5 things I learnt from writing 100 picture books

I love a challenge.

Last year, I ran 1000km. I put the goal in runkeeper, I told a few people what I was doing, and then I ran 20km every week (mostly), until on 30 December, I hit 1000.1km. The year before that, I ran a marathon. I don’t even know why, except that the thought entered my head, and I told a few people about it.

Marathon year was also the year I participated in Tania McCartney’s 52 week illustration challenge – for picture book writers. Yep, I wrote a picture book draft every week for 52 weeks.

And then, when that challenge shut down, a fabulous author Leonie started up a dedicated 52 week picture book challenge. So, I wrote another 52 picture books (well if the truth be told, I still owe that challenge 4 drafts!).

And here’s the thing, out of the 100 drafts, I may only polish up 4 or 5 or 10. At first, I struggled with this. What’s the point of writing 100 drafts, if I only ever intend to look at a few of them again?

Well, here’s what I learnt along the way.

1: How to finish a story
Once you’ve written your first 200 inspired words, and you realise you have no idea where that picture book idea is actually going… it’s very easy to abandon it for the next shiny idea. But, if you’re in the middle of a 52 week challenge, you’ve gotta finish that baby off, cos the next prompt is coming any day now. Yep, I learnt to write endings.

2: You’ll write a lot of crap
Oh my gosh. So many bad words. So many terrible ideas. So many horrible, rushed endings. But here’s what I reckon. You’re going to write those words anyway. And the more you write them, the less there are left to write. Purge those crap words, and be glad that they are gone.

3: You’ll learn from writing crap
The quick turnaround time means that no sooner have you written a stinking pile of crap, than you have to write next week’s prompt. No time to wallow. But that big pile of crapola is fresh. And you know what you did wrong. And that means you won’t make the same mistake again.

4: The hard prompts suck until they don’t
I hated “bucket list” week. I cursed, I fidgeted, I procrastinated. I thought it would go away if I complained enough. Until I saw a fish in a bucket on a pier. And from that came my favourite piece of writing that I’ve ever produced. I also cursed “chin” week. I researched chins. I found out they were useless. I wondered how I could write about a useless body part. And then inspiration struck. Another favourite. Writing about stuff you don’t want to write about is the worst, until it isn’t. You should try it.

5: You’ll have cheerleaders with you the whole way
The best bit about these challenges is the community. I’ve made so many friends along the way. I am constantly amazed at how differently we all tackle the same prompt, our own voice and style shining through. And we all support each other.

This year, I’m taking a break from writing a picture book a week, although I already know I will miss it. Instead, I’m polishing. And I’ve set myself some new challenges.

1: 50 rejections (that means I must polish & I must submit)
2: Run 1000km
3: Run 5km in under 25 minutes (eeek!)

And now I’ve put it out there, all 3 things must get done.

What are your challenges for the year? Want to come and join us in the 52 week picture book challenge?