It's the fourth writer's group meeting and I've finished my first draft of the picture book/short story I've been working on for a month. The last couple of scenes were like slowly yanking out my own teeth with pliers, but I got it done. I'm exceedingly proud of myself for finishing a draft even if it is a child's book.
After we write for an hour, we go around the table talking about how we're doing and what we learned and what we need advice on. Today, I leap in to go first because I can't shut up. I'm in between wanting to rip out of my eyebrows in frustration and gleaming with pride.
The biggest issue I face is whether to turn it into a chapter book or rewrite it as a picture book. The word count is more than double the limit for a picture book. I'm too descriptive and I know it, but I can't help myself. I like living out the story through the eyes of my characters.
They ask if I'd like to read any of it. Since I've already mentioned the "dark moment" to them that poses a dilemma of age appropriate writing, I read that one paragraph aloud. This is the first thing I've read out loud to this group. Ever. I will never forget the apprehensive expressions they all wore after I read the last sentence. This is a children's book? Their verbal response confirms the silent shock on their faces. I have written a grim fairy tale.
I am not ashamed. It feel like I should be, but I'm not. When I get home, I do the dishes. Then sit down to email all three of them the rough draft before the task escapes me (and before I start feeling self-conscious about it). I research Grimm's Fairy Tales. Based on the word count range in those tales, my story does have a category.
Since I still have the images of a picture book in my head, I make a plan of attack to write a "Disney" version that might be easier to sell. Everything I read about writing a picture book tells me that it needs to be 1,000 words or less. The Brothers Grimm did not follow this rule. Cinderella, Snow White, even Hansel and Gretel, all pushed the 3,000 word mark.
Later, I'll edit the first draft and see if it has a place in the world. If not, I'll buy a pretty bound book of Grimm Fairy Tales and slip into it's binding a story untold.
Since I still have the images of a picture book in my head, I make a plan of attack to write a "Disney" version that might be easier to sell. Everything I read about writing a picture book tells me that it needs to be 1,000 words or less. The Brothers Grimm did not follow this rule. Cinderella, Snow White, even Hansel and Gretel, all pushed the 3,000 word mark.
Later, I'll edit the first draft and see if it has a place in the world. If not, I'll buy a pretty bound book of Grimm Fairy Tales and slip into it's binding a story untold.
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