Picture books, paper goods & pretty things.
I'm trying out a new product in my Etsy shop this Autumn and have ordered some A5 prints that will be available very soon. I've created four designs which will be printed on 300gsm recycled white card. I'm really excited to see how they look when they get back from the printers. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the illustrations. Let me know which one you like best!
I'm so excited and pleased to have been approached by Choosey.com to design some greetings cards for them. My first batch of designs will be live on the site within the next two weeks with lots more being added soon. Choosey launched in February this year and allows you to send cards directly from the site across the miles. Excitingly and uniquely, Choosey also lets you add a video to your card to send an extra little bit of you to your friends and family.
Here's a peek at my first designs and I'll update you here when my designs are live!
In the past six months, while being wrapped up in freelance event work, I have been giving a lot of thought to the direction I want to go in with And So We Begin. In 2012, I started out wanting to tell stories and although writing will always be my first love, drawing and illustration have sneaked up on me, like an unexpected gift.
When I started drawing in 2014, I decided to share pretty much everything I created on social media. I didn't quite understand this decision at the time and I thought it was to do with wanting to take away the fear of being judged. I've since realised it's much more about wanting to share something that I love so much. Drawing to me is light and fun, challenging and absorbing, meditative and so, SO enjoyable. When I am lost in a drawing I feel cosy and warm. I wanted to somehow share this feeling with other people.
As part of my thought process, I visited PaperFest at Top Drawer London last week. I saw several talks, two of which made a real impression on me. The first was by Audrey Woollen from Urbanic who spoke about her passion for her company even after ten years of trading. She explained how she loves to bring a little joy to the every day and how she really enjoys the one to one interactions with her customers. Her genuine love for what she does really moved me.
Secondly, was The Brand Stylist, Fiona Humberstone who spoke about creating your brand. What seemed like practical advice was again underpinned with genuine passion and care. Fiona advises that you write down ten words that describe your vision of your brand and then narrow this list down to three words. I did this exercise and found it really hard to keep the initial list to ten. Then narrowing these down was even harder. Eventually I settled for warm, calm and kind.
Another idea I've been reading a lot about lately is the Danish concept of hygge. Hygge is not simply feeling cosy, it's simplicity, being with loved ones, warmth, indulgence and kindness. I really want And So We Begin to feel all of these things.
There's one illustration from my childhood that has stayed with me. It's this image from The Story Of Father Christmas by Ann & Dennis Mallett. This book, and this picture in particular, made me feel like everything was ok. To me, it embodies hygge, with it's candles, camaraderie and cosiness.
I would love every card, print and gift from And So We Begin to give you the same feeling of warmth, calm and kindness. Who doesn't love a lovely piece of snail mail appearing in their letterbox in amongst the bills and sales pitches? Something that says someone has thought of you in the middle of their busy day and puts a smile on your face.
I really hope you enjoy my new ideas. Please get in touch via my contact form if you have any comments or suggestions. I'd love to hear from you.
And So We Begin has been on a short hiatus while my freelance events work has been busy bees and all of my energy has been taken up with spreadsheets and short haul flights. While my day job takes up the physical hours of my day, my mind is quietly ticking away as always, planning creative projects. Behind the scenes, I'm working on lots of designs for my Etsy shop, practicing drawing nearly every day, sending my children's novel and script off to agents, plotting out a new novel and making plans for Angel's Great Escape for this Christmas. More on all of those things soon!
Meanwhile, I have found a small way to spark my creative mind and to ensure that however much I am consumed by logistics and planning, I am always looking out for the magic in the everyday. And so, I started a hashtag #littlebitofpretty. I use it on my Twitter and Instagram posts when I see something that makes me smile. This could be a little splash of colour, some yummy food or just the heart-shaped finish to my morning latte. Have a look for #littlebitofpretty on social media and why not use it yourself as a simple way to brighten your day. I'll look out for your posts : )
What a lovely Christmas treat! Angel's Great Escape was featured on the super-popular Read It Daddy website this week as part of their annual Booky Advent. We're featured alongside such classics as A Christmas Carol and The Night Before Christmas and this week we've found ourselves second only to Stick Man in the What's Hot list which is making me feel very happy and Christmassy : )
We would like to thank Read It Daddy for their kind and continuing support and to wish them a very Merry Christmas!
I've been loving taking part in #illo_advent over on Twitter. It's a daily drawing challenge where you create something Christmassy from 1st - 25th December and it's great to get you in the Christmas mood! I also really like it as it 'makes' me draw something everyday and is helping me to come up with ideas and to practise. Please click through the slide show below to have a look at a few of my drawings so far.
With the launch of Angel's Great Escape on Me Books, I thought it was about time we put the spotlight on our fabulous new narrator, David McMullan.
David has a glittering, showbiz story to tell starting at Bird College where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Dance and Theatre Performance. After graduating he packed his bags and headed to New York to train at the Broadway Dance Centre and other leading dance studios in Manhattan.
David was then drawn back to the bright lights of London where he has starred in legendary West End musicals such as Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre), Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre, as understudy for leading man Link Larkin) and more recently Book Of Mormon (Prince of Wales Theatre). David has also danced and sung his way around productions of Love Never Dies, Ragtime, She Stoops to Conquer, Rent, Lend Me a Tenor, Cinderella, Aladdin and Peter Pan to name but a few!
Rather excitingly, in 2013, David worked with Sam Mendes during the creative process for the original West End production of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory as rehearsal stand-in for Charlie.
In amongst the showbiz shenanigans, David has also found time to develop his one-man musical comedy show Boy Meets World performed at Lauderdale House. And he is also one half of new comedy duo 'Dickie & Dave' who premiered their first sketch comedy, Tea For Two, at the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2013.
I've been lucky enough to have known David for a few years now and he's already been involved in table reads that me and my comedy-script-writing-partner have held. He's always been great at throwing himself into character and doing a whole range of accents. With such glittering credentials, I was over the moon when he agreed to narrate and provide character voices for Angel's Great Escape. We had such a ball during the recording. David was brilliantly enthusiastic about each and every one of the SEVENTEEN (!) character voices and he's really brought the story to life in a whole different way.
I really hope that you'll download the Me Books app and buy Angel's Great Escape not only as a lovely Christmas treat but also to hear how fantastically David can go from being a grumpy old Mr Mean to a cosy Teddy decoration to a jolly Father Christmas (see below)!
If you're interested in David helping you with your voiceover or narration project, please get in touch via hello@andsowebegin.co.uk!
There's much excitement at And So We Begin central today as Angel's Great Escape, written by Kirstie Rowson and illustrated by Kristyna Litten, is now live on Me Books! We are very proud to feature alongside such classics as The Snowman and the Snowdog, Charlie and Lola and Peter Rabbit!
Me Books is an independent eBookshop for children aged 2-10 where you can buy all your favourite books, comics and bedtime stories via one award-winning app, all with fantastic read-along narration. You can also record your own narration and sound effects to create a truly personal library on your phone or tablet.
The Me Books version of Angel's Great Escape includes not only brilliant narration by David McMullan but he also voices all SEVENTEEN (count them!) characters. Hear Mr Mean grumbling, Mr Good spreading Christmas cheer, Angel encouraging her friends, the decorations as they dash through the snow and even Father Christmas enjoying a mince pie!
Here's just one small example from the little Teddy decoration from the story. Download the Me Books app and buy Angel's Great Escape to hear lots more!
Excitement levels were at an all time high last week when Angel's Great Escape: A Christmas Story debuted at *NUMBER 7* on the iBooks Kids Book chart.
The iBooks chart is something of a mystery as it's not simply based on sales but rather seems to be linked to a number of factors such as how much your book is viewed and linked to. This makes it quite an exciting challenge to see where the book features and how much blog posts and social media can help.
Being *seen* is very important in the sea of books and media out there so being in the top 10, even briefly (!), is fantastic. And seeing Angel rubbing shoulders with Roald Dahl, R J Palacio and Jeff Kinney made me feel really proud of what me and my fabulous, little, independent team have achieved!
I've been very busy squirrelled away getting the Angel's Great Escape ebook ready for this Christmas and I'm excited to say it's now been submitted for review to both iBooks and Amazon. I'm very pleased to announce that the book is also going to be published in the first week of December on Me Books, an independent eBookshop app for children aged 2-10 where you can buy books, comics and bedtime stories for your little ones.
Kindle doesn't yet support read along narration but the iBooks version of the story will have highlighted text read by our new narrator David McMullan, an experienced theatre actor who has starred in shows such as Hairspray and Mary Poppins in the West End. I can't wait for everyone to hear his fabulous narration. Excitingly Me Books will not only have David's narration but you will also be able to tap every character to hear them speak (in David's seventeen different character voices)!
We had a really fun day recording the narration with lots of tea and chocolate digestives. We recorded the full story about four times as this allowed David's voice to warm up and to get used to the rhythm of the text. We then talked in detail about the character voices, discussing the accents they would have and how they would speak. I had written the 'asides' for each character and David read them four or five times each, varying his tone. Steve, my fantastic soundman, helped to direct and advised if he felt more emphasis was needed. I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to work with two such professionals and am looking forward to sharing the result.
Arranging the recording of the narration myself has been a big learning curve. Here are a couple of things I have learnt.
* Sound is complex! And simple all at once. Get some proper advice about exactly what type of files are required for each platform. I needed 41,000 Hz 16 bit .wavs and mp3s saved at a rate of 128. I had no idea what it meant either!
* I confess I'm a bit of a nerd so downloaded a free trial of Adobe Audition to clip the audio, i.e. cut out the bits we didn't need. I watched lots of tutorials online and it was really satisfying doing it myself.
* The story had been copy-edited but the 'asides' for the characters had only been read by me. Hearing them in David's voice(s!) made me change some of the phrases a little and as it was just a small team, we had the chance to be as flexible as we wanted to be.
So, not long now until you will be able to see the results of all the collaborations it has taken to put the book together. In some ways it's been almost ten years in the making! And I've still got the print version to go... But before that, while I'm waiting for the iBooks and Amazon review, I think I'll just have a little lie down. And perhaps just one more chocolate digestive...
My Christmas cards arrived from printed.com last week (cue much excitement from me!) and I set a day aside to take some photos of them ready to put them on sale in my Etsy shop. I wanted to set up a Christmassy scene for the cards to give the photos a nice festive feel so I popped to the shops and bought some Christmas bits and bobs (also a rather good excuse to stock up on chocolate and mince pies).
Once I'd laid everything out at home I put White Christmas on the TV to get myself in the mood and tried out various arrangements. I found it helpful to take some test photos using my iPhone and quickly found that some props worked better than others.
When I'm taking photos to put on Instagram I really like having a white background. It's light and bright and really seems to highlight what's in the picture. I played around taking a test photo which included my tea strainer that I was using to sprinkle icing sugar over the mince pies. Sometimes it just has to feel right and this set-up felt like it would show the cards off nicely so I took a photo of each card in this style.
I also took pictures of my hand simply holding the cards and some of the cards standing on the table with the tinsel and fairylights or with the chocolate Father Christmas (whilst trying not to eat him and the chocolate coins). It was fun experimenting to see what worked. And it was also fun eating mince pies while I pondered. Well... There were six and I only needed two for the pictures.
Since taking my photos I watched a lovely video from Makelight about making a flat lay. I would recommend having a look as Emily Quinton is a professional photographer who runs workshops in online photography and she has a really pretty style. The flat lay I created for my photos is quite simple in comparison to hers and it's made me want to try this technique again in the future.
After reviewing my photos, my top three pointers would be:
* Take pictures with natural light. It was a gloomy day when I took mine so I worked on my set-up as close the window as possible.
* Don't use a flash. The flash make the light glare and highlight unnaturally which makes the photo look unbalanced.
* Don't clutter the composition too much. Ensure the focus is the product rather than the props!
Once I'd taken my photos I brightened them up a little in Photoshop (but this can easily be done with apps on your phone too) and then set about writing product descriptions and uploading them to Etsy.
And as an extra treat, here's a clip from the lovely movie that helped with the atmosphere for my little photoshoot : )
It's Colour Collective time again and this week the chosen colour is dark sky blue. Before I get into my writing for the day, I've been getting my drawing ready to post on Twitter at 19:30 tonight. Dark sky blue made me think of winter skies, slightly dulled and gloomy but brightened up by a flurry of snow. Once I'd drawn my picture it felt like the snow should flutter a little so I decided to make a little animated gif to amuse myself. If you fancy trying this, here's a link to the tutorial that I used.
I can’t believe it’s already been three years since I started my company, And So We Begin, on what would have been my nana’s 100th birthday. Three years of juggling, working hard and trying to achieve more creatively. Today I’m celebrating once again, with cake (naturally) and spending a little bit of time reflecting on what I'm trying to do and where I want And So We Begin to be in another year's time.
My company is a blend of two worlds. Half the time it's just me... Listening to 6 Music drinking tea... Writing, painting and drawing, creating things with the hope that people will enjoy them. The other half of the time I'm being prized out of my creative cocoon to have adventures working in event management.
In reality, this means that the creative side of things often takes a back seat while I concentrate on the events work and it's a constant challenge to find time to create and to try to get that side of And So We Begin off the ground.
I recently read Big Magic by the wonderful Elizabeth Gilbert and one of her main pieces of advice is to 'not give up the day job'. She says that this puts far too much pressure on your creative pursuits to make money and means that you can't create freely. I've often thought I needed to 'take the leap' and become a penniless artist to make the creative side of my company work but actually I think she might be right and juggling has its benefits. Mainly security. And with such pressure on my time, I find it makes me even more determined to sneak an hour here and there to pursue a project, paint or write.
This anniversary finds me on a rare break from the day job and so I'm pondering my projects and writing a long 'to do' list. The minute I have spare time I've found I've got an avalanche of ideas all fighting for attention. Below are just some of the projects I'm thinking about... The question is, how do I prioritise and work out what to focus on first? How do I make sure And So We Begin has a clear path forwards?
Angel's Great Escape
I started And So We Begin to launch my first story book app with perhaps more apps to follow. The experience of making the Angel's Great Escape app was many things... Complicated, eye-opening, satisfying, exciting, fun, long and a massive learning curve. It was an absolute labour of love and a way to bring the story to life rather than founded in a desire to make apps.
My labour of love continues as this Christmas I'll be releasing Angel's Great Escape as an ebook. The story has been reworked into a more traditional picture book style with pretty fonts and a brand new additional character. I hope that this will take the story one step closer to my hope of seeing it for sale in print.
Illustration
In the past year, I have found a new love of drawing. It seemed to come out of the blue and wasn't something that I had ever thought of as a viable business idea. Put simply, I didn't think I could draw. At the time, I felt unable to write but I really missed the feeling of the pen on the page. One day, while waiting for a delayed train I took my notebook out of my bag and started to draw. It just felt nice. As simple as that.
I really hope that illustration will have a part to play in how And So We Begin develops. I opened an Etsy shop earlier this year and started to tentatively sell some cards. I was quite surprised when people wanted to buy them. So my plan for the next few weeks is to restock the shop with Christmassy cards and prints and to see what happens...!
Brush Lettering
Another hobby I started this year to help me switch off is brush lettering. The old fashioned way, with a proper brush and pot of ink. One weekend when I had just finished a very busy event, I attended a lovely workshop hosted by Quill London. There were pastries and coffee and lovely tutors who showed us patiently how to use our brushes and ink. It not as easy as it looks! While the tutors produced beautiful, elegant lines, my hand writing looked like I hadn't written for twenty years. But with practice at home I started to find it very therapeutic and started to create little designs. I'm not sure how brush lettering will feature in And So We Begin's future but I hope it does.
Writing
Ah, my oldest and greatest love. I'm planning to re-read and edit my children's novel that has been shut in a drawer for six months. And I have an idea for another novel whose characters are starting to step out of the corners of my mind and on to scribbled notes in my notebooks. Another piece of wise advice from Elizabeth Gilbert is to make sure you "show up and get to work" so even if I find myself staring at a blank screen I'm going to start blocking out some time each day to write and hopefully it will show up too. It makes me think of this brilliant Peanuts cartoon : )
And then there's the sitcom script that I've been working on with my comedy writing partner in crime for, well, 'several years'... And the other novel idea... And the question of whether to self-publish or to pursue trying to find an agent... And the paintings I'd like to sell...
The question is, is it really possible to focus on everything at once and still give every idea full attention? How do you find focus if several ideas are all jumping up and down and shouting 'pick me'? Do you listen to the one that shouts the loudest when you wake up in the morning? How do you handle making sure you have a clear creative direction? I'd love to hear your thoughts. And in the meantime, I'm going to tuck into this cake and get back to brush lettering this rather long 'to do' list.
It's the London Book Fair next week and I'll be popping along for what will be my third visit. When I first attended in 2013 I was like a rabbit in the headlights and a kid in a toyshop rolled into one. The children's publishing area of the Fair is a flurry of bunting and bright colours with beautiful books as far as the eye can see and a constant buzz as editors, sales folk, authors and agents gather around small tables, sipping coffee and talking business. It's a little intimidating to a complete newcomer to the publishing industry like me but also feels like an exciting peek 'behind the scenes'.
I wasn't sure what to expect but quickly realised that the Fair is all about the business of books rather than focusing on authors and illustrators like a literary festival. However, there is still a lot to learn and a lot to see. It's interesting just getting an insight into how it all works. There is a full seminar programme that's free with your ticket with fantastic speakers talking about a whole range of topics. Last year, I learnt a lot more about digital publishing and pitched an idea at an agent 'speed dating' event. And I've been lucky enough to see the likes of Joanna Penn, Eric Huang, Kate Wilson and Sarah McIntyre speak about their experiences in the industry. You can also spend time browsing publisher's stands to see what the latest trends are and mingle with other like-minded souls at Author HQ.
This year I'll be taking along the first drafts of the picture book version of Angel's Great Escape to share with some existing contacts and some new faces. Translating the app to the page has been an exciting and challenging process. My book designer, Sarah Goodwin's advice has been absolutely invaluable and I have learnt a lot about pace, continuity and variation from page to page. And I've realised that sometimes things just need to feel right on the page. The layouts of the app were a lot more simplistic, with a routine design of picture with words at the bottom, whereas the book has exciting fonts, words that leap out and curve and curl around the images. Kristyna has kindly worked on a couple of additional illustrations for me including the cute little chap at the bottom of this page. We've also lightened and brightened some of the colours and added a new image to the last page of Father Christmas looking rather chuffed as he munches on a mince pie. Then there was the back page text to the think of and the cover design for both the front and the back. Overall I am really, really pleased with what our little team has achieved. Holding the proofs in my hands I can hardly believe that Angel was once just an idea fluttering about my head.
In addition to the printed proofs I've created some 'leave-behinds' to give to people I speak to. These are A4 sheets including images of all of the book spreads, a little about the background of the project, a full transcript of the words and key marketing points. The Fair is so busy and everyone has so much to think about, I thought it would be wise to have something quite detailed for people to read through when they get a chance to digest everything back at their desks.
And as well as all the seminars, meetings, browsing and 'Angel's Great Escape speak', I'm also hoping to run into a few Twitter friends from the #colour_collective. I'm really looking forward to meeting amongst the books to put some faces to names and to learn more about their experiences of this wonderful bookish world.
It's all go here at And So We Begin! I'm very excited to announce my second logo design commission. My first commission was for a site that has not yet launched and is a bit secret squirrel so I'll be sharing that with you when they go live.
Meanwhile my friends at Scilly Laughs got in touch to ask me to help to bring their logo design to life. The inaugural comedy festival will take place in June this year. Organisers Brighton-based professional stand-up comedian Julie Jepson and comedy writer and event producer extraordinaire Jo Davies had a very clear idea of the look and feel they wanted to achieve and gave me a brilliantly detailed brief to work from. Julie was keen to include a common sight to the islands, the oystercatcher. And more precisely an oystercatcher throwing a custard pie perched precariously on the festival name. Well, of course!
I researched oystercatchers thoroughly online (although I couldn't find any throwing custard pies...) I studied their expressions, beaks, legs and colours and worked up a couple of drafts. Julie and Jo were keen on using red and blue so I tried different shades for the background and wording to make sure that the combination was working with the colour of the birds. We then worked closely to achieve the final logo, tilting the oystercatchers this way and that to achieve the perfect tipping point!
As social media will be used extensively to publicise the festival, it was important that the logo sat well in a small square to be used as a profile picture. With the two birds the smaller size looked a bit too fussy so I created a second image with just one bird to make it a little simpler.
Working on this logo has been great fun! If you would like to discuss a commission for your own website, company, social media profiles or blog please do get in touch.
In the meantime, make sure you follow Scilly Laughs on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to hear updates about this fabulous new comedy festival. You can also read more about the dates and acts that are booked here.
A slightly belated post to say that I am super-pleased to announce that I have opened my brand new little Etsy shop! As I've mentioned, I've been spending a lot of time drawing over the past six months. I always thought I couldn't draw and only started as I needed a distraction. But I soon realised that it's a bit like meditation, totally relaxing and absorbing, so I persevered.
Then came the #illo_advent and #colour_collective Twitter hashtags organised by Penny Neville-Lee which gave me goals and challenges and it became more and more fun.
I ended up with a collection of pictures that I decided to pop on Society6. Partly, if I am honest, because I wanted to buy a couple of my own products! I shared the link on Facebook and Twitter and people started to ask if I sold greetings cards too. This started me thinking that although I love what Society6 does and the fact that they give a shop window to so many amazing artists, I felt like I needed something a little closer to home that felt a little more personal. I also really like the handmade, caring, creative community of Etsy and the knowledge that all of the sellers have put love into their finished products.
So I ordered some stock for my shop. I used a printer in London for my greetings cards and chose a high quality, sustainably sourced card. I also chose A6 for the size as I like smaller, cute cards that feel like a little treat, with simple white envelopes. They arrived within a week and then there were no more excuses so I got to work setting up my shop.
The process on Etsy was really straight-forward. I chose a name for my shop, designed a header and then had to get to work on listing my items. I had a really good look around other greetings cards sellers to see how they photographed their items. I also read the Etsy help pages that recommended natural light and good close ups. I wanted to create a bit of a story with my cards, to put them in context and reflect the kind of person who might be buying them (i.e. me!).
So in my new guise as *Art Director*, I cycled down to the local shop, bought a bunch of daffodils and whizzed back with them peeking out of my rucksack, wavering about in the breeze. I then took photos of each card in several 'poses'. With the vase of daffodils, with the spotty bags that they would come packaged in, displayed simply against a white wall and also in my hands as I liked how this added a human touch.
I then set about writing a little about each card. I wanted my shop to have a friendly, warm tone so tried to write something individual about each design and a bit about whom it might appeal to. I also described the card, size, envelope and how it would be posted in detail so that the buyer would know exactly what they were getting. (No daffodils included!)
I already have a Paypal account and a business bank account so this made setting up the financial elements really easy as I had all the info to hand. The one area that took a little more time was writing my policies. This was mainly because I wanted to be sure that I was writing the right thing so I researched other people's stores and once again read up on the Etsy help pages. You only add your policies once the shop is live so I wanted to be sure I was prepared.
And then I was ready to go! I made the shop live and then frantically checked everything through to ensure it all looked exactly as I expected it to. As soon I was happy I shared the link to the shop on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And waited!
One great thing about Etsy is that it has a detailed stats tool where you can see how many views your shop has had and also which products have been most viewed. In addition, the site tells you where your traffic has come from which is really helpful. In the first 24 hours I had 158 views and 3 orders. I was delighted! It's a real thrill to know that people like what you have a created. I packed up my first orders carefully and posted them the next day.
I realised that you can send a 'Your order has shipped!' email to your buyers and this can also be cc'd to your own email address. The emails look really professional and clean cut which really adds to the service.
I'm really looking forward to creating more cards for my little store and to perhaps branching out into other products too. In the meantime, please take a look at my shop and get in touch if you have any ideas for cards you'd like to see or even for private commissions, I am always open to ideas!
© 2015 Kirstie Rowson & And So We Begin Limited. All rights reserved. Please do not publish designs elsewhere without permission from And So We Begin.
Contact hello@andsowebegin.co.uk with any queries regarding publication or distribution.
And so we... finish! After six long years of plotting, scribbling, typing furiously, thinking, getting stuck and editing (A LOT of editing!) the first draft of my children's novel is finished. And although I know it's not really finished, it still feels exciting and strange. It's a relief to finally have a complete draft but also a little unreal. Suddenly this story I have absolutely loved writing is out of my head and on the page. I am so chuffed and also a little bereft!
I honestly don't remember when I first thought of the idea for the book. When my friends ask me how I came up with it, I can't answer because it seems like the story has just kind of been there for a very long time. Maybe for a decade. What I do know is that certain scenes jumped out and demanded to be written first. The opening few paragraphs but also for some reason, the paragraphs that became chapter eight. I always knew the basics of the beginning, middle and end but actually writing it has been brilliant and also a huge learning curve.
I thought I'd write some notes about what I have learnt...
1. It helps to make it a habit
I work in event management by day so my work can be erratic and all-consuming. Over the course of the first three years I only managed to write about 8,000 words. But then I was lucky enough to be able to give myself a brief three month sabbatical in which I wrote nearly every day and jumped up to almost 55,000 words. It took about two weeks of sitting down to write at 9am every morning for it to become a habit. Then I found I really missed it when I wasn't able to write. It reset my habits and then even when I was working hard at my day job, somehow I would find time to write. It was addictive. Even I wanted to know what happened next!
2. It also helps to step away
Having said point 1, when I did have to spend time away from what I had written, it was good to come back to it with a fresh mind. When I had a big gap, I would read through the whole thing like I was reading it for the first time. Sections I had 'over-written' or that were really clunky would jump out and bits that flowed felt more and more right.
3. Making notes rather than making immediate changes
Quite often as I was writing I would think of something small that needed to be changed earlier in the text, for continuity or to make a later plot point make sense. Rather than make the change there and then, I would jot notes at the bottom of the document to change later. I found this helped as it meant I wasn't interrupting my own flow and also knew I wouldn't forget to make updates.
4. Plotting out
After I had written my first 8,000 or so words I realised that I really needed help to understand the intricacies of my own story. I have co-written three books before but they were non-fiction wedding, hen and stag guidebooks that could be plotted very logically. I am a very visual person, I'll often ask someone to sketch something out to help me to understand it. I needed to see my plot. So I wrote out my plot points on post-it notes and plastered them all over the wall above my desk. I lived with them for about six months while writing. Staring at them, moving them around. They sparked my imagination and gave me more ideas. It made me wonder why I hadn't done this right at the start!
5. Sometimes the characters write the story themselves
Even though I had plotted the story out in detail as I wrote my characters started to do what they wanted. One day as I typed, two of my characters started having a huge fight, it wasn't what I'd sat down to write but they had taken charge and seemed to know more than I did about what was going to happen. I couldn't write fast enough. It was like trying to live subtitle a news story. Who was I to argue? I learnt to follow the story and to relax and let the characters say what they wanted. They usually had a good point to make!
6. Edit away from the screen
Printing the manuscript out and reading through it on paper feels like one of the best ways to edit to me. It allows me to read more easily than on the screen as I can flick backwards and forwards and scribble notes in the margins.
Being away from the screen is also a great excuse to sit in lovely cafes and to spend time around people instead of squirrelled away at my desk. Something about the hubbub of a cafe somehow helps me to concentrate. And then I can return to the laptop to actually make the edits to the document feeling refreshed.
7. Keep your eyes on the prize!
Throughout the journey so far, one thought has remained with me. I just can't imagine not writing the story. I picture myself at 95 in my rocking chair (probably drinking a gin and tonic) and think about how I would feel if I always had this story in me and had never told it. Not because I think the world needs to hear it as such, it's more that I needed to write it down. It's like it was shouting in my head until it got listened to! The characters are like my friends and I wanted to sit down and listen to what they had to say.
When I have wavered and wondered whether I will ever get to the end, I take a stroll to a bookshop and look at where the book would sit. If (I can hear my inner monologue shouting 'WHEN!') it gets published it would nestle next to the queen of children's literature on the shelf. My last name is Rowson, so there I would be next to JK Rowling. And now next to Katherine Rundell too. Not a bad place to sit!
8. Release it into the wild
And so as I type, the first three chapters have been sent off to the first agents on my list. And there it sits, in inboxes, on desks, in the hands of experts who can help this little journey continue. I really hope they love reading it as much as I have loved writing it.
*bites fingernails and waits for the next chapter...*
I was lucky enough to have time to visit the Cambridge School of Art's Children's Book Illustration Graduate Exhibition today. I have visited the exhibition before and now know to put it in my diary as it is always so wonderful. The calibre of the work is incredibly high and the styles of the artists are really varied.
One of the main things I enjoy is the absolute treat of being able to look through the illustrators' sketch books. It seems to me very brave to share your sketchbook in its entirety, like a sneak peek into the workings of the individual's creative mind. You can also leave comments and gather beautiful business cards with artist's website addresses so you can browse more of their work later.
This year really didn't disappoint. I wandered around for almost two hours absorbing the detail and care that the students had put into their presentations. Where else can you see a hoovering dog, a pencil princess, a party planning chicken and a lion who lives in a dance hall?
Below are just a few of my photos. So much gorgeousness! Please click on each picture to link to the artist's own website. All artwork is of course the sole property of each artist.
It's already week 6 of #colour_collective and I'm busy working on my drawing for this week. Penny's chosen colour is Flame Red which puts me in mind of heat, love, devils, jammy dodgers, wild strawberries and penguins in jumpers!
It's unusual for me to think about what colours 'say' to me. I have never thought in that way before. That's why this challenge is so fascinating to me. It's one thing when you are asked to draw something but another when you are asked to draw what you are inspired to draw by a colour.
In week 3, the colour was ultramarine. My first thought was of neon tetras. I remember seeing a massive tank full of them in an aquarium and being hypnotised by their blue light. I spent an entire evening drawing them and playing around in Photoshop trying to get an image I was happy with.
The next day I was writing in a cafe and there was a poster on the wall of a super-hero, wearing a blue costume. And not just blue but ultramarine. In an instant Ultramarine Girl came to me and neon tetras were forgotten! Here she is… WIth super-powers in her flippers! I really struggled with the hair and need to spend some time practicing and understanding how other illustrators make it look so effective.
The following week was Sap Green. The word 'sap' made me think of forests and ferns but when I started drawing this little one appeared (see below). I'm not sure where she came from! But sap green suddenly said 'wellies'!
I experimented a bit more with colour in this picture. The little ones in my life love wearing bright colours that clash so I chose a bright pink and orange to go with the green. I've noticed how other illustrators use a darker version of the same colour to layer and give a more 3D feel so I played a bit more with texture and shading in Photoshop using this technique.
I also experimented with the space on the page. Placing her at the bottom of the page added to her 'story' and neeeeeeed to be carried! Then adding a lighter coloured, patterned background rather than plain white gave the picture a little depth.
Then came week 5 and Brilliant Violet. I immediately thought of Violet Beauregarde and her bubblegum. Then of a girl called Violet who was brilliant. Then I put the colour with orange in my mind and was transported to Jaipur in a swirl of coloured saris. I have wanted to start drawing in more intricate detail as I am so inspired by work of people like Mouni Feddag and Nina Cosford.
I wanted to nod to this in a very small way and started to draw some patterns. I find that sometimes my logistical mind that I need so much in my daily job limits my ability to draw 'loosely'. I compromised by drawing patterns as a word to give them structure. Next step, free form! I then found myself going back to my comfort zone of drawing a child to accompany my patterns. I have to confess to being quite pleased with how comfortable she looks! I quite fancy that armchair myself.
As a complete beginner, I have to say how completely inspired I am by the #colour_collective group. It gives me a focus, a challenge, lots of fun and a lovely feeling of community. More and more people join each week. We post our pictures at 19:30GMT on a Friday (or as close as we can!) and there is absolute flurry of excitement as we look through everyone's work. There is such a feeling of camaraderie and awe. And it's very much 'more the merrier' so why not come and join in!
