Author, illustrator Blog
Lost in a Book
Little Bookshop with big ideas
Rummage4words.co.uk
Dear Abyss,
I’m pouring more words today, into who knows where for who knows who to read, because… who knows why at this point. I have a bag of words to use up, and I need some of them for the rewrites of my work in progress, because there’s a picture book brewing and it needs a few more words adding, taking away and generally shuffling until they are just right, and just where they were meant to be.
Bye for now
AMS
Rewrites:
How many rewrites does it take to make a book? I’ll let you know when it’s finished… maybe.
Because I’d have to count the number of times I save new changes, not just the number of new starts and new versions of the story; a little tweak here, a name change there… Probably the hardest part is knowing when to stop, because it can feel as if a story is never perfect, and something could always be added or taken away, or told from a different viewpoint… unless of course there is that eureka moment when everything slots into place, the characters saying just the right thing, at just the right moment, with illustrations working in perfect harmony. Sometimes words have to compromise, keeping quiet while pictures have their say, because in a picture book some of the story is told by the pictures.
Anyway, I’m currently working on a rewrite of my work in progress, making sure I’m showing not telling, without getting too many words to squeeze into a picture book. And because it’s a picture book, I’m also working on the illustrations, filling up sketchbooks and playing with paint. The characters are causing me more than a few problems because some of them are more of a concept than an actual being… and no, I’m not going to explain that at this point, you’ll just have to wait and see.
Of course as well as working on rewrites, I’m also creating content for my website, which often feels like writing into the abyss! There must be so many words bobbing about the internet at this point, that it’s a wonder they don’t all stick together and start making up their own stories, like a giant imagination.
So I’m going to head off now to have a chat with the characters of the book, see if we can come to some sort of an agreement about building this book, so that we can finally get it over the finish line.
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Still here, still spinning plates, but wondering, if I just stopped and concentrated on one thing for a while… would it be so bad to let some of the plates crash to the floor, sweep them away into a corner and get lost in a book? The dilemma is, if I don’t run around chasing book sales, books won’t sell. But if I don’t finish the next book I won’t have anything new to sell, and the characters will carry on bugging me until I let them have their say.
So if you’ve stumbled across my bookshop, welcome, please come in and have a rummage around, if you need anything I’ll be right here behind the desk persuading characters to work nicely with words and illustrations to build the perfect picture book.
In the case of a picture
book, words are used carefully and sparingly to keep the story within the
attention span of a very young reader or listener. But the words used to tell,
of the words already written can vary widely. The blurb on the back of the book
may be very brief, to convey a simple story or theme, or it might exceed the
word count of the book itself. This is because the pictures in a picture book
work hand in hand with the words to tell the story. When the words meet the
illustrations in the making of a picture book, there’s always a bit of argy
bargy as words need to be edited to accommodate the pictures, to build a
balanced book. And of course there’s always the opportunity to add your own
words when reading a picture book to a young child, to talk about the story,
the pictures or relate it to something in your own personal experience.
Even more words are needed to
bring a book to the attention of potential readers, especially in an
overcrowded market place online, where books are everywhere, and many get sold
through a few of the bigger marketplaces. Every book with an ISBN will be
listed in all of these book outlets, but it’s not a level playing field, and
self publish books will frequently be listed as unavailable or with a long lead
time, at a time when shoppers expect products instantly.
So what is the answer? Well,
more words are needed to get the message out there of the books that need to be
read, because books need to be out of their boxes and into the hands of
readers, and that is my mission. But is it enough just to throw words into the
abyss in the hope that some will stick? That is a question that I am still
wrestling with, and the fact that you are reading this now rather suggests that
I’m throwing enough words out there to find a few readers, and I now have my
own little bookshop, where you can rest assured that your order will be quickly
gathered together, signed and dispatched, not from a faceless warehouse, but
direct from the author, illustrator who created the book from the first idea
that floated through the imagination. The only thing I outsource is the
printing and binding of the books, which is done locally, I drop off a memory
stick with my book on, and they make the next stage of magic happen. It’s
always an exciting trip collecting the books, to hold the precious story in a
physical form, in a book!
Holding the book for the
first time is a moment to celebrate, to pause and appreciate the achievement.
Then it’s on with the marketing hat, which can be a bit tight and
uncomfortable, but must be pulled into the shape and made to fit.
