Christine A. Elmore
In the book,
If You Were A Writer
, by Joan Lowery Nixon, Melia tells her mom that she wants to be a writer just like her so that she can work with a typewriter. Her mother wisely responds that really the typewriter has nothing to do with it. "A writer" she says "works with words. If you were a writer you would think of words that make pictures." (p. 1) Sounds appealing!
Let's ask some children's book writers how they express their ideas in writing and about the ups and downs they experience being a writer.
Helen Lester is particularly famous for her 'Tacky' books—stories about a wacky penguin who relies on his friends to help get him out of the ridiculous situations he finds himself in—purely a result of his own doing. In her book,
AUTHOR: A True Story
, she explains that she began as a writer while a mere child by making lists for Mom. These are humble origins but my students can certainly relate to them. In primary school she struggled as a mirror writer—that is, someone who writes his/her ideas from right to left. Eventually she overcame it and learned to write from left to right. Lester's description of her writing slumps as a child are ones any writer can identify with—no ideas coming to mind, getting stuck in the middle, losing your pencils, and wondering why on earth you were writing at all.
In Virginia Woolf's book,
Orlando
, the main character, who at one point fancies himself a writer, often experiences similar frustrations. Alone in his room at night equipped with his old writing book stitched together with silk, he prepares to continue writing his poem. But, to his dismay, "as he scratched out as many lines as he wrote in, the sum of them was often, at the end of the year, rather less than at the beginning, and it looked as if in the process of writing the poem would be completely unwritten" (Woolf, p. 82).
During the time that Lester worked as a teacher people encouraged her to write a book for children. It was no easy task getting her first one published—she had six rejections before her story was accepted! She admits freely that even as a published author she experiences writing slumps but quickly adds that her periods of inspired writing—where the ideas come so fast she can hardly keep up with them—far outweigh the periodic writer's block. She also emphasizes the value of revision as she searches for the ideal word choice that makes her story better. Yes, she admits, writing can be hard at times but it is what she loves to do and plans to continue doing.
Laura Numeroff, the best–selling author of
If You Give A Mouse a Cookie
series, describes her writing experiences in her book,
If You Give An Author A Pencil
. At nine she started writing stories and drawing pictures. Not convinced yet of which direction in life she wanted to go, Numeroff tried studying fashion and photography but it was a class on writing and illustrating children's books that inspired her to become a writer. One homework assignment was to create a book of her own. It was called
Amy for Short
and was later published (after four rejections). She got her ideas for
If You Give a Mouse A Cookie
from playing a game with a friend during a long car trip. This time she experienced eight rejections before the book was finally accepted.
Like Lester, Numeroff describes the importance of choosing the right illustrator who will interpret her stories in creative ways. She explains where she gets her ideas for writing—sometimes waking up with a great one and other times getting them from conversations. Since ideas for stories can come at any time she keeps a pad of paper nearby to jot them down. Numeroff finds that not looking at a first draft for a few days helps her bring a fresh outlook to her revisions. She keeps making changes until she is satisfied. Photos of Numeroff show her writing in different places—while floating in her pool, sitting by her dog on the veranda, lounging in her pajamas at her desk, or propped up on the couch and munching cookies. Sometimes, she says that she writes for hours late into the night. She ends by exclaiming how good it feels to inspire children to draw and write just as her father inspired her.
David McPhail is a famous author/illustrator of children's books, best known for his pig and bear characters. His books include:
Pig Pig Grows Up
,
The Bear's
Toothache
,
Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore
and
Lost
. He has been drawing since he was two years old and in his autobiographical account,
In Flight with David McPhail
, he claims to have produced thousands of pictures and still loves doing it. He maintains that stories can come to him at any time and he also needs to be ready with pen and paper nearby. Sometimes the words flow and other times he'll be writing and the story will just disappear. McPhail describes three places, none of which are at home, where he writes with the most productivity: in the car—regularly pulling over to jot down ideas, in a local coffee shop and in a hidden corner of the town library.
If an editor decides to publish the story McPhail then moves on to the illustrations. He begins by reading the story over and over and then starts doing little thumbnail sketches. He often draws the same scene from different perspectives. When drawing the characters he has to decide whether they will be cartoony or realistic. After filling many sketchbooks he is ready to start the final artwork. He describes spending hours agonizing over a drawing of Henry Bear in the rain. Exhausted he finally left it and went to bed. It was his young son, Tristian, who woke him up the next morning and told him how good his picture was. At that moment he felt blissfully content with his efforts. McPhail ends his book by affirming his love of both writing and drawing.
By reading these books aloud to my class and discussing them, I plan to lay the foundation that will show them how writers like themselves can begin and sustain the writing of their own stories. Although frustrating at times, this will be for them a rewarding experience.