James Preller's Blog

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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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