I usually find that the stories that spill out of me, are ones that have been nibbling at my subconscious forever. Sometimes new writers just want to publish. Letting a story percolate can have so many benefits, not just editorially, but in terms of depth. You begin to realize how important stories are, and how they can have a lasting meaning for readers…not a lesson, but something deeper, richer, something that resonates. It’s a lot to ask of a story, and I can’t say I always get there, but it is important to strive for it.
So lovely to hear you talk about how Maryann Kovalski’s Frank and Zelda impacted your boys. That is, perhaps, the ultimate compliment for any writer.
I'm so glad you brought this up--speaking to that time of mulling that can happen before writing, and then the "spilling" that can happen. The short period of time that CAN be--at times--but to recognize the length and depth of the thought that has gone into it. The "forever!"--yes. Thank you, Sheryl.
Thanks for this lovely reminder of times past. We have a few favorite books from when our children were young that are largely unknown, at least among the parent circles in which I've circulated. Something about their cadence, illustrations, and stories, landed at just the right time for us, settling them into special heart places with lasting impact. Mostly, more than any overt lesson, they made us smile and left us feeling like our dreams were possible, or at least gave us a glimpse of our unique place in the world. I guess that's how spirit reveals itself in our work, and how we find that resonant meaning to which you refer. <3
Elizabeth Beggins - are you willing to let us know some of those titles? I'm always looking for books for my grandsons that do not bonk you on the head with their lsmarmy life lesson and have a little magic and mystery.
Amy, there were plenty of stories that most folks already know about: Harold and the Purple Crayon tops the list, but also up in ranks were Corduroy, Sam, Bangs and Moonshine, and the Olivia books. But, when I wrote this comment, I was thinking of two funny little pieces my hubby picked up at book sales. Amos the story of an old dog and his couch, and Beaver Ball at the Bug Club. Obscure but somehow memorable for our family.
Thank you. I needed this today. I have been deeply disheartened about my writing in recent months. This weekend I have avoided words altogether and spent two days doing some very bad watercolour paintings. I used to be good at them, but I haven't done one in years.
It felt great.
I need to learn to slow down and trust the process better. Maybe one day I won't need to be reminded. In the meantime, thanks for doing that.
Sorry you are disheartened, Cindy. The writing life is not for the feint of heart, that’s for sure. I have felt like quitting on more than one occasion myself. I am doing a lot of grandparenting duty for the next month, but feel free to give me a call or email if you want to vent, talk or commiserate. S.
"deeply disheartened about my writing..." famous last words and that sensation has slowed me for years. Still, there is that need to express and explore, even if no one anywhere at all wants to read it. Or, random people love it but publishers yawn and pass. Go with the "need to express and explore." As occasionally I pick myself up and do, too.
An old library book from childhood that has stayed with me at least a little bit is The Fog Boat. A boat that floats not on water but on fog; hence, it generally only travels at night, disappearing when the fog burns off in the morning sun. One image, of the boat bumping up against the sill of the boy’s second-floor bedroom window, is about all I recall, so perhaps it was illustrated; but the Amazon description doesn’t ring a bell and does not even make much sense:
The description makes it sound like a novel, but your description sounds like a PB. Love the idea of bumping up against the sill of an above ground window... magical. The title is magical.
Does the cover look right? I can remember my mom reading novels with no illustrations, and staring at the cover image as she read...
The cover doesn't look familiar. But at my childhood Carnegie library, older or popular books often had to be re-bound and probably lost their cover illustrations and dust jackets in the process.
But yeah, certainly one of the biggest transitions in reading is to go from books with plentiful illustrations to those without. I remember leafing through a New Yorker at the library once as a kid and wondering who would read something like that. Nowadays the New Yorker does have photos, but it didn't back then.
I still have my childhood edition of Treasure Island. It has a full-color plate of the scene where Jack Hawkins is climbing the mizzen-shrouds to get away from the pirate Israel Hands, who's about to throw the knife at Jack. Yikes.
LOVE Treasure Island. It's the best read-aloud. I've long thought it made all the difference that he wrote it for his step-son, and not nameless, faceless readers; it surely is the most accessible. (Black Arrow is almost unreadable, I remember.)
Although I don’t have that edition. I have a “Windermere Readers” edition, with that cover reproduced as a frontispiece plate (with a generic series illustration on its cover). The other book cover is actually clipped. Hands has a bandage wrapped around his leg and the legs of the pirate he has just killed is in lower-right (just barely visible in cover). Maybe that was a little too graphic for the cover.
Yeah, N. C. Wyeth and his teacher Howard Pyle illustrated a lot of classic and children’s books:
I will add that I still recall our father taking us all to the Albright Knox in Buffalo (not where we lived) specifically to see Warhol's Campbell Soup when it first came out. We, as a family, generally did not do those kind of fam outings so it particularly struck me. My father had taken courses in art history, but by then his intellectual life was largely submerged in making a living for his growing family.
Remember being there when my father read Treasure Island to my brothers but at the time I was not enthralled. Or was I? I know I did not leave. I also did NOT like Roadrunner, The Three Stooges, etc., but also did not have a TV at home so rarely saw them. Romper Room, etc was boring and silly to my young mind. Does the word prissy come to mind?
Thank you for sharing this insightful story. “The Monster at the end of this book” was a favorite with both children as were the Bearenstain Bear books. My children really identified with that family. As a parent, I identified with the Max & Ruby. Stubbornness is effective but you don’t grow from it.
Turns out my children loved the Bearenstein Bears, and so does my grandson. Those books drove me crazy - didn't like them for their obvious "nice" lessons - 30 years ago and still drive me crazy!
A writer I know, who has published a couple of picture books, visited me a couple of years ago and brought her writing with her. I was astonished at how she cut, and wrote and cut again the text for a picture book she'd been working on for a long time, and this even when she knew from the get go what the theme was.
First off, Alison: Thank you so much for recommending my Substack, Sincere American Writing. I really appreciate that!!! Second: I totally agree with your first point about giving your book (picture book or not, for kids or not) gestation time to grow and develop and come to full fruition. As a developmental book editor, I get this a lot: So many new writers come to me hungry and impatient. They want to finish that draft so they can become a "bestseller." I get the drive, I really do. But they fundamentally misunderstand the nature of writing a book, and of how the publishing industry actually works. Above all, writing a book (any book) takes TIME. It's a marathon, not a 100-yard dash. It's going to take many months, money and endurance. You bring this idea back and highlight it in the best way possible. Thank you for that.
I often say how happy I am that there's no one to tell me, at the outset of a project, just how long it's really going to take. And every time, I think it's going to be less, and every time it's much longer.
I'm very slow--too--with recommendations. But your work is getting out there--very good! Thank you for hanging out at The Unschool!
"Ultimately our stories, our work, comes from us, from the depths of who we are, from our values—yes, our spirituality, however you define that."
I have been wrestling with identity in my writing. And whenever am truly at peace in my spirit,words pour forth. Ideas clamor for attention and creating becomes more than easy. Thank you for this for in it is reassurance that whatever comes from me, is a pure expression of who I am at the core.
That's so good: "whenever I'm truly at peace...words pour...!" Yes. True. They call this "in the zone" but that's surely short-changing something greater!
I usually find that the stories that spill out of me, are ones that have been nibbling at my subconscious forever. Sometimes new writers just want to publish. Letting a story percolate can have so many benefits, not just editorially, but in terms of depth. You begin to realize how important stories are, and how they can have a lasting meaning for readers…not a lesson, but something deeper, richer, something that resonates. It’s a lot to ask of a story, and I can’t say I always get there, but it is important to strive for it.
So lovely to hear you talk about how Maryann Kovalski’s Frank and Zelda impacted your boys. That is, perhaps, the ultimate compliment for any writer.
As always, so appreciate your insight.
I'm so glad you brought this up--speaking to that time of mulling that can happen before writing, and then the "spilling" that can happen. The short period of time that CAN be--at times--but to recognize the length and depth of the thought that has gone into it. The "forever!"--yes. Thank you, Sheryl.
Thanks for this lovely reminder of times past. We have a few favorite books from when our children were young that are largely unknown, at least among the parent circles in which I've circulated. Something about their cadence, illustrations, and stories, landed at just the right time for us, settling them into special heart places with lasting impact. Mostly, more than any overt lesson, they made us smile and left us feeling like our dreams were possible, or at least gave us a glimpse of our unique place in the world. I guess that's how spirit reveals itself in our work, and how we find that resonant meaning to which you refer. <3
Yes--that is how spirit reveals--so good!
Elizabeth Beggins - are you willing to let us know some of those titles? I'm always looking for books for my grandsons that do not bonk you on the head with their lsmarmy life lesson and have a little magic and mystery.
Amy, there were plenty of stories that most folks already know about: Harold and the Purple Crayon tops the list, but also up in ranks were Corduroy, Sam, Bangs and Moonshine, and the Olivia books. But, when I wrote this comment, I was thinking of two funny little pieces my hubby picked up at book sales. Amos the story of an old dog and his couch, and Beaver Ball at the Bug Club. Obscure but somehow memorable for our family.
Thank you. I don't actually know any of those!
LOVE Amos!
He's quite lovable. :)
Thank you. I needed this today. I have been deeply disheartened about my writing in recent months. This weekend I have avoided words altogether and spent two days doing some very bad watercolour paintings. I used to be good at them, but I haven't done one in years.
It felt great.
I need to learn to slow down and trust the process better. Maybe one day I won't need to be reminded. In the meantime, thanks for doing that.
So good that you are painting. And so sorry to hear about the 'disheartened'--I understand too well. These are tough times to be writing.
But to be slowed, to have something feel 'great,' stay with it!
Sorry you are disheartened, Cindy. The writing life is not for the feint of heart, that’s for sure. I have felt like quitting on more than one occasion myself. I am doing a lot of grandparenting duty for the next month, but feel free to give me a call or email if you want to vent, talk or commiserate. S.
Thanks, Sheryl.
True!
"deeply disheartened about my writing..." famous last words and that sensation has slowed me for years. Still, there is that need to express and explore, even if no one anywhere at all wants to read it. Or, random people love it but publishers yawn and pass. Go with the "need to express and explore." As occasionally I pick myself up and do, too.
An old library book from childhood that has stayed with me at least a little bit is The Fog Boat. A boat that floats not on water but on fog; hence, it generally only travels at night, disappearing when the fog burns off in the morning sun. One image, of the boat bumping up against the sill of the boy’s second-floor bedroom window, is about all I recall, so perhaps it was illustrated; but the Amazon description doesn’t ring a bell and does not even make much sense:
https://www.amazon.com/boat-lewis-long-manning-coffin/dp/B000UVX86W
The description makes it sound like a novel, but your description sounds like a PB. Love the idea of bumping up against the sill of an above ground window... magical. The title is magical.
Does the cover look right? I can remember my mom reading novels with no illustrations, and staring at the cover image as she read...
The cover doesn't look familiar. But at my childhood Carnegie library, older or popular books often had to be re-bound and probably lost their cover illustrations and dust jackets in the process.
But yeah, certainly one of the biggest transitions in reading is to go from books with plentiful illustrations to those without. I remember leafing through a New Yorker at the library once as a kid and wondering who would read something like that. Nowadays the New Yorker does have photos, but it didn't back then.
I still have my childhood edition of Treasure Island. It has a full-color plate of the scene where Jack Hawkins is climbing the mizzen-shrouds to get away from the pirate Israel Hands, who's about to throw the knife at Jack. Yikes.
The N.C. Wyeth illos? https://tinyurl.com/55td38d2
LOVE Treasure Island. It's the best read-aloud. I've long thought it made all the difference that he wrote it for his step-son, and not nameless, faceless readers; it surely is the most accessible. (Black Arrow is almost unreadable, I remember.)
Right--about the library binding...
No, Milo Winter. I just found the illustration:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27780/27780-h/27780-h.htm
Although I don’t have that edition. I have a “Windermere Readers” edition, with that cover reproduced as a frontispiece plate (with a generic series illustration on its cover). The other book cover is actually clipped. Hands has a bandage wrapped around his leg and the legs of the pirate he has just killed is in lower-right (just barely visible in cover). Maybe that was a little too graphic for the cover.
Yeah, N. C. Wyeth and his teacher Howard Pyle illustrated a lot of classic and children’s books:
https://www.wikiart.org/en/howard-pyle
https://www.wikiart.org/en/n-c-wyeth
And of course N.C.’s son is pretty well known for a little painting he did called Christina’s World:
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78455
Thank you for these links! Frank. Have never seen Christina's World and it is brilliant. Now I"ll check out the kids' books links.
I will add that I still recall our father taking us all to the Albright Knox in Buffalo (not where we lived) specifically to see Warhol's Campbell Soup when it first came out. We, as a family, generally did not do those kind of fam outings so it particularly struck me. My father had taken courses in art history, but by then his intellectual life was largely submerged in making a living for his growing family.
Here’s a clip from the PBS American Masters episode on Andrew Wyeth where he talks a little about that painting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FCujuesEB4
Remember being there when my father read Treasure Island to my brothers but at the time I was not enthralled. Or was I? I know I did not leave. I also did NOT like Roadrunner, The Three Stooges, etc., but also did not have a TV at home so rarely saw them. Romper Room, etc was boring and silly to my young mind. Does the word prissy come to mind?
Thank you for sharing this insightful story. “The Monster at the end of this book” was a favorite with both children as were the Bearenstain Bear books. My children really identified with that family. As a parent, I identified with the Max & Ruby. Stubbornness is effective but you don’t grow from it.
Turns out my children loved the Bearenstein Bears, and so does my grandson. Those books drove me crazy - didn't like them for their obvious "nice" lessons - 30 years ago and still drive me crazy!
A writer I know, who has published a couple of picture books, visited me a couple of years ago and brought her writing with her. I was astonished at how she cut, and wrote and cut again the text for a picture book she'd been working on for a long time, and this even when she knew from the get go what the theme was.
Yes...! It's a long process.
First off, Alison: Thank you so much for recommending my Substack, Sincere American Writing. I really appreciate that!!! Second: I totally agree with your first point about giving your book (picture book or not, for kids or not) gestation time to grow and develop and come to full fruition. As a developmental book editor, I get this a lot: So many new writers come to me hungry and impatient. They want to finish that draft so they can become a "bestseller." I get the drive, I really do. But they fundamentally misunderstand the nature of writing a book, and of how the publishing industry actually works. Above all, writing a book (any book) takes TIME. It's a marathon, not a 100-yard dash. It's going to take many months, money and endurance. You bring this idea back and highlight it in the best way possible. Thank you for that.
Michael Mohr
"Sincere American Writing"
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Years... it takes years. But we can be hopeful!
I often say how happy I am that there's no one to tell me, at the outset of a project, just how long it's really going to take. And every time, I think it's going to be less, and every time it's much longer.
I'm very slow--too--with recommendations. But your work is getting out there--very good! Thank you for hanging out at The Unschool!
"Ultimately our stories, our work, comes from us, from the depths of who we are, from our values—yes, our spirituality, however you define that."
I have been wrestling with identity in my writing. And whenever am truly at peace in my spirit,words pour forth. Ideas clamor for attention and creating becomes more than easy. Thank you for this for in it is reassurance that whatever comes from me, is a pure expression of who I am at the core.
That's so good: "whenever I'm truly at peace...words pour...!" Yes. True. They call this "in the zone" but that's surely short-changing something greater!