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I met Erika Wassall at the end of February at a NJSCBWI get-together in Cherry Hill, NJ. I let the writers there know how open I am to writers sending me articles I could use on my blog. Erika sent me this interesting article below for today’s post. I think you will enjoy it.

More Showing, Less Telling

Really? I mean, what’s the difference? If I say, Billy was sick, then we all know that Billy is sick, right? Isn’t that what’s important?

Why do I have to worry so much about SHOWING as opposed to TELLING the reader what my characters are doing? What difference does it REALLY make?

The best way I’ve learned it is that the difference largely comes down to… all right, so Billy is sick…. But why should I CARE??

We all know we want our readers to care about our characters. Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Harold with his Purple Crayon, all the way up to Katniss and down to Christopher Robin, these characters were tugging at our heartstrings even when they were just picking up a jug of honey.

One of the many ways that we do this is through the special little nuances of the way they do things. Anyone can pick up a jug of honey. But the way Winnie the Pooh does it, now THAT’s special.

We read about his sticky paws and the giant drop of honey dripping down his check. And ultimately, isn’t that why we love him?

It’s all about creating images. Ideally images that are burned into the readers brain so much that it links right to their heart.

For me, the next question was… okay, so how, exactly, do I do that?

How do I really know for sure if I’m showing rather than telling?

Via brainstorming with a few other fabulous writers over at Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 extravaganza, we came up with what is not only a great way to test if you’re showing, but is also a wonderful writing exercise.

It’s fantastically simple too. You say to yourself:

How Can I PROVE It?

So Billy is sick. But if no one TOLD me Bill was sick, how do I KNOW?

Is there snot dripping from his nose? Is there a river of sweat pouring from his temples? Is he frighteningly feverish, maddeningly mopey or curled in a cocoon under his covers?

I know personally, I FEEL more for a child curled up in bed with a snotty nose and his arms crossed in mopey madness than I do for a child who is just… sick.

I use this trick in two ways.

1) When I read over my manuscripts, I ask myself… if I wasn’t the omnipotent narrator… how would I KNOW this was true? How can I create a vivid image where I don’t even have to say the words themselves, instead the reader can SEE it.

2) As an exercise my 12×12 friends and I exchange phrases, and basically say PROVE IT!!! to each other.

Here’s an example:

Johnny hurt his knee.

If I’m looking through a window, watching Johnny play, what happens that proves to me that he hurt his knee?

Johnny crashed to the ground and rolled onto his back, clutching his knee.

Or depending on who I’m trying to portray Johnny as, maybe…

The pain shot up Johnny’s knee and filled his eyes to the brim with tears. But he gritted his teeth and picked up his hockey stick. He wasn’t going to let the other boys know he wanted to quit.

Showing and not telling is a challenge for all writers. But it can also provide some fantastic opportunities to add depth to our characters, and build that emotional connection with the reader that we all strive for.

Here’s a few for you to try. Ask yourself, how can I PROVE this? And see what you can come up with!!

Bobby hated school. 

Theresa wanted to go home. 

Puddles the Poodle couldn’t wait for his boy to get home.

Erika Wassall is a writer, a farmer and a liver of life. She is a member of SCBWI and a proud Mad Scientist, bringing science experiments right into children’s classrooms, and hearts. She has a small farm in New Jersey with sheep, chickens, pigs and vegetables. Check out her new website at www.TheJerseyFarmScribe.com where as a first generation farmer, she often takes the long way, learning the tricks of the trade on The Farm. On her website is also The Shop page with tips and a free Q/A from her husband’s mechanic shop, and The Writer page where she shares stories, experiences and characters from the heart. Follow her on Twitter at @NJFarmScribe. She’d love to hear from you!

Thank you Erika and tanks for offering to do regular posts here on Writing and Illustrating.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

I feel I have been a little remiss as one of my goals with this interview series over the past three years has been to highlight up-and-coming illustrators, who are not yet published but whom I want to get on … Continue reading →

by Julie Hedlund

This might sound strange coming from me, but PiBoIdMo is my favorite writing challenge. Yes, I know I am the founder and host of 12 x 12, but let’s face it—writing picture book drafts is work. Fun, but also work.

PiBoIdMo—just letting your creativity run wild and capturing every little flutter and fancy of your imagination is just plain FUN. Freeing. Fabulous. (See how I used the rule of three there???)

For those of you who ARE planning to do 12 x 12 in 2014, I almost consider participating in PiBoIdMo a mandatory first step. Where else are you going to mine the ideas for 12 picture book drafts?

I made this little video for the sole purpose of reminding everyone to lighten up, have fun, and ENJOY fishing for those awesome ideas—some of which will one day turn into picture books! Many thanks to Tara for bringing us the joy of PiBo each year!!

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Julie Hedlund is a Children’s author, founder of the 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge, a monthly contributor to the Brain Burps about Books podcast and the “Field Guide to 21st Century Publishing” for the Children’s Book Insider.

Julie is generously giving away two prizes!

The first is GOLD MEMBERSHIP in 12 x 12 for 2014!

The second is a signed print copy of her Little Bahalia release A TROOP IS A GROUP OF MONKEYS.

Both prizes will be given away at the conclusion of PiBoIdMo. You are eligible for these prizes if:

1. You have registered for PiBoIdMo.
2. You have commented on this post.
3. You have completed the PiBoIdMo challenge. (You will have to sign the PiBoIdMo Pledge at the end of the event.)

Good luck, everyone!

I blogged last week about jump-starting your writing resolutions with Julie Hedlund’s wonderful 12X12 in 2013 program for picture book authors, but here’s some further news that includes yours truly…

Next week, from January 23-25th, I’ll be offering FREE query critiques for members of the 12X12 in 2013 program. If you’re a children’s book author and you haven’t already signed up for 12X12, now’s the time to do so, since registration closes in just a few weeks. And if you do it this week, you’ll get access to my free query critique session AND a special offer to join the Children’s Book Hub for just $5 for the first month!

Here’s what Julie has to say about it from her blog:

“NYT bestselling, award-winning author Emma Walton Hamilton will conduct a multi-day query critique session, January
23-25, on the 12 x 12 Membership Forum. Little GOLDen Book and Shel SILVERstein members will be able to submit one
query for Emma’s review and comment, with LGB member queries taking priority if there is not enough time to get
through all the queries.

Those of you who have attended Emma’s similar sessions during WriteOnCon know how invaluable her feedback is and
how much you learn, even from her comments on others’ queries. But you have to be a 12 x 12 member, so sign up
today and don’t miss the chance to get your query in shipshape for submissions in 2013!

Emma is also offering a special deal for 12 x 12 members interested in joining the Children’s Book Hub. Details will
be provided next week on the Membership Forum!”

To find out more and register for the 12X12 experience as well as my free critique session, click here: 12 X 12 in 2013

So, my fellow PiBoIdMo participants, by now you have a list of tantalizing picture book ideas practically bursting off the page (or screen if you keep them on a computer). What to do?

Here is a novel idea. How about if you select your favorite ideas and write some picture book drafts? Get some of those ideas out of your head so they can one day be out into the world.

It seems like it would be easy to write loads of PBs now that you have that list of ideas, but it isn’t—especially if you go it alone. I know because last year at this very time, I was looking at my list of ideas from the 2010 PiBoIdMo and realized I had only written one manuscript from that list in 2011. How could that be possible?

There were two things missing for me: motivation and accountability. The community (from PiBoIdMo) was there, but I feared we’d all disperse to the four winds after November. So I got this crazy idea to challenge myself to write one picture book draft a month for each month of the year in 2012 and decided to invite people to join me. Thus 12 x 12 in 2012 was born.

I had no idea then that 400+ picture book writers would come together in this common mission, nor that we would become the tight-knit community we are today. I expected to run it casually for one year and then move on.

But I can’t end 12 x 12 after one year.

Because 12 x 12 doesn’t belong to me—it’s for everyone who loves picture books, wants to write them, and needs a cheering section for both the good times and the bad times. It’s to give writers, who have burning questions in the middle of the day and need an answer RIGHT NOW, a place to turn and to learn. It’s become more than a writing challenge. It’s a global family of writers who have the pluck to write in what could be the most challenging genre on earth.

My friend and fellow 12 x 12′er Tim McCanna recently made this phenomenal video to promote the challenge. His opening lyrics are thus:

So you wanna be a picture book writer?
Then ya gotta write picture books. (Well, duh!)
And yer gonna need a bucket load o’ bright ideas
For titles, plots and hooks.

Thanks to Tara and PiBoIdMo, you’ve got your bucket load of bright ideas. Are you ready to try to write a draft every month in 2013? Registration won’t open until next week, but you can sign up for the 12 x 12 mailing list so you’ll be ready when it does. In 2013 there will be three participation levels to choose from, including one that will enable participants with completed, polished manuscripts to submit to an agent or editor each month.

So, did I write 12 picture book drafts this year? No, I didn’t, but I did write 6 so far and there are still 3 weeks left in December! I’m not very good at math, but already that’s 5 more than I wrote last year. Plus, I completed major revisions on existing manuscripts and even got a publishing contract for one of them. So I am very pleased with my results. If you read some of the testimonials from other participants, I think you’ll see that they’re happy with their results too.

I hope to welcome many of you who completed PiBoIdMo into 12 x 12 in 2013. We are a friendly bunch, and we’re all in this together!

Thanks again to Tara for being the inspiration, not just for PiBoIdMo, but also for 12 x 12. The picture book community continues to grow and thrive as a result of her generosity and hard work.

Julie is generously giving away a FREE “Little GOLDen Book Level” membership in 12×12 for 2013, which includes, among many other features and benefits, the chance to submit to an agent or editor each month and bypass the slush pile! A winner will be selected from those who have commented on this post *and* completed the challenge. The winner will be chosen next week. Good luck!

Julie Hedlund is a Picture Book author and Freelance Writer. Her first book, A TROOP IS A GROUP OF MONKEYS, will be released as an interactive storybook app for the iPad in December 2012 by Little Bahalia Publishing. Julie is the founder and host of the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book writing challenge, a monthly contributor on Katie Davis’ Brain Burps About Books podcast, and the creator of Julie Hedlund’s Template for Storybook App Proposals. Julie will fulfill a lifelong dream in 2013 by leading the first annual Writer’s Renaissance retreat in Florence, Italy.

I’ve been taking a break from blogging for the past month in order to focus on writing and editing deadlines, as well as other professional obligations… but I’m proud to have popped up on one or two other people’s blogs this month in interviews!

Please check out Julie Hedlund’s Blog where I am proud to be the featured author for June, discussing the problem of “The Mucky Middle” when crafting a picture book, as well as Beth Stilborn’s blog where I am equally proud to be interviewed in depth for her Wednesday Worthy series.

I’ll be blogging again shortly with a new series on … Series Writing!

What are the elements that go into creating a picture or chapter book series? How does one establish continuity of style, develop character, or come up with plots that continue to engage? These are just a few of the questions I’ll be addressing… but what do YOU want to know about crafting a series? Post your questions here and I’ll do my best to answer them in the weeks ahead!

Interview: Joanna Marple on uTales.

Darshana Shah Khiani‘s interview on her Children’s Book Review site, “Flowering Minds”, with new children’s picture book author, Joanna Marple, is revealing on lots lof levels.

Joanna and Darshana met on children’s writer and illustrator FaceBook site, 12 x 12 , a very lively, supportive, share and learn community set up by Julie Hedlund. When Joanna released her very first picture book, a collaboration with the very talented Maja Sereda, Darshana jumped in with the interview offer.

“Snow Games” is a fun tumble and rumpus in winter’s wonderland aimed at 3 to 7 year olds. Maja’s wonderfully endearing little animal characterisations beautifully complement the story.

Joanna  shares what it was like to collaborate with Maja to create “Snow Games”. Close collaboration between author  and illustrator is a circumstance largely [and sadly] foreign to most traditional print publishing. For Joanna and Maja it was a fun and very rewarding experince. But the interview goes beyond the creation of  ”Snow Games”. It also details Joanna’s experience of the uTales website and her thoughts on traditional and digital publishing.

Joanna mentions my collaboration with noted animal and wildlife illustrator, Muza Ulasowski, a story about surviving change, “The Sea Cat Dreams”. Muza was one of many wonderful illustrators I met on the uTales Facebook group and have since worked with to create a varied range of children’s books.

I have found the opportunity to collaborate with illustrators something eminently rewarding, an experience that  enriches both participants and results in a more vibrant and much richer work. My first picture book, “Mending Lucille” was also a result of a collaboration. Working with the amazing Sarah Davis was inspirational! I have gone on to collaborate closely with illustrators all over the world to create numbers of other picture books, some digitally published**, some in process with p