A sneak peek into the “glamorous” work of a writer.

I know, as a young author, I need to be blogging as much as possible. However, I struggle to know what’s worth blogging about in the first place. Perhaps it’s my visual arts background that makes me feel that if there’s nothing worth looking at, there’s nothing worth reading. The process of writing a children’s book, while challenging, is not very visually stimulating.

However, until we have new art, I thought I’d give you a peek at the writing process.

One thing I wish more authors did was show us there crumpled up piles of rewrites. It’s easy to assume that the amazing book you just read was written in just one sitting. As if god was speaking directly to the author who only had to transcribe each perfectly placed word.

In reality, for most of us at least, writing is a long and grueling process. Similar to chiseling away at a sculpture, and wondering if you’re even using the proper hammer.

The biggest challenge for any children’s book writer is deciding whether or not to rhyme.

Yes, if you can manage to craft the perfect meter and rhyme, your book will be beloved, at least by relieved parents. However, a clumsy attempt can ruin your otherwise delightful tale.
So for the last few weeks I tried my hand at a completely rhyming draft of Shivering Snivels & His Shadow. It was not far off in the first place, since I found many of my lines were already beginning to rhyme.

Since I majored in Filmmaking, not writing, my first step was to study rhyme and meter. Then I broke down my manuscript (as is) into all of its respective parts.

How many words are in each line? How many syllables? Is there a pattern?

(Because there should be)

Then came the crafting. Taking the lines that didn’t fit the pattern and rewriting them, over and over again, until they fit with the rest.

Now I have to ask myself, “Is it good enough?”
Is it close enough that a little editing will bring it home?

Or should I go back to an earlier draft?

I’ll let you know the answers when I have them!