Write a picture book? No problem!

People ask me what I do. Besides raising my children and keeping our house, I write.

"What do you write?"
"Right now I am trying to write picture books for small children."
"Oh."
I can see the cogs moving in their minds - "That can't be too hard!"

You know - I had the same thought when I started over a year ago.

Reading hundreds of picture books to my children, some of them over and over, and some of them hair-pullingly tedious, I thought, "I could write one of these! How hard could it be?" That's how it all started.

One day, I followed my daughter around as she played. It was fascinating - her one-sided dialogue, her imaginary friends, her make-believe world. I decided this would form the basis for my first book. I excitedly announced this to my friends and started madly typing.

After a few weeks working on that book, friends asked, "So, have you finished the book? When can we buy it?"
"Ah, well...no. I'm not finished yet. I finished another draft, but I have a few more parts to re-work before I can submit it."
"Oh."
After several more months, they grew tired of the same response.

So just what is the hang-up? Why does it take so long to write a picture book? Come on - "Jane has a ball. Jane throws the ball." We all remember reading those stories. Any simpleton could write those.

Unfortunately, Jane's old hat and no one cares if she throws a ball anymore. You have to write something new, different.

Still, that isn't so hard. We're talking 100-500 words. Plop them down on paper and be done with it!

Those of you who know me may already see the problem. 500 words? 1000 words? Even 5000 words? No problem. But you ask me to limit myself to 100-500 words? I'm just finishing the introduction at 500 words.

Picture books are the art of writing distilled: each word a precious drip on the page. Each has to carry the weight of 10 normal words. Every one placed to make the biggest impact. And they all have to be simple.

Just shoot me now. It would be easier in the long run.

Since you asked, that first book is finished - in three different ways. One is a poem, one is a chapter book for early readers, and the third well, actually that one isn't complete yet - sort of a fairy tale-ish version of the story. The middle version I sent to be critiqued by a literary agent or editor at an upcoming writer's conference. Lord willing, I'll have some feedback on that one and maybe it will even go somewhere (hopefully to a publisher rather than the trash heap) one day.

You get the idea though. I write, then I re-write. After that, I write it differently. I send it to a fellow writer for feedback. I re-work the words, the characters, the story. I ask for more feedback. Finally, I send it to a publisher who may or may not respond.

And that is what I do (I'd say in a nut shell, but obviously, I've never written anything in a nut shell or it might be published already).