. 

What do you learn from your reading? How does it inspire your writing?  

One Thousand Picture Books

Some of the picture books I read in Jan. 2016.

At the end of January, I accepted a new challenge.  I would read 1,000 picture books in 2016.

I love picture books. Love them. The feel of the pages, their crinkly libarary protective covers, their bigness, their lightness, their words, their pictures.  But I gave them up in 2012 after having written twelve of them.  "Picture books just aren’t selling," said one speaker after another at the SCBWI Northern Ohio conference.  "Well, they sell sometimes," said KidLit’s Mary Kole, "but not very often and not for very much." 

The message was, if you’re trying to get published in the children’s market, don’t bother with picture books. Even if you love them.   So, I put all but two of my manuscripts away and stopped writing them. 

Then, this year, I’ve gotten message after message that picture books are hoppin’ again.  Agents ask picture book writers to send manuscripts (be sure to have more than one).  Publishers list their picture books desires on Manuscript Wish List, more writers seem to be getting agents and contracts. 

So, I’ve decided to go back to an early love and see what’s going on in picture books now.  I signed up for the 1,000 picture book challenge (a subset of the 12 x 12 challenge). In the first pile of books I picked up from the library (I read 82 picture books last week), I found a wonderful biography of Fannie Lou Hammer called Voice of Freedom and it unlocked a possibility for a project I’d been working on.

This morning, I sat down to read ten more.  I’m awed by the sweetness of the vision that writers are bringing to the work, and I love being part of a group of writers who have committed to honing their craft through reading and studying model texts. 

Most of all I’m happy that publishers aren’t shying away from picture books anymore.  Now if I can just find those earlier twelve manuscripts and see if there’s anything worth saving.