Making Time to Write Monday: Picture Book Challenge

November and December can be hectic, with multiple holidays, parties, shopping, work stress. Everything seems to be heightened this time of year. It’s usually a difficult time of the year to take on new challenges. But, sometimes having my writing life can be a calm in the storm. Thankfully, in the wee hours of the morning when I write, I can usually block out whatever else might happen during the day.

November was the month for PiBoIdMo, hosted by Tara Lazar. I’ve done this challenge for a few years, and while other people are pounding out thousands of words in the NaNoWriMo challenge, I’m just scrounging up a few ideas—30 picture book ideas to be exact. Even if you didn’t participate in PiBoIdMo, if you write picture books, or think you might like to write picture books, I challenge you to go back and read the guest posts on Tara’s blog. They’re full of great advice and inspiration for picture book writers. You can even check out the archives of years past and read other great posts.

This year, based on a post I read pre-PiBoIdMo, I tried to capture the essence of a post through drawings.  Kathy Ellen Davis’ drawings were amazing–so amazing that I’m a bit embarrassed to show you mine. I’m not a visual artist. I can only draw stick figures, and even those are pretty awful. But the drawings weren’t for anyone but me. They were just to help me remember the advice given on her blog.

Here’s an example of mine.

Everyday I drew the “essence” of the guest post. Then I wrote down my idea (s) for the day. Even though my drawings are rather sketchy, I can take one look at them and remember what the post was about.

Last year, post-PiBoIdMo, Julie Hedlund started something called 12×12 in ’12. Essentially, it was to challenge picture book writers to write those ideas into drafts. Our goal was to write 12 picture book drafts in 12 months. Julie’s site and Facebook page have been a source of inspiration for a whole year.

Recently, Julie just announced she’s doing 12 x 12 again in 2013. This time she’s offering even more than she did last year. You can see the different ways you can be involved here.

My picture book critique group friend, Alayne Kay Christian, is hosting another type of picture book challenge in 2013. It’s called Sub Six. We’ll start revising and submitting some of those picture books that we’ve been writing. The goal is to polish and submit six picture books during 2013. If you want to join us, request to join the Sub Six Facebook group.

If you are looking to make time to write in 2013, consider joining one of these three picture book groups (or all three). It’s great for accountability and encouragement.