IT’S 2023. Hip, hip hurray to another new year!!
We’re in the future now, right? Flying cars and teleportation are going to be mainstream aannnyyy day now.
But while I wait for a half-flying-car, half-time-traveling-machine, I’ve been thinking about my 2023 New Year’s resolution. Usually I choose a word or phrase to help me define my upcoming year. Last year’s phrase was leap of faith and, let me tell you, it was the perfect phrase to choose.
I got married, moved to another country, and flung headfirst into writing a graphic novel. So I think having that initial word at the beginning of the year was great guidance when I had my “what am I doing again?” moments throughout 2022.
Last year was a whirlwind of jumping into the unknown, but this year the word balance keeps coming to my mind. Balance between work and personal life that maybe wasn’t there in 2022. Balance between health and hobbies. Even focusing more on bank balances balance would be great.
So I’m leaning towards 2023 being the year of balance.
I used to participate in online art challenges like Inktober and MerMay which required balance between time, art and creativity. After I started working as a children’s book illustrator full-time, I found it hard to keep up with the challenges. At the end of a long day illustrating, I would lose my drive to draw. But I always loved the satisfaction of having 31 illustrations I could stack up at the end of the month. I could point to those and go, “look at what I’ve accomplished”.
So that’s why today, while I may not have time to do illustration challenges, I still participate in Storystorm. It’s an easily attainable children’s-literature-based monthly challenge where you get a whole heck of a lot at the end of it. A whole stack of teeming children’s book ideas that you can point to and say, “look at what I’ve accomplished”, and “look at what I’m going to write”!
Made with watercolor pencils and procreate.
What is Storystorm?
“The Storystorm challenge is to create 30 story ideas in 30 days. You don’t have to write a manuscript (but you can if the mood strikes). You don’t need potential best-seller ideas.” Creator of Storystorm, Tara Lazar
Tara Lazar created Storystorm to encourage people to create 30 picture book story ideas in 30 days. She’s an awesome writer who’s published many hilarious picture books so I’m going to encourage you to head on over to her Storystorm website to read why she created this challenge. Unlike a lot of social media challenges, this one is really easy to participate in no matter what your schedule. You only need to jot down one idea per day. If you miss a day, well it’s easy to fudge that too, and I won’t tell anyone.
If you’re someone who craves accountability (can I get a “whoop whoop”) Storystorm has a wonderful online community. There a facebook group, Tara’s twitter plus the #storystorm hashtag, and the storystorm blog.
Also! Ding ding ding!! Tara’s offering up prizes for each day of the month for participating in the event, including feedback from agents and editors and critiques from authors and editors. That’s a big ol’ deal!
Okay, I’m really trying to sell Storystorm to you (I promise I’m not sponsored) but that’s because I’m so excited that this is available for people who are trying to get into the industry. Let’s be real, children’s book publishing is a HARD industry to break into, often with lots of near misses, so to have the opportunity to enter into an industry professional’s radar is a fantastic thing to offer.
In past years, I missed that there were prizes and I regret not taking the opportunity to sign up. So don’t miss out like I did! Sign up with this link here. Registration is still up for the next few days on Tara’s blog.
Made with watercolor pencils and procreate.
Why participate?
Okay, to the nitty gritty. As an author/illustrator, I usually have several ideas churning in my head for books to write and illustrate. But the pressure for authors and illustrators to create unique, funny, heartwarming, profitable books can sometimes hinder creative brainstorming.
What makes a bestseller? A snake that likes dancing? A dinosaur that loves cooking? Or a cow that uses a typewriter? Pretty sure that one’s been done…
Brainstorming ideas over a month takes the pressure away. You don’t have to create the perfect idea. You’re just throwing bits of brain matter onto a wall and hoping that it sticks. Out of 30 ideas, you might have five that actually get written and only one that will get passed on to an agent or editor. But that’s one book that will go out into the world! And that’s a huge accomplishment in my opinion.
When I entered the kidlit sphere a couple years ago, I heard about Storystorm from my writing critique partners. I was attempting to write books seriously for the first time and was having a hard time creating manuscripts that were interesting to read.
After participating in Storystorm and seeing how my fellow writing partners came up with their ideas, I realized I wasn’t spending enough time in the all-important brainstorming phase of writing. Which surprised me, because as an artist I was taught to flesh out my art in thumbnails before finalizing the art.
Some character thumbnails I made for a sea monkey kid!
Thumbnails are made in the sketching/idea phase of making a piece, whether it be a book dummy, cover, food label, surface pattern, etc. You’re taught to create thumbnails, (a sketch usually the size of a thumbnail although mine tend to be the size of a Ritz cracker) to help pull the meaty, interesting ideas out from the back of your brain. Because the sketches are so small, they lack detail. And because they lack detail, they’re raw and ready to mold into something delicious.
I’ve found that you tend to draw the obvious ideas out first. The first few sketches may be compositions or characters that you already had in your head. By thumbnail #25 though, you’ve come to an idea that you had no idea existed inside of your brain. Sometimes those later ideas are the best, sometimes the first were perfect from the start, no matter what, you’ve worked those muscles inside your brain to create something unique.
My Ideas for Today
To help get you started, I’m going to share three picture book ideas I wrote down for today:
A squirrel that’s having a hard time choosing what to put in his sandwich.
A crab that needs her own space.
Space camp (in space.)
And that’s about it! I am going to write down three ideas daily for the next thirty days. By the end of the month, I’ll have 90 ideas! And as a plus, I often look back at my Storystorm-idea-list for inspiration throughout the year. It feels great to have my own personal goldmine ❤️
Some Tips for the Journey
Don’t hold yourself back. Get weird! Write down ideas that you think could never be turned into a picture book. You may surprise yourself. P.S. you never have to show anyone your list! Take some advice from one of the most prolific picture book authors out there:
“Don't ever write just for a trend or fad, because it's a moving target, and by the time you get your work out there, the trend or fad is gone. Dig deep; don't be afraid to write fiercely. Expose your heart.” Jane Yolen
Keep your list in one place. I have the habit of writing down ideas on sticky notes and then never seeing them again. I feel frustrated when I know I had a good idea but it’s been lost between my desk and the wall. Make a list on your phone that you look at daily or write down ideas in a notebook that you keep close by.
Make a goal to write out a picture book manuscript after Storystorm. Now that you’ve got those ideas, make sure to flesh them out. It’s easy to hold on to ideas and let them sit in that list forever. Give yourself a deadline to write out a first draft from your list to help get the ball rolling and getting your book published!
Pterosaur tortellini, anyone? Made with watercolor pencils and procreate.
At this point, I don’t have a huge stack of published books that I can point to and say “this was all because of Storystorm!”, but I do have a long list of ridiculous words, jokes, and phrases that make me smile when I read them.
I want to leave you with some wise wisdom from the great Jane Yolen again, who is a champion of writing as much as you can. Her writing is so beautiful that it inspires me up to my eyeballs.
“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.”
Until next month, in 2023!
Here’s a cute cat photo to start off the year 💛