Archive for Cultivating Creativity

CULTIVATING CREATIVITY, Part 5: Nick Bruel, Suzy Levinson, and Nancy Castaldo

November 26, 2024 / / No comments

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Since this is the 5th post in this award-winning series (not really), you probably don’t need an introduction.

Here’s some links:

Part 1: The Letter

Part 2: Travis Jonker, Paul Acampora, Michelle Knudsen

Part 3: Diana Murray, London Ladd, Jeff Mack

Part 4: Vikram Madan, Lizzy Rockwell, Matthew McElligott

 

NICK BRUEL

 

I feel like the hardest part of cultivating ideas is respecting that they exist.  Let me explain… I had a teacher in college who posited that ‘writer’s block’ did not exist.  Instead, what we called ‘writer’s block’ was, in fact ‘pride’.  As creators, we are often guilty of imagining our ideas but self editing and not making them real because we’ve decided that they are simply not good enough to meet our standards.  I have come to believe this is true.  Here is how I combat this.  I have a disorganized mind and a disorganized office to accompany it, so when it’s time for me to contemplate a project I will simply take sheets of printer paper and write down every idea that comes to mind, good or bad, and not worry for a moment about the order in which they come.  When this happens, two things are possible… 1) Maybe it’s a lousy idea.  That’s okay.  I can either move on to the next or develop it into what I want.  It doesn’t matter, because I’ve made my idea real by writing it down and giving myself the opportunity to go back to it later, assuming I do.  2) Maybe it’s a pretty good idea; I just needed to make it real in order to recognize it.  This can happen more often when we think.  I will then stuff all of my idea sheets into a manila envelope that I label with a marker, and this only serves to keep my ideas collected together.  In the long run, all I’m doing is exercising a loosely organized form of daydreaming.

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For 20 years now, Nick Bruel has been herding Bad Kitty into one enormously popular sack, er, book, after another. And if you know anything about herding cats, you know it couldn’t have been easy. Nick keeps the series fresh and energetic and timely, and somehow manages to keep Bad Kitty under control. Well, not exactly control, but you get the idea. A remarkable achievement, still rolling along. Congratulations, Nick!

 

SUZY LEVINSON

 

In recent years I’ve noticed that my creative practice feels less like a practice, and more like a series of random, haphazard events. I’ll have a good idea, lightbulb-style! I’ll write fast, revise even faster, put the story out into the universe like some kind of speed demon! Then I’ll go utterly brain-dead for about a month, twiddling my thumbs until the next idea presents itself.

This doesn’t feel like the most productive use of my time.

In an effort to cultivate a more reliable creative practice and combat Brain-Dead Month, I’ve been mindfully gathering tricks that will shake me up and make stories fall out. I think my favorite’s the “fun title” trick, which works as follows: I’ll come up with a title, usually incorporating some kind of wordplay, the kind of title I can imagine popping on a bookstore shelf. I’ll go online to make sure the title’s not taken already. I’ll type the title at the top of a blank Word doc, type “by Suzy Levinson,” paginate into fourteen and a half sections, write the flap copy, and then all I have to do is write the story. Yes, it feels like working backwards, but it’s surprisingly effective.

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Readers will have to wait for Suzy Levinson’s next poetry collection, Dinos That Drive (coming in 2025!), but until then, don’t miss the book that turned this reader into a huge fan, Animals in Pants. Brilliant and hysterical. Animals in pants? What kind of twisted, demented mind comes up with this stuff?! And where can I get more??!!

 

NANCY CASTALDO

 

That’s easy. My creativity and my curiosity are sparked when I travel. I always carry a notebook or my phone so that I can easily jot down an idea when it arrives. An idea can arrive when I might be visiting a farm in Italy or just taking the train along the Hudson River near my home— which brings me to the second way I keep my home fires burning. I don’t stop thinking about what I already know and how that knowledge connects to everything else in the world. Sometimes you just have to be curious about the things that are familiar and see where that rabbit hole takes you.

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Nancy Castaldo has written award-winning books about our planet for over 25 years. She writes to inform, inspire, and empower readers about the world around them. She’s interested in wolves and whales, farms and seeds, rivers and dogs and astronauts and . . . the list goes on (seemingly) forever. And when Nancy is interested in a topic, a book often follows.

 

 

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CULTIVATING CREATIVITY, Part 4: Tips & Strategies Featuring Vikram Madan, Lizzy Rockwell, and Matthew McElligott

November 12, 2024 / / No comments

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Welcome to Part 4 on my award-winning series (not really) about creativity (really!), where we learn from some of the most outstanding voices in children’s literature to hear what they do to cultivate their own creative process. Think of it as priming the pump.

For many of us who attempt to do this for a living, being creative is not simply a matter of sitting back and waiting for the magic to happen. It’s a way of being that can be cultivated, nurtured. But how? There’s the rub. We are all different in the way we live and the way we work. “Being creative” might feel entirely natural for most of our participants — but still, there are strategies that help bring us to that creative ground.

Today we’ll look at the terrific answers I received from Vikram Madan, Lizzy Rockwell, and Matthew McElligott.

In Part 3, we heard from Diana Murray, London Ladd, and Jeff Mack; while Part 2 featured responses from Travis Jonker, Paul Acampora, and Michelle Knudsen. Those links’ll bring you there.

 

VIKRAM MADAN

There’s a rule of thumb in painting that if you see a scene and you think “That scene would make a great painting”, then that’s very likely true –- that scene is probably worthy of turning into a painting. I apply that to writing too — mostly, whenever an idea or thought strikes me as a possible book, and often it is nothing more than a title or phrase, I try to capture that by making a list, or making an empty folder for it on my computer -– and then over time keep adding thoughts and reference material into that folder. Most folders remain empty, but eventually one or two will reach a critical mass where I feel I have something I can try to develop more intentionally. Sometimes I can go back to these mostly-empty folders and mine them for ideas for other projects I have. It’s a very organic, chaotic approach.

 

Vikram Madan is one of those rare people who stepped away from a successful career in order to pursue the wild dream of writing and illustrating children’s books. Today he lives in a sodden cardboard box. No, just kidding! Vikram lives in the Seattle area where he’s still dreaming — of dragons and nozzlewocks, owls and penguins, Bobos and Zoonis. Some dreams, it seems, have a way of coming true. 

 

 

 

 

LIZZY ROCKWELL

For most of my 40 year career, I have been a freelance illustrator who thrived by solving other people’s problems. I like collaboration. I like knowing trim size dimensions and target audience

For many artists, limitations are stifling. For me they are inspiring. But now I only illustrate children’s books that I write. I create my own problems to solve.

Once I have a concept (often handed to me by Muse, while I’m walking, sleeping, gardening…) I need to create some structure. I conceive each spread as a scene in a picture book, typically 15 of them. I usually write by hand in a spiral notebook, noting which page will hold which words. Or I write directly into a thumbnail-sized handmade book dummy, writing and sketching in pencil as I go. Sometimes it goes well. Sometimes it does not. But I have posed a good problem to solve. 

Here are the images, plus an interior spread from IT IS TIME: THE LIFE OF A CATERPILLAR. 

This one was a first attempt at my insect book.  It ended up completely differently as I LOVE INSECTS. I came to hate the “coaxing know-it-all parent” tone of this original stab. The finished book is written as a debate between two kids, one who loves insects and her friend who hates insects. Along the way they tell us a lot of cool things about insects. Such as, “Insects help plants.” And “Some insects hurt plants.” (The illustrations do the heavy lifting.) It was written as a leveled reader, which upped the limitations ante in a challenging and fun way. 

Below shows rough dummy writing and illustrating at the same time. Working at about 50% scale. You can see the erased words of earlier attempts. Grace M. and I had a whole back and forth about the pronoun of the caterpillar. I felt “It” did not make the protagonist as relatable to the reader. Grace thought genderless was less troublesome in these complex times.  In the end we used “she”. Though the black swallowtail caterpillar is not visually distinct by gender, the female butterfly who reveals herself at the end is. 

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Lizzy Rockwell is the extremely proud daughter of acclaimed children’s book author, Anne Rockwell. Clearly, Lizzy is one acorn that did not roll far from the family tree. Lizzy lives in Bridgeport, CT, where she loves to quilt, cook, hike, paddle, and grow things in her garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MATTHEW McELLIGOTT

For me, keeping a notebook is critical. Interesting thoughts pop up at the strangest time, but I’ve found that if I don’t capture them immediately, they disappear, never to be seen again.

The other thing I’ve learned (and this will come as no surprise to you) is that having a community of other authors and artists to talk with, share a coffee or a beer with, and bounce ideas off of does more to keep my momentum going than anything else I know. One good conversation with an interesting, thoughtful person can inspire me for the week. Being part of a community — even if it’s a community of loners who all work by ourselves — gives me the energy to push through those creative dry spells.

And coffee. Strategic, targeted application of caffeine works wonders.

 

Matthew McElligott has been drawing and making up stories all his life. Some involve math, some involve monsters, all encourage laughter. When Matt’s not working on illustration and children’s books, or drinking coffee with his pals, he spends his time teaching as a professor at Russell Sage College in Albany, NY.

 

 

 

 

 

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CULTIVATING CREATIVITY, Part 3: Tips & Strategies Featuring Diana Murray, London Ladd, and Jeff Mack

November 4, 2024 / / No comments

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Inspired by my bumbling attempts to teach an online writing class for Gotham Writers, I recently called upon a number of children’s book authors and illustrators with a basic question:

What do you do, if anything, to cultivate your own creativity? 

Amazingly, some of them responded.

Today we’ll look at the terrific answers I received from Diana Murray, London Ladd, and Jeff Mack. 

Previously I featured responses from Travis Jonker, Paul Acampora, and Michelle Knudsen. Stomp on this link and it will magically transport you there like a portkey in some Harry Potter book.

 

DIANA MURRAY

I enjoy actively brainstorming. I open a google doc and write any idea that pops into my head, no matter how terrible. Sometimes I’ll highlight titles with colors if I think they’re particularly promising. Other times, I’ll make notes next to them like “not relatable” or “cute but needs tension” or I’ll gray titles out if they’re particularly bad. I also add to this list when I get spontaneous ideas while doing other stuff, like walking the dog. If I don’t write an idea down, I invariably forget it, and that drives me nuts! When I want to start a new project, I refer to my list. It’s a single list which is currently 97 pages. If an idea really strikes me as interesting, I experiment with a few lines. If it goes well, then I break it out into its own document.

 

If you like stories about unicorns, witches, pizza chefs, sleepy veggies, or adventures in the city, Diana Murray is the writer for you. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LONDON LADD

 

Probably the most essential thing for continuing my creative passions is to wake up early, between 4-5am, at least five days a week,  open my sketchbook to doodle . . .

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. . . and maybe surf the internet looking for artwork that interests and inspires me to see and think in ways I may not have considered before. My happiest place is my sketchbook because it’s my most authentic artistic expression—where I can liberate myself from the world’s cares, experiment, have fun, and discover new and exciting things.

Getting up so early often is probably not suitable for my long-term health, especially if I go to bed late, but that’s an essential factor in pushing myself out of my comfort zone because staleness is scary. Other factors like deadline crunch may cause me to skip it for some time, too, which could lead to anxiety, depression, fear, doubt, and imposture syndrome creeping into my mind, which could hinder my creativity. And so could sleep deprivation, too. It is a double-edged sword, but I can’t think of any other approach that works for me. 

 

 

London Ladd has been a rising star for so long, I half-expect to look up and see his face in the night sky. The rest of the world is catching on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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JEFF MACK

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I store my ideas in Notes on my phone. It lets me forget stuff, then rediscover it.

I don’t tell anyone about my story before I’ve written a few drafts. If I share my story before I write it, then I won’t feel the need to write it.

I work on many stories simultaneously. For me, writing is like solving puzzles with many possible solutions. The solution to one puzzle may be waiting for me in a different story.

I often take parts of one story and add them to another. Characters are especially interchangeable.

Writing is an uncomfortable process. I’ve come to accept that there’s no way around it. I like to daydream, but eventually I have to sit down and work.

There’s rarely a better time to write than when I don’t feel like it.

The need to earn a living can be a useful motivation for creativity.

 

Jeff Mack’s most recent book — um, I think it’s his most recent — Jeff is a busy guy — has been getting Caldecott buzz. But don’t mention that to Jeff; it makes his knees itch.

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CULTIVATING CREATIVITY, Part 2: Tips & Strategies Featuring Travis Jonker, Paul Acampora, and Michelle Knudsen

October 30, 2024 / / No comments

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As outlined in a previous post, I called upon a variety of children’s book authors and illustrators with a basic question:

What do you do, if anything, to cultivate your own creativity? 

Today we’ll look at the answers I received from Travis Jonker, Paul Acampora, and Michelle Knudsen.

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TRAVIS JONKER

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Well, I didn’t think I would ever share this with anyone, but since you asked . . .

Whenever I begin a new notebook, I write the following in the back:

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It’s a reminder to myself that I don’t have to do a whole lot to express my creativity.

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Readers should run (don’t walk) to pick up a copy of Travis Jonker’s new picture book, illustrated by my pal, Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell.

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PAUL ACAMPORA

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My “creativity practice” is embarrassingly simple: I take notes. I am constantly writing down snippets of conversations, song lyrics, descriptions of found objects, occasional historical facts, and funny names of people, places, food, and dogs. My notes are not particularly noteworthy, but for some reason they catch my eye. Once a week or so I review what I’ve collected on scraps, post-its, and notes apps. I jot them onto a page in a dollar-store composition notebook for possible use at a later date.

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I’m usually disappointed to learn that my observations are painfully mundane, but then I remember Eleanor Rigby picking up rice after a wedding or a moocow coming down the road or how much depends upon a red wheelbarrow or a dog named Winn-Dixie, and I keep taking note of the simple things that might be the seeds for my next story.

 

Paul Acampora’s most recent middle-grade novel is the achingly beautiful (and funny), In Honor of Broken Things. 

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MICHELLE KNUDSEN

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Three things that help me with writing are walks, music, and Post-It Notes.

Walks are good for having ideas, for thinking through tricky plot points, for shaking up my mind after too much time at my desk.

Sometimes music and walks go together. Sometimes I make playlists that I only listen to when writing or thinking about a particular book. Sometimes one song will get associated with a book, and then I’ll just listen to that song on endless repeat.

Music usually only works for novels though. I need quiet for picture books.

Post-It Notes work for everything. I have lots of colors and sizes, and I love how low-pressure they are. I can write a word or a phrase that seems to have potential and just stick it somewhere around my desk. Sometimes those turn into something more; sometimes they end up crumpled into little paper balls to amuse my cats. Either result is acceptable.

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Michelle Knudsen’s most recent picture book features a reunion with illustrator Kevin Hawkes, the team that created the all-time classic, Library Lion. 

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PLEASE COME BACK ANOTHER TIME FOR MORE TIPS & STRATEGIES FROM SOME OF THE BEST MINDS (and creative spirits!) IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. 

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And while you are still here, I guess I ought to say that I first started working in children’s publishing in 1985 and never had the good sense to find alternative employment.  Here are my two new books from 2024: 

 

         

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CULTIVATING CREATIVITY: Tips & Strategies, Part 1

October 28, 2024 / / One comment
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Once upon a time, I sent a message to a variety of children’s authors and illustrators. People who are my friends. And I asked a favor. As someone who purports to “teach” writing — much more guide on the side than sage on stage — I had begun to think that being creative — thinking & living & breathing creativity — was a very important part of it. But what do the best in the business do to cultivate that creativity within themselves? I was curious to learn any tips or suggestions. 
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Unfortunately, I dropped the ball for a variety of reasons, months pushed past, leaves budded and fell, but I’m here to say that I have recovered the fumble!
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To get things rolling, here is the letter I sent . . . 
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As you may know, I sometimes teach a zoom class for adults interested in writing for children. In fact, many authors and illustrators have generously volunteered to spend time with my students over the past few years, sharing, inspiring, and supporting these aspirational writers and dreamers. 
One theme that we’ve returned to a lot this year is Cultivating Our Creativity. 

It’s not just a matter of waiting for the magic. 

Many writers will actively do things to help prepare the ground for creativity. They start each morning by free writing for five minutes. They keep lists of possible book titles or themes. They do yoga, they take walks, they create stacks of index cards, they visit bookstores, write a haiku, seek out a favorite book, whatever. 

What do you do to help keep those home fires burning?

I would love to create a series of blog posts that gather together different tips & strategies that REAL AUTHORS & ILLUSTRATORS (that’s you!) employ to help your creative process along. 

I think it would be fascinating & helpful & inspiring to read.

So I’m asking a you to submit your thoughts, 25 to 150 words or thereabouts, nothing too onerous, outlining your personal methods. Maybe it’s just one quick tip. Maybe your have deeper thoughts to share. That’s your call.

Thanks for playing along. And I totally understand if you’d rather not bother. It’s okay. 

Many thanks. 

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NOTE: I received answers and will be sharing responses from the following (generous, kind, talented) authors (in no particular order):

Lizzy Rockwell

Travis Jonker

London Ladd

Paul Acampora

Nick Bruel

Vikram Madan

Diana Murray

Matt McElligott

Jeff Mack

Eugene Yelchin

Michelle Knudsen

 

And who knows, maybe more authors & illustrators will jump aboard! 

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