PiBoIdMo: My Push to the End
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I signed up to participate in Picture Book Idea Month. As with many projects, my initial enthusiasm sustained me through about the first two weeks. I was even ahead at one point.
Then life happened. Work, family, meals to cook, a house to clean . . . all of that stuff that goes on behind the scenes in books took center stage. (Okay, there's a lot of cleaning in Cinderella and some cooking in other tales but you know what I mean.)
Then Thanksgiving happened. Contributing writers & illustrators eagerly offered advice over at Tara Lazar's Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) blog. People enthusiastically posted their progress on the PiBoIdMo Facebook page (which I'd had to turn off, in terms of receiving posts, during the first week. I couldn't handle the sheer volume and well-intended vivacity of the participants). Many surpassed the required 30 ideas and kept on trucking. Yay for them, bah humbug for me.
On Black Friday, I panicked. I had 19 ideas. Behind, behind, behind! How could I catch up?
Today, I did what any self-respecting person would do. I printed out Tara's list of things 400+ kids like, grabbed a tablet of Post-It (R) notes, and as I read down the list, whatever idea popped into my head got scribbled down. Then I tore off the page and scanned down the column of words for my next idea.
Within 15 minutes or less, I had 11 notes with scribbles ranging from ludicrous (An Ogre's Hot Fudge Sundae -- hey, it combined ogres, sundaes, and gross things, at least in my mind) to the plausible (A Letter for Me! about getting an invitation in the mail). The point of PiBoWriMo was to generate ideas, not generate 30 stellar ideas. Right?! (Crickets chirping.)
Well then.
TA-DA! I finished, before the end of the month and with one idea to spare. Perhaps I'll get a few bonus ideas before December arrives, but if not, it's okay. I made it to the end. And I even have a few ideas I'll pursue in earnest.
Eventually.
Then life happened. Work, family, meals to cook, a house to clean . . . all of that stuff that goes on behind the scenes in books took center stage. (Okay, there's a lot of cleaning in Cinderella and some cooking in other tales but you know what I mean.)
Then Thanksgiving happened. Contributing writers & illustrators eagerly offered advice over at Tara Lazar's Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) blog. People enthusiastically posted their progress on the PiBoIdMo Facebook page (which I'd had to turn off, in terms of receiving posts, during the first week. I couldn't handle the sheer volume and well-intended vivacity of the participants). Many surpassed the required 30 ideas and kept on trucking. Yay for them, bah humbug for me.
On Black Friday, I panicked. I had 19 ideas. Behind, behind, behind! How could I catch up?
Today, I did what any self-respecting person would do. I printed out Tara's list of things 400+ kids like, grabbed a tablet of Post-It (R) notes, and as I read down the list, whatever idea popped into my head got scribbled down. Then I tore off the page and scanned down the column of words for my next idea.
Within 15 minutes or less, I had 11 notes with scribbles ranging from ludicrous (An Ogre's Hot Fudge Sundae -- hey, it combined ogres, sundaes, and gross things, at least in my mind) to the plausible (A Letter for Me! about getting an invitation in the mail). The point of PiBoWriMo was to generate ideas, not generate 30 stellar ideas. Right?! (Crickets chirping.)
Well then.
TA-DA! I finished, before the end of the month and with one idea to spare. Perhaps I'll get a few bonus ideas before December arrives, but if not, it's okay. I made it to the end. And I even have a few ideas I'll pursue in earnest.
Eventually.
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