Abigail Samoun of Tricycle Press was a guest speaker at our SCBWI Conference here in Portland, Oregon.
And she talked about the 12-steps of writing.
She had a great sense of humor and imparted a good deal of information.
She said that the first step to writing is admitting that you need to revise.
She was talking about picture books and the 12 steps to writing a picture book.
She said some people think writing a picture book is easy but that’s not the case. Each word has to carry its weight in the story and when you have so few words the weight is a heavy one to bear.
Some of the questions you need to ask yourself are: 1) Does this book need illustrations, 2) Does it stand up to multiple readings, 3) Is it too short for a 32 page picture book format – or perhaps too long. 4) Would a parent or librarian pay $14.95 for this story?
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8 comments:
Good advice. Sounds like a great conference.
Great questions from her.
I JUST sent Abigail a manuscript yesterday!
Ohhh Kelly I've got my fingers X'd for you.
She would be a great editor to work with - very personable.
She spoke at our SCBWI conference the end of March and she was great. What a really neat editor!
I adore that advice--I think it's incredible how many writers think that revision is not necessary or "not their way of writing." And AMEN to the difficulty of writing picture books well!
Great advice and questions, especially for me because I went on a rampage and wrote two PBs today. I'm really excited about them, but I know I better set them aside soon and look at them a little later.
Good luck, Kelly!
I have a picture book in mind, and rough draft, to write. This is very helpful!
Great stuff here! Thanks for sharing your notes.
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