I'm starting to feel guilty writing about tribulation after selling a manuscript, as that should be a celebration of the highest order. Still, I promised you part 2 and there are always challenges on our journeys, even on the happiest ones. Waiting for Snow, which is entering the world November 1st, was thought too talky for a picture book by a number of my critique partners. Sometimes I like “talky” and thankfully my HMH editor did too. But after the story was bought and our fabulous illustrator Renata Liwska began her work, she felt we could cut some of those “talky” words because they wouldn’t be needed with her illustrations. I agreed with most of her thoughts, but not all. Discussions followed until all three of us were happy with the text. My editor sent lots of Renata’s sketches to me to share and to illicit my thoughts. I loved being in on her creative process. Sadly, I lost another “darling” with Waiting for Snow. Darling Dormouse. I had worked hard on a charming twosome: Dormouse and Vole. But Renata was working on art for another story that had a dormouse as a main character; she didn’t want one set of images to influence the other. In the end, darling Dormouse was changed into a Possum, though Red Squirrel also auditioned for the part.. I went back and forth about using a Possum over a Red Squirrel even though I preferred the look of a Possum. The reason was that my original characters were from the same geographic area. Even though my story is fiction, I like to keep my characters in the same geographic area if possible. My editor preferred aesthetics to geographical accuracy in this fictional fantasy. I agreed. Hello, Possum. My first board books arrive on the scene next February. I’d never written a board book before. In the back of my mind, I thought, “How hard can it be?” HARD. The story concept came to me as an image of a polar bear taking a “snow bath.” It was on the back burner of my mind for years. Finally, I took the snow bath idea and expanded it to other types of animal baths. Then I tried naps. Baby Animals Take a Bath and Baby Animals Take a Nap were acquired by Charlesbridge. Hooray! I thought I was done. After all, these were simple concepts and there were only 18 words per book, (Steam bath...Puddle bath” “Tummy nap”...”Back nap.)” What more did I need to do? A LOT. I probably know more than the average person about most animals and my knowledge held up well. But verification was required. I never imagined so much research would be needed for board books. Some days I felt like I was making reference notes for a text book. But these notes were for my exacting editor. I needed to confirm, as much as possible, at what age a baby animal took a bath on his own. For example, how old is a zebra foal when it starts to take dust baths? Some of these questionsstump the experts. The Curator of Mammals at the Zoological Society of Florida wrote me that “The literature doesn’t give a specific age that zebra foals start to bath.” Based on her experience in a zoo setting, foals start to dust bathe as early as 3-4 weeks of age. I had confirmed that baby zebras take dust baths and we could move on to the next animal to research. Some of my “darling” animals were lost in my board books too.. Koalas were replaced by kangaroos in Baby Animals Take a Nap, but the “Inside-pouch nap” stayed. My editor also wanted to avoid using the word “lion” twice on the back cover, which has a list of the animals used. So my “sea lion” and “lion” became “sea lion” and “tiger.” We also made Baby Animals Take a Nap more kid friendly by changing phrases like “kelp nap” to “holding-hands nap” for the sea otters. There’s the peek into revision after acquisition, at least for me. I am so grateful to amazing editors who help make a good story even better! Just a bit of tribulation within the jubilation. Mostly jubilation, for sure. And whatever tribulation there is makes for a better writer and book. Marsha Diane Arnold is an award-winning author with over a million books sold. Her popular Writing Character-Driven Picture Books course can be taken anytime, at your pace. Find it here: http://www.childrensbookacademy.com/writing-character-driven-stories.html
8 Comments
10/14/2016 08:27:03 am
Looks and sounds beautiful, Marsha! That little opossum IS adorable. :)
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10/16/2016 08:18:03 am
He is cute, isn't he. I'm finally warming up to him. :)
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Eve Heidi Bine-Stock
10/15/2016 06:22:57 am
Thank you for writing this "Part 2" blog post. It gave a good window into the revision process.
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10/16/2016 08:19:22 am
You are most welcome, Eve. I'm glad it was helpful. Revision can be painful, but with these books, I think it was all for the good.
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10/19/2016 10:03:51 am
Always fascinating to hear the backstory. Congrats on these sweet upcoming releases!
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10/20/2016 07:30:55 am
We should write a book about the back story, Lori. Hmmmm.
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10/20/2016 07:33:10 am
Wow! 120,000 words. Even with all the research, I think I prefer my 18 word books. Ha. Thank you for stopping by, Amy.
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