For a start I love Dropbox. It lets me access my documents from any computer and work on the latest version. Including on the phone. Brilliant!

Secondly I’m really happy with the latest story I’m writing.

And thirdly, some of my old drafts of stories (going back through the years) are complete rubbish! Which is interesting because at the time I thought they were really good. Which is why I’m really happy I sat on them and didn’t send them off in a fit of enthusiasm. As I always want to.

So here are three good reasons to wait:
1. Drafts are full of baggage. When we write our heads are brimming with intent and possibility. Rarely is it all in the text.
2. Read with fresh eyes. After a break (at least a few days but a few months is best) you get to read the text as it actually is. Then you can make it right.
3. Wasted submissions are a big bummer. Send it in too early and, unless you have a very very supportive editor, you’ve blown your chance to impress them. Usually, you don’t get a second chance.

Which is why I’m going to assume I can do better with my current story… I’ll know in a few days!

Now we all know that picture books will be read out loud to kids. So this means that it is absolutely vital for writers to read their work out loud as they draft it so we know how it sounds. However, even that is not fool-proof. Read on:

We all develop tricks for reading our work out loud as writers. We slur the right words, say bits quickly or slowly, mispronounce things that need to rhyme… Which is great when we’re doing a book-reading to an audience but tells us nothing about how we’ve actually written it.

You absolutely have to get someone, hopefully a few someones, to read your work to you out loud, uncoached and uninterrupted. It is only then that you’ll know if all the things you thought were in there, actually are. If they aren’t, take notes. You can fix it.

Fast bits can use fast words. Try short sharp words like slip, trip, skitter, hop, pop… with few syllables or long round vowels. Look for fun quick patterns like “quick as a wink”. I love the difference between slide and slip – is the action long or quick?

For slow bits, sentences can be longer, more tricky to say, with longer vowels and words that force the reader to change their pace. All around the soft slow snow drifted…

Bad rhymes can always be fixed with a rewrite. Never ever leave a bad rhyme, thinking no one will notice or care.

Don’t write a sentence around a word that rhymes!

Look for the sentence that captures what you need then rewrite that until it works. Be prepared for it to take a long time to get it right. Rhyme should never be a distraction – it should make something a joy to read.

This sounds terrible but I’d rather not ever have suggestions from the author on the visuals. The exception being something vital that is not mentioned in the story, but is intrinsic to it (like the character is in a wheelchair, or is a moose).

Generally, a story has to be divided visually into scenes that make sense – the writing is half the work, the pictures are the other half. Usually they have different roles to perform and the illustrator, the visual one, is best at working out that visual realisation of the book. Often too, it is not until the illustrator starts to rough out a storyboard that flaws in the story become evident – too many back and forth scene changes, too many concepts in too quick succession, too many words for the readership and the format, repetitions that serve no story function, unbalanced action (nothing happens for 90% of the book then everything exciting happens in only one sentence), too long, too complex for the age group…When I say they’re flaws – it’s not that it isn’t a great story – only that it won’t work elegantly in the picture book format.

There is nothing like putting it roughly into a dummy book to see, finally, how it reads.

Someone was asked to do illustrations for a friend’s book and wondered how to charge for them:

It is quite unusual to do the illustrations for a book before taking it to a publisher – unless of course it is to be self published, or simply to be enjoyed by the person commissioning the work. My rule of thumb is to have a think about how much time each one will probably take you (including creating roughs, going to and fro with them – which could be longer if the commissioning person gets very prescriptive and involved) and then think about what your time is worth. Everyone charging the same hourly rate doesn’t work – so I can’t suggest one. If you are starting out and you keep getting stuck on an aspect of an illustration then you could be charging more than someone who is experienced and has become faster with time – this should be to their benefit, not detriment. It also doesn’t take into account the level of detail, professional design, instinct etc that is specific to each illustrator. Most jobs take longer than I expect and I never stop until the job is right. So I end up not taking on certain types of jobs as I know that they just can’t pay well enough for the time and work involved. The question you have to answer is what is your time worth, and are you gaining any other benefits like exposure, experience, potential future income that might be factored in?

For Trade books (the ones going into book shops) the illustrator is usually assigned a royalty by the publisher, as well as a smaller up-front payment (an advance). The size of the small fee is hopefully compensated for by long term payments over the life of the book. When books don’t get a royalty you really have to get full compensation for the work straight away. And it has to feel fair to you – if you price something at mates-rates as a favour and they go on to publish the work and it is very successful – how will you feel about it?

A final thought – try not to give away copyright. If someone insists because they are self publishing and paying you up-front, try to license use of the images for specific purposes. You may want to reserve the right to sell art prints or use them on greeting cards one day. So long as they aren’t in competition with the book (ie. you couldn’t sell them to someone for another book) there shouldn’t be a problem. Originals are never included in the price of a book commission. They are only paying for the use of the images. If they want the originals, they can pay for them as artworks.

For suggested rates and conditions go to the ASA website.

I had a quieter day yesterday at the exhibition. Anything would be quieter than the opening and family day! A steady flow of people came through – friends, family and strangers. I found out more stories about my pictures, saw people drawn to them in ways they didn’t expect, saw some children run around looking and another sit with his head buried in a game. You can’t win them all! And at the end of the day I painted a dark winter-blue coat on the hare in my new painting. I painted past 5pm, with the spotlight illuminating the work, the light outside dimming and a little heater warming my legs. Music played nearby and the picture stopped being a picture and started giving me ideas and possibilities – scenarios to weigh and plan. Lovely.

I’m looking forward to getting back in there on Tuesday.

You can smell and feel the sheets on your bed.
Feel how tightly they’re tucked in so your toes are all scrunched over.
Smell the dusty carpet under the bed.
Hear parents murmuring in the other room as you fall asleep.

Try it now… stand in your bedroom as a kid.
Take off your shoes and socks. What does the floor feel like? Sit on the bed. What is the texture? How does it smell? Are your feet dangling? What can you hear? What season is it?
It’s amazing how things come back. Walk around your house, or run around it… The textures under your toes, the sound of the rooms and halls, dodging around pets you haven’t seen in years.
The smell of freshly washed pyjamas at bed time!

What came back to you?

And then I can get drawing.

In the last fortnight have been meetings, travel, planning and squeezing in work whenever possible. I’ve been working hard and it’s been unusual work for me. Not drawing – writing. It’s the Epic, of course. The textless graphic novel that is up to about 8000 words. It’s actually been very exciting. I’ve been taking myself off to a cafe for 1-4 hours each day with the laptop and writing a segment at a time. The story neatly divides itself into episodes – different worlds, different cities, a prologue, and the in-between travelling segments. Maybe even an epilogue although I don’t know if that will be needed yet. I’m very close to done with the first draft. All of the travelling and world visiting is complete… now for the thrilling finale – the last two segments!

The cafe thing is both good and bad.

Good – I concentrate better (the hum and bustle seems to negate the part of me that is easily distracted), there is no email, no phone, no 10 other projects to dip into and I get a walk to and from.

Bad – it’s expensive, I occupy a space for a long time (hence the judicious buying of things), and it’s surprisingly exhausting (I think that’s the writing though, rather than the ambiance). And it bodes ill for when I want to write a novel. I’m just going to have to find a way to write at home!

In other news – my short course starts tonight and it looks like it will be a full house. It is such a buzz to be surrounded by imaginative, creative people all with their own thoughts and ways of storytelling. I can’t wait to see who is there and the ideas they have. It’s a funny thing – sometimes when I go to launches or buy books for my collection I have people say how strange that I would want to support the competition… But that’s such an bizarre notion! My stories and imagination are so different from the next person’s. They will come up with ideas that I never would have though up, approaches that are different and refreshing – seeing other people’s work is an inspiration.

Now back to preparing for tonight’s class.

Later this year – from Wed 15 Jul to Wed 19 Aug 2009 I’m running a six week Short Course in writing for children. We’ll be looking at all sorts of things from picture books to chapter books – and the many styles within this genre. It’s a fascinating area! There’s a lot to talk about – writing styles, working from real life, how to take the illustrations into account, plotting, simple stories, sophisticated stories, rhyme, rhythm, different ages… and practical ways to break into the industry and pitch your ideas.

It’s happening in the evenings at the city campus of RMIT. So, if you’ve ever said “I’ve always wanted to write a picture book…” here you go! It could be the start of a beautiful career…

More info on a new page – here.