The PROCESS

I get the feeling sometimes that people think you just sit down one day and write down something cute and do some sketches in front of the TV in your bathrobe and suddenly you have picture book. Maybe because they are relatively small? I don't think they realize it's work. Even in the contract it's referred to as "The Work".

I'm on my break now. Yes, my break. When I start working on a project whether it's a picture book or a Loki video or a commissioned memoir or website (I don't do those last two anymore) I treat it like work. I get dressed in real clothes and real shoes and I have scheduled breaks and lunch. Unlike some writers, my problem isn't writer's block. I can write for hours. My problem is a combination of tangents and a fear of showing the final product to people because I never actually HAVE a final product. There comes a point where you have to say to yourself, "No, it's not done, but it's as done as it's going to be."

As for the tangents, when I start to see that happening, depending on how bad it is I set a kitchen timer for 10 to 20 minutes. I write without thinking for that whole stretch. If I'm on a tangent when the timer goes off I take 5 minutes to tidy up around the house somewhere and repeat the process.

(Was that a tangent? Probably.)

I do put much thought into form and balance, even weighing whether rhyming would be offensive for a serious subject because it's associated with light verse. I decided to use a slightly unfamiliar verse form for Loki's Parrot because it suited the subject matter. I decided not to use light verse for Best Friends because it is a teaching book. For this book I decided NOT using a light verse approach might be too scary. Then I chose to use a familiar verse form because familiarity helps in a scary situation.

I'm using Joseph Campbell to outline this Loki book. I don't think my novel-writing friends suspect this is part of the picture-book process. The Campbell plotline is universally understood and, like the verse, I think it's necessary to retain familiarity.

So yes, I know because they are short and cute most of the people who buy picture books think we just churn them out, but I do consider their impact intellectually as a piece of art as I go. Not just so I don't feel like a cheat, but because children can see right through stories that talk down to them.