Thursday, January 19, 2012

PBM 2012 -- Take the Leap!

Picture Book Marathon 2012
Take the Leap!

Hello Authors and Illustrators -- Welcome to the 4th annual Picture Book Marathon!

Your Goal: Between February 1 and February 29, 2012, write one picture book a day, until you get to 26. This year, February has 29 days (thus, Take the Leap!), so you get a bonus break day. 

The Basics: We define a picture book as (1) a story or narrative, (2) with a  beginning, middle, and end, (3) for children, and (4) intended to be illustrated. They’re generally, though not always, published in a 32 page format. Given the speed of the marathon, your picture book DRAFTS (for that’s what they’ll be) will be very rough. What you hope to capture is the basic plot, characters, and emotion of each story.

Why Do It:
  • Generate a lot of material in a short amount of time.
  • Get your creative juices flowing by forcing yourself to write daily.
  • Circumvent your internal naysayer - they either won’t have time to criticize, or they’ll be too tired.
  • Practice a writing practice.

Notes on this Year’s Marathon: Many thanks to illustrator Will Strong for this year’s Marathon logo. You can check out his efforts from last year’s marathon here. We'll let you know when T-shirts and mugs featuring the logo are available at CafePress - neither we nor Will profit from these, so only buy them if you actually want one - you’re not supporting anything by doing so.

Due to events in our personal lives, we are scaling back our marathon effort this year. We won’t be blogging daily or keeping weekly tallies. We will be posting a weekly blog entry, and encourage you to post your comments there. 

You can access last year’s training tips here, or post your own tips in the comments section of the blog.

Once the marathon starts, we’ll be adding a weekly blog post on Mondays. Please post comments on your progress and the marathon there.

A Final Note: This year, we encourage you to think about YOUR PURPOSE for doing the Marathon. Is it to generate material that you’ll spend the rest of the year revising? Learn the ins and outs of a new type of story (say, fairy tales)? Get really, really good at writing plot? Learn how to develop characters quickly?
Pick what’s important to you at this juncture in your writing career. Then, Take the Leap!

Sincerely,
Lora Koehler and Jean Reagan
Marathon Organizers

20 comments:

  1. Wahooo! I can't wait! If I am already keeping a list of story ideas I want to do during the month, is that cheating? :)

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  2. I am so glad we are doing this again! I've got my idea list started and my purpose in mind! Thanks!

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  3. Oh boy! Not sure I am up to this challenge. Can people really write 26 drafts in one month?? We shall see...I have never been one to back down from a challenge. :)

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  4. I'm keen to give this a go - where do we sign up?

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    1. I added you to the list. We won't be mailing out daily emails this year 'cause we're keeping it low-key. Good luck!

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  5. Count me in, and my focus will be 1) staying focused on PB 2) gaining more material to revise later 3) to help me develop more writing discipline. 4) my ultimate goal is to be a full time author... maybe not the most realistic goal fo the 4 but my truth.

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  6. You gals are doing a terrific job in organizing this. I'm so glad that I participated in your PB marathon (2010 & 2011). My story, "I'm a Monster Too!" received a Letter of Merit for the SCBWI 2011 Barbara Karlin Grant. This story was conceived during my 2010 participation in the PB marathon. I couldn't have done it without you! I encourage everyone to sign-up for this event. It's a great way to bring your story ideas into life! It's like writer's boot camp. It's sometimes painful but good for you...and 26 stories in a month CAN be done!

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    1. CONGRATULATIONS! The Barbara Karlin Grant is VERY competitive. Way to go! Good luck with this year's marathon. Leap away!

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  7. I'm excited about doing this myself. It seems like such an amazingly helpful followup to the NaPiBoIdMo. I didn't really think I could think up 30 picture book ideas in 30 days, but I did, so I'm sure I can pound out 26 drafts of varying degrees of quality. ;)

    I did find, with the NaPiBoIdMo, that I went through fazes over the month- I started off with a bang, and thought up a lot of ideas early on, then I petered out about half way through, only to jump back into the game with 3-4 days left, in order to round out the 30.

    I also have to say that if you've got a spouse or a partner, it's very very worth getting them involved. My wife was wonderfully supportive with helping me hammer out picture book ideas, and I can only imagine that she'll be just as helpful this month, with thinking of details to bounce off of me, being a sounding board, and helping keep my daughter corralled while I go about trying to write on a daily basis.

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  8. Pairing the National PB Idea Month with the marathon is perfect. I've been meaning to do that, but my November always gets away from me, it seems. Good luck with the marathon! Jean

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  9. The marathon inspired me to dig out all the PB manuscripts I've abandoned (but not thrown away) over my long career. There are 34 of them! My goal for the month is to attack one a day and attempt to produce a new draft worthy of further work. Some of them are promising, some are pathetic, but it's out of the file drawer, onto the desk! That's a little bit different from starting from scratch every day, or even having a list of ideas ready for the month, but it's what I need to do. And I'm grateful for the opportunity -- and the nudge -- to do it!

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  10. I am not sure if I can do this this year. So much on my plate. But-I like the idea of defining the why. And the why would be to increase my writing under pressure and with limite time chops. Somewhere along the line I lost that-when I had a young family I could do it. When the kiddos left home and started working p/t I found that the more and more time I had the more and more time I took. Now that I working f/t for the first time in years? Oh my-I am falling into the can't write cause no time, lol. Not. so.

    Hmmm, think I have just decided to join up and switch that mind set. Thanks y'all!

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    1. way to go, Deb Marshall! We make the time for the things that really count, don't we? I know I am going to!

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  11. Whew...I took the leap...just in time! I can't wait to get started. Been working on revisions of last years'picture books, too...but got detoured by a cancer diagnosis. So, I am back in the saddle again...and chomping at the bit to get back to it!

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  12. Sounds like fun! I am going to give it a go this year! :) Is there a place to sign up?

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    1. Welcome! Email us at writers@picturebookmarathon.org and I'll sign you up. Good luck.
      Jean

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  13. I'm taking the challenge this year so that during my trip to West Africa (which is almost the entire month of Feb. and into March), I don't forget to write. I'm sure my surroundings will inspire many stories and poems and don't want the fact that I'm out of the office with a hold on client work break my writing routine.

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  14. Ciao I want to try the leap too, how can I ?

    Manuela

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  15. Welcome! Email us at writers@picturebookmarathon.org and I'll sign you up. Good luck.
    Jean

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