Friday 28 October 2011

It's easy to write picture books.

Thoughtful blog post here, chaps.
I've read a few things about writing picture books, and some articles talk about how lots of people want to write a picture book, thinking it will be easy, and the articles say it's harder than writing a novel, because every word counts, and requires thought, and economy and skill to get the ideas across.
And I've also read articles that say that of course it's easier than writing a novel, because it's much shorter and you can rattle one off in a day or two.

Well, it's been trundling about in the back of my mind, and I've ended up thinking about it a bit, and I can kind of agree with both points of view, they both have elements of truth.
But I think the problem is that they're making slightly different points.

And I've thought of an analogy.

Is it easier to run 100m or 10,000m?
Well, one takes less than thirty seconds, and one takes quite a while.
Now most people can run 100m, whereas only people of a certain fitness can actually run 10,000m, so you could argue that one is easier than the other.

But... it's just as hard to win a gold medal in either.
Which I think is sort of the point, really.
Just because something's short, doesn't make it easy to do well.

Though it is maybe easier for more people to give it a quick go.

And having written this (for me) fairly serious post, here are a couple of sneak peek sketches from a book I've been working on :)
They're all bits of illustrations and backgrounds, so as to not give much away, but they are hopefully interesting too :)






8 comments:

  1. Hey, love the sketches

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, wonderful friend! :) So interesting article! I want to say that all have own talent. And each have his own style, in which he is so strong! :) And nobody can not outdo him :)

    Just cute, interesting, perfect done in lines! pictures, Jon! I admire your talent to show a lot and concisely! I am a fun of your art! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. great sketches;looks like a great story :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think that is a very fitting analogy. Well said!

    Love the sneak peeks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your analogy is spot on, and I adore these drawings!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Precioso!!! me encanta tu mundo... son todos una maravilla

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice analogy! And love your sketches, looking forward to seeing more!

    ReplyDelete
  8. the panting, aching, scrapes and bruises from the writing leg of the race are all worth it when such an amazing illustrator is there to grab the baton and take it to the finish line.

    ReplyDelete