Learning to Write a Children's Illustrated Book

 I'm currently in the middle of writing my third children's illustrated book. It's hard to believe, but also exciting! Recently, I finished the first draft, slowly chipping away at the plot and story in 15-minute increments. I'm purposely taking a longer time with the story than I did with my previous book, giving it a more prominent place in the process and letting it guide the direction of my artwork. 

When I was writing my last book, Daddy Emu, I started by focusing almost exclusively on the illustrations. I wanted them to be dynamic, entertaining, and professional. The story line was kept very simple, not only to accentuate the artwork but also to hide the fact that I'm insecure about my writing skills. When it was finished, I had reached my artistic goals: it looked amazing. I didn't think much at all about the story until a few friends and family read it and gave me some pointers. They suggested I explain more about the emu family: that I add more interactive material. At first, I filed the feedback away for when I would start writing my next book, but after talking to my brother and another close artist friend I realized it wouldn't be difficult to expand the story before I sent in my final files for printing. Even though I was ready to be done and wanted to move on to the next book, they encouraged me to persevere and put in a little more effort at the end in order to have a finished product I could really be proud of. They were right, and I'm so glad I took their advice. The final product was better than before, but I had learned enough through that exercise to change my plan of attack for the next book. 

This time around, my goal is to face my fear of writing and make the story as important as the artwork; I want them to be harmonized. A satisfying story with fitting artwork is doubly entertaining, doubly stimulating to both mind and eye. For a long time, I've enjoyed reading and had a great admiration for authors. Since my creative skills have always fallen into the visual art category, the craft of writing was always a bit daunting: more so now that it is a vital part of my books. However, I'm looking forward to this new challenge: expecting an uphill battle but also expecting to see considerable growth!