There is something about Halloween that evokes a lot of childhood
memories for me.

I get a teary-eyed smile when I see the little trick-or-treaters
out gathering their candy. I remember eating donuts and drinking cider while carving pumpkins and toasting their seeds.  Getting all upset when my mom tells me I have to wear a coat over my costume.  Eagerly waiting for “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” to be aired (of course this was before DVDs and On-Demand viewing).  

One particular memory that has me laughing every time has to do
with a robot costume made out of a large cardboard box covered in aluminum foil, a dark driveway,  a vicious poodle and shaky footing. Yeah.  Such great memories.

Of course, any bookstore is just brimming with Halloween themed
picture books right now.  Jerry Seinfeld did a great job of capturing the Halloween experience for those who grew up in the 70s and 80s in his picture book, Halloween.  I question whether it would be enjoyed more by adults than children, but it is really quite funny and obviously autobiographical.

But we aren’t all stand-up comics.  So how do we capture the “funny” from our childhood and turn it into a picture book?

Marcie’s 5 Steps for Mining Memories to Create Funny Picture Books

1) List 5 memories from your childhood that make you laugh.  You know, those stories that get shared at family get-togethers?  Now these should be vignettes.  Moments.  We aren’t going for an epic novel here, only a short picture book.  

2) Pick one of those 5 memories and create a stream-of-consciousness list.  Remember your 5 senses.  Flesh out the memory, listing all you can remember about the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings of that moment.  

3) Regress, yet stay present.  Go back in time.  Reconnect with the younger you.  But remember, this is a story
for today’s kids, not adults, so you want to be sure to have a kid-perspective that today’s kids can relate to. Might require some jiggling.  Not sure kids can relate to the costumes in the “cardboard box with the cellophane top” that Seinfeld talks about in Halloween.  

4) Fill in the holes.  These are stories.  They are based on truth, yet as a writer you are able to take artistic license.  Is your memory foggy is parts?  Who cares!  You are a writer.  Give yourself permission
to write and create.  Embellish and exaggerate. Remember, kids books are about the main character’s BEST or WORST day.  So pump it up and think big!

5) Mash and Twist.  Is your memory about your pet dog?  What if you change it to a dinosaur in your re-telling?  How does that change things?  How does that add humor?  Have fun with it.  Think of Peter Brown’s Children Make Terrible Pets.  It was inspired by a childhood memory, however I don’t think Peter was ever a female bear or that he was captured in the woods by one.  Yet, he twisted the memory and what we have is a brilliantly funny
book.  Remember, you are telling a story here.  Up the ante to up the fun! 

So what are you waiting for? Mine those memories and have some fun!

PS.  A very special thank you to Brianne and Marissa for the use of your childhood photos!

Called a “born storyteller” by the media, Marsha Diane Arnold wrote the award-winning “homegrown treasures” column prior to penning eleven award-winning picture books.  Marsha recently contracted with Neal Porter Books for two new picture books and Kate O'Sullivan of Houghton Mifflin for another, coming out in 2016. She grew up on a Kansas farm, but today creates imaginative worlds and wacky characters in northern California surrounded by her garden, deer, hummingbirds, turkeys, oaks, and redwoods. Marsha's course Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books has helped many published and aspiring writers to write stronger characters. You may read about her books, school and Skype visits, and life at www.marshadianearnold.com.

Hands down the most important thing I have ever learned to keep creativity flowing is to do just that, go with the flow. Last month the computer crashed, the blog seemed lost and all I could do was my best to stay buoyant and trust. And here we are! Flowed all the way into the next month! The computer lives! And here is the post I thought had vanished deep behind the blue screen of death last month. Viva creativity! Viva the flow!

I realized recently this would be the perfect space to begin a short series of guidance toward illustrating your own children’s book manuscript. The other day I was chatting with someone professionally and they said I was a “rare breed” to be both an artist and an author of children’s books. Interesting, I thought, since my first rule of art is EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST. So I’m out to spread the word! I’m no rare breed. YOU too can illustrate the tale you’ve told! You don’t have to think of yourself as an artist to do it. You already are an artist. You’re a story teller. You’ll just be adding another dimension to your telling. Authorartists! A NEW breed! Rare at first perhaps, but growing!

I won’t go into all the details or the this and that’s of illustrating. No, no, no. To begin, just let your imagination run free. Take it slow. Take a nice long moment to be FREEE. Let yourself just look, look, look around to see what kinds of illustrations you like and might even feel like you could do! Look everywhere, not just at children’s books. Look at magazines and CD covers, advertisements and movie posters, fine art, even recipe books, fabric patterns, food labels! Look at everything.

Look for things that look fun and easy to do, like cut paper, collage, photography and simple drawing and painting. Be a kid again. Remember what it’s like to feel that you can do anything in the world. Pretend and play. Download my Everyone is an Artist handout to color. Mess around drawing figures and funny faces. Get a new pencil or some charcoal and scribble and smear.  Don’t be precise. In fact, be imprecise--please!

I LOVE images that feel raw and immediate and I love children’s books with art a kid could figure out and imitate. Gather a nice cache of images to start. I’ve included some of the images at the bottom of this post that I’ve gathered lately. You will begin to see what you like. Don’t try to figure out how it’s done just yet. Know that you are an artist and soon you will be making more and more art. Next month we’ll take it a step further. Did you know relaxation and a sense of play allow the flow to flow more flowingly?

So to recap, your job this next month is to:

1. Scribble - with anything you find in your hand
2. Collect - any and all images that tickle your fancy
3. Remember - what it’s like to be a kid--scribbleplay playscribble
4. Know - EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST

Come be part of a new breed of authorartists!

This month I’ll also be joining Mira in her Hero’s Art Journey interactive e-course, a great place to gather lots of images from art history, journey through your blocks and fears about creativity, learn gobs of techniques and begin to make art in community! And of course, play!

And, here's some imagery that I've been drawn to lately: (click images to view the gallery)