a behind-the-scenes peek at a book in the making…
How appetising this looks to me: my desk, a big sheet of paper, all my materials near at hand…
I’m getting back to work on the second book in the Martha and the Bunny Brothers series. In the same way that the first book is a funny, sunny-side-up take on starting school (Martha and the Bunny Brothers I Heart School), this one is all about another huge theme – BEDTIME! School and bedtime go well together, I think: I want this series of stories to offer an encouraging, positive way of approaching those moments in family life than CAN go a little awry. I have Martha’s cheerful voice very much in my mind.
Today I’m thinking about routines and rituals, and also children’s awesome powers to come up with yet more elaborate delaying tactics: ‘I’m hungry! I’m thirsty! Just one more story, just one more cuddle…’ – I’m sure you know the sort of thing?!
Right now I’m at the ‘thumbnail’ stage, so it’s a sharp pencil and a row of small boxes, as I work on the words and plan what goes where. Lots of staring out of the window will take place. It’s an incredibly slow process, for me at least, polishing every word until it’s shiny. Seeing the whole book on one page like this gives me an essential overview of how well the story is unfolding. I’m the director, writer and cameraman of this piece of theatre all rolled into one – what power!
I shall be very strict with myself and not think about doing the pictures until the words are finished. I don’t know what this pile of felt and, yes, ROCKET RIBBON is doing here. I am absolutely not allowing myself to be thinking about pyjama fabric yet AT ALL…
Thank you so much for sharing the process – it is really inspiring. And Martha seems a great little character. I’m looking forward to sharing her with my goddaughter.
Thank you VERY much for saying so, Anne! I really appreciate it. I’m enjoying knuckling down again after the hols, and do find work more fun than fun, I think… perhaps that’s a bit odd??
Lovely! And I, for one, am very happy to see ‘staring out of the window’ getting the prominence it deserves as part of all the very best creative processes!
Helen, thank you so much – am mightily relieved you approve of the whole daydreaming thing: some people just don’t understand! There’s a Thurber quote – I must find it…
Your desk looks so enticing – all those lovely fabrics – am very much looking forward to the publication of book one and the finished art for book 2!
That’s so lovely to hear, Hilary, thank you! I am sitting at the very spot now, trying to think about WORDS (with occasional feels of the felt for encouragement)…