I know, I know…I’m not an illustrator. And it’s not even Friday. But a friend of mine started a really cool group that I’m having a lot of fun with. We’re not a critique group…we’re a group of eight children’s book authors who want to work on our picture book ideas.
So, every Friday we get the Illustration Friday word (you can sign up for it right here) and then we each try and come up with a workable picture book idea around that word.
(NOW I see what lizjonesbooks is doing every Friday! Liz is an illustrator, and she posts her illustration every week. Well, guess what? Writers can play, too!!!)
This new group of mine is turning into quite a lesson in creativity. I love watching everyone’s thought processes! It’s amazing how many different directions the eight of us can go with one simple word.
We’ve already discussed the importance of coming up with THREE ideas rather than just one…the first one or two allow you to get the already-read-it-a-thousand-times-and-wrote-the-book-report sorts of ideas out of your system so you can get to something new and original. (The founder of our group is a college instructor, and she has her students come up with three ideas, then three more ideas, and three more after that — so nine total! when they write something. Not a bad idea!)
We’re not necessarily writing these stories (though some of us are), we’re just each coming up with workable story ideas that we can plug into this formula: “This is a story about _______________ (main character) who wants more than anything else to ___________________(MC’s goal) but can’t because_____________________(obstacles) until_______________________(resolution).”
I know there will be some story ideas that will excite me and I’ll sit down and write them right away. Others will need days, weeks, months, maybe even years to percolate…maybe I’ll even decide they’re just not my stories to tell. But the point is, I will be regularly coming up with workable picture book ideas on a regular basis…52 of them before the year is over. This is also one more way I can make sure I’m producing new stuff and not just taking on every freelance assignment that comes my way.
great idea!
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
In my online trainer job, there’s a project where the ad sales people have to come up with promotional ideas for their client. They have already identified the problem the idea is supposed to solve in an earlier project. Then, they come up with 20 ideas that will help the advertiser get the desired result. I’m always telling them “Often, it’s when we think we’ve exhausted all the possiblities that we come up with our best ideas.” That’s why it’s necessary to think beyond the first few that come to mind.
Re: great idea!
TWENTY??? Wow!!! I wonder if I could come up with 20? That seems like so many…but your point is well taken. I’ll see what happens if I try to list 20 this week… Thank YOU for sharing!
Re: great idea!
I signed up for illustration Friday so I can play too!
Another game I like to play is looking at the Scholastic Book orders and coming up with story ideas based upon the cover art or titles.
Re: great idea!
I like that idea, too! (And it’s amazing how FAR OFF the original you can get by just looking at the cover art and guessing what it might be about.)
Awesome!! I just found this post– and I’m so glad you’re doing it! IF has been such a great prompt for me. Post em when you got em!!
It’s been an interesting experiment for me…and an interesting way to look at how people develop ideas…
Yes– it’s a really wonderful prompt, because on the one hand, it’s so simple, and on the other hand, it allows for some fairly complex interpretation. I look forward to reading what you come up with if you post any of it!