Brrrrrrr!
I had a children's story idea I was really excited about. I could see words and images in my head. It came from personal experience and was really original - so I thought. I popped in the bookstore during my lunch break and there it was. My heart sank. Did I mention it was also written in rhyme... stomp on my heart while you are at it.
The story was different but the images were what I thought would really make it cool and it's exactly the angle this artist took. I've all but given up any hope of submitting any rhymes, especially after reading Leeza's SCBWI conference notes and guess what? It was in rhyme.
The robin's here.
It's December.
I bet he didn't remember.
PS - I've used light blue backgrounds in this and my last painting and I'm having trouble getting the shade to show up on my scanner. Would this be an issue if this were an actual job? (Better? I rescanned it)
The story was different but the images were what I thought would really make it cool and it's exactly the angle this artist took. I've all but given up any hope of submitting any rhymes, especially after reading Leeza's SCBWI conference notes and guess what? It was in rhyme.
Here's a new one anyway...
The robin's here.
It's December.
I bet he didn't remember.
PS - I've used light blue backgrounds in this and my last painting and I'm having trouble getting the shade to show up on my scanner. Would this be an issue if this were an actual job? (Better? I rescanned it)
posted by Frizz at
8:41 AM
4 Comments:
This is the very reason I'm hesitating about submitting that story you guys critiqued in December. Someone casually commented how similar it was to a very well-known comic strip. That put the kabosh on any enthusiasm I had. I was freaking out on the inside,"Will people think I ripped the story off?" "Am I unoriginal?" "Could this be considered plagiarism?" ARGH! (*flush!* Hopes going down the drain....)
I guess that saying, "There are no new stories, just new ways of telling them" is truer than I
realized. :(
Oh, and I have that same problem with scanning sometimes. I think you can either reformat your scanner to another color system (RGB or CMYK-can't remember which one) or you may just need to oomph up your blue pigment, so it makes a better appearance when scanned. I think Photoshop could probably help you out, too.
This is so cute!
I too have experienced that feeling of thinking I'm on to something only to discover there's something 'out there' already to suck the wind from my sails! But Frizz, don;t let it deter you from pursuing your own project. Look at it this way. You now see what's been done, so take that and make it better in yours.
Dee is right, there is no such thing as originality in an idea these days but that doesn't mean you can't create something in a totally unique way.
And please don't be discouraged about the rhyme thing. David Gale did offer some good advice and said, before adding rhyme, write in prose first. He added that the problem with people who immediately write in rhyme forget about structure, plot and character — telling the story — and focus too much on 'making' the story rhyme. The editors cringe because, nine-times-out-of-ten, the rhyming is forced and the basics of creating a picture book are lost.
So write your story as a story first that has a beginning, middle and end and is charcter driven when you have refined and polished THEN go back and start to look at rhyme. If you follow this exercise you have a much much better chance at getting your book published in rhyme!
Diane Ochiltree is a successful rhyming PB author and she attests to the prose first, rhyme later theory. www(dot)ochiltreebooks(dot)com
Keep at it, don't ever give up on what you love, you just have to go about it in an informed and different way, maybe. that's all!
This is a great idea and the illustration here is wonderful! I agree whole heartedly with what has already been said. Your story will be special because it comes from you...and I can already tell that I want to read about this robin!
Hey Frizz
Very very cute piece!
Colors: Have you calibrated your scanner as well as your screen? That may help. Otherwise in photoshop >> Level, you may be able to lift the blue up. It could also be that the colors are reflective and hence not scanning well?
Rhyming:
I'm currently going through a book about children illustration and writing. They recommend there not to go with rhyming at first either. They say it's so much harder because writers put an extra challenge on themselves, rhyming is apparently an art in itself, and editors will critique the quality of the rhyme in addition to the story and rest of the submission. So to me it sounded (especially since I'm not mother tongue), that prose is "easier" way to go. However, if you love rhymes, I don't think you should get discouraged! Love your rhyme here, it's very cute. If you do what you love you follow your passion. Having passion leads you to being awesome!
Existing ideas:
Um, yes, probably a lot is already out there. But, I strongly believe new stuff can always come too! And isn't everyone different, we all have our own approach? Keep designing ladies, don't be scared. Be creative :-)
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