Friday, October 8, 2010

Getting Psyched!

As I'm sitting down to write this post, I'm feeling pretty exhausted. Ridiculously exhausted in fact. The past month has not been a good one for my writing productivity. (A Jewish holiday every week for four weeks straight didn't help. :o) )

Right now what I need is a good kick in the pants to get my writing back on track.

And, thanks to Tara Lazar (author of the upcoming picture book, THE MONSTORE), that kick in the pants is coming. Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) is right around the corner. Hurray!

For PiBoIdMo, Tara challenges us picture book writers to come up with one idea a day. And she provides lots of inspiration on her blog to help us come up with those ideas.

Last year,it was exactly what I needed. And this year, I think I need it again too.

For those people who participate in NaNoWriMo-- Wow! What a challenge! I don't know if I could do it.

PiBoIdMo is much more my speed. I loved the list of ideas I had by the end of the month. It has provided me with a lot of inspiration throughout many months of writing.

Now I'm ready to be inspired again. So I'm signing up for PiBoIdMo!

Anyone signing up with me? (Or will you be participating in any other exciting writing challenges this November?)

Let's cheer each other on all month long!

7 comments:

  1. I'll be your cheerleader, but I won't be signing up for either PiBoldMo or NaNoWriMo this year. Maybe next year!

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  2. I hate to sound like the Grinch, but thinking up an idea every day for a pb, is like buying a pattern for a dress and then waiting months to cut and sew, or never making it at all.

    How many of these ideas are going to be viable? Where's the time to think things through? Don't see the point in just throwing out idea after idea and then waiting to grapple with all the elements that must go into writing a good pb.

    Guess I'm in the minority on this one!

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  3. I think PiBoIdMo sounds much harder than Nano! I love the concept of both - but again...why November? Major, major issue at the end of the month...maybe Stephen King can get away with writing on the holidays(I think I read somewhere that he did)...but when you're cooking the bird and baking the pies...um, no.

    But...setting goals is a great way to jumpstart your writing. Can't wait to see what you come up with!!

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  4. I think I'm going to try it. I missed it last year, so I don't know exactly what's involved. Sounds like a good way to get a stockpile of ideas.

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  5. Hi All,

    Thanks for the comments!

    Meg-- Thanks for volunteering as a cheerleader! I hope I can give you something to cheer!

    Gale-- I think that's one of the things that's so interesting about writing. Different strategies work for different people. (I don't think NaNoWriMo would work very well for me with the way I write, but it certainly sounds inspiring for a lot of people. :o) )

    Robin-- November is a busy month, but for me September is much crazier. And somehow an idea a day doesn't stress me out. It just gets me thinking.

    Julie-- Looking forward to cheering you on! Hope you get a great stockpile of ideas!

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  6. I'm hoping to have my revision completed in November -- make that determined to have my revision completed in November.

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  7. Woo! Can't wait for it to begin!

    Gale, an idea I created during PiBoIdMo evolved into THE MONSTORE, which landed me an agent and a book contract. Two other PiBoIdMo ideas are currently in revision and my agent is eager to sub them. It works for me, it may not work for you, but you really don't know until you've tried it. Not all of the ideas are going to evolve into great projects. That's not the point. The idea is to get in the habit of creating new PB concepts and keeping them in a document to refer to when you need inspiration. Think of it as a month of brainstorming.

    And, three agents will be providing feedback to three lucky PiBoIdMo participants. So you may get some good advice on which ideas to pursue and which to toss.

    Why November? Because I thought NaNoWriMo was having all the fun and I wanted PB writers to have something to call their own in November.

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