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Words + pictures = picture book magic
6 ways to write
collaboratively
by Linda Ravin Lodding
One of the things that surprises people about the process of
writing and publishing picture books is that most children’s writers never work
directly with their book’s illustrator.
It’s hard to imagine that such a collaborative process as writing a
picture book can happen without the two creative parties actually working together!
Learning this in my newbie writing days totally upended my idea that I’d be
sitting side-by-side my co-creator. I thought I’d create with my illustrator like
Oscar Hammerstein did with Richard Rodgers – the two of us shoulder-to-shoulder
throwing crumpled paper to the ground until we both lit up and said “By George,
I think we’ve got it!”
With four picture books published, and four more on the way,
I now have a fairly good understanding of this writer-illustrator dance. And
while all my editors have worked slightly differently in the amount of input I
have been offered in choosing an illustrator or commenting on the draft
illustrations, they have all guarded this tripartite relationship (writer-editor-illustrator)
with care.
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Yet, while writing a picture book is not as collaborative a
process as sitting at the same drafting table with my illustrator, I still
consider writing picture books to be a highly collaborative process. In fact,
I’d say that writing with the illustrations in mind is central to the way I
create – yet I can’t even draw a full moon! It’s no wonder than that my latest picture
book, Painting Pepette, illustrated
by Claire Fletcher, celebrates the artist’s creative process – and the artist
within us all.
Here are some ways that you can add some picture magic to
your picture book writing – no too mention increase your chance of publication!
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1. See your story book before you hear your story. Sometimes
a story unfolds in front me like a film already cast with characters and shot
on location. In my mind’s eye I see the story frame-by-frame. If I can
visualize it this way, then I know it’s a story worth pursuing as a picture
book (rather than, for example, a magazine story or a chapter book).
I have been working with a small critique groups for years
and often the best praise I can give a book when I’m critiquing is “I can see
the book already” – meaning, it feels like a picture book in terms of its
visual appeal. I can see the velvety
black spread of the night sky or I can see the cowboy on the bike hurtling down
the bumpy dirt road with chickens squawking behind him. This moment of seeing
is not only due to what the writer has written on the page, but also due to
what the writer hasn’t written. And if I can
imagine it, then imagine what an editor can imagine... and what an illustrator
can then do!
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2. Use the element of the visual surprise as an
integral part of your plot . Some picture books use, to great effect, the
fact that each turn of a page is an opportunity to reveal a visual surprise. This can be a fun surprise or the page turn
can be used to slow down the pace of the book and reveal a quiet, more
reflective moment in the text. Consider these page turns as scene changes and
as opportunity to play with your plot and add visual interest.
3. Consider not only
what to put in but also what to leave out.
In my book, Hold That Thought,
Milton, illustrated by Ross Collins, I
struggled with wordiness in one section of the book. The text felt over-worked
and cumbersome. Then we hit upon the
idea of having a wordless spread that would show what I was trying to say. Ross was able to pack more humor and character
into that one spread than I could’ve with an additional 500 words. Since then,
I’ve used wordless spreads in other texts.
Not only does it give a moment of reprieve from reading aloud, but it
also invites your readers into the book like words alone couldn’t.
4. Let the
illustrator illustrate. As authors, many of us are already visually
inclined and we have a
desire to direct our illustrators. But we must aim to be
less Fellini and more Woody Allen. Woody notoriously let his actors run with
the script– he gave them room to act. In other words, leave space for your
illustrator to improvise and enhance your story. Not only will this show your openness to
collaboration (a sign that editors appreciate), but the results can be
beautifully surprising.
In my book, A Gift for
Mama, set in Vienna, illustrator Alison Jay inserted the story of a dog who
follows Oscar through the streets of Vienna. It was a beautiful addition.
Likewise, since I had lived many years in Vienna, I resisted the desire to
direct the illustrations to be 100 percent accurate and let Alison create
something even more magical than what I could’ve envisioned.
5. It’s all in the
details. If your story allows for
it, consider how your various props or settings would work visually on a page.
Do they create enough visual interest? For example, in my book The Busy Life of Ernestine Buckmeister, illustrated
by Suzanne Beaky, the story ends with Ernestine playing with her Dad. I could’ve had them sitting and playing a
board game, but building a tree house together is a much more fun visual! In my
upcoming Wakey, Wakey Elephant, illustrated
by Michael Roberston, the chicken could’ve marched in playing the harmonica
(which is funny enough), but a tuba-playing chicken is just so much more fun
visually.
6. Pace the book to
ensure movement so that the scenes change and so do perspectives.
Beware of the My Dinner
with Andre scenario in your writing. In this 1981 film, the camera is primarily
stationary for the duration of the movie and focuses on the conversation of two
friends at Café des Artistes. While the
film was an experimental hit, this would make for a very static and boring
picture book. When writing, consider
yourself a film director, behind the lens, choosing the shots. You have, on
average, 32 frames to work with. Is there enough movement and visual interest
to keep your audience engaged?
In my upcoming Little
Red Riding Sheep, illustrated by Cale Atkinson, I purposefully played with
visual perspective in one scene when I have Arnold, the sheep, scramble up the
bean stalk. At this point in the story Arnold could’ve done a number of things
but I knew that having the sheep climb up a bean stalk would add a fun visual
perspective to the book – and sure enough Cale took this idea and made it even
more fantastical.
Our job, as picture book writers, is to find a way to bring
our words, together with pictures, to create a story that is greater than the sum of those parts. And when it works, it’s pure picture book
magic.
***
Linda is originally from New York, but has spent the past
twenty years in Austria, The Netherlands and now Sweden. Today she lives in the
historical city of Uppsala with her wonderful husband and teenage daughter.
Linda graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University
(New York) and has an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
When Linda isn’t writing, she’s working full time as Head of Communications for
the Global Child Forum, a children’s rights organization founded by the Swedish
Royal Family. She also enjoys globe-trotting, snapping photos and heavily
frosted cupcakes.
To learn more about Linda and her books, visit her at www.lindalodding.com, Facebook (Linda
Ravin Lodding – Children’s Author) and follow her on Twitter @LindaLodding
***
Painting Pepette
illustrations by Claire Fletcher
little bee books/division of Bonniers Publishing
View the book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDkH0LqPY3U
Read what people are saying about Josette and her rabbit,
Pepette!
***
Other books by Linda Ravin Lodding
A Gift for Mama
illustrations by Alison Jay
Random House
Hold That Thought,
Milton!
illustrations by Ross Collins
Parragon
The Busy Life of
Ernestine Buckmeister
illustrations by Suzanne Beaky
Flashlight Press
**Coming Soon! **
Little Red
Riding…Sheep
illustrations by Cale Atkins Atkinson
Simon & Schuster
Wakey, Wakey
Elephant!
illustrations by Michael Robertson
Sterling Publishing
The Queen is Coming
to Tea
illustration by Constanze von Kitzing
Source Books
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