Suddenly it's Spring

In the Fall of last year I was excited. I told myself that over the winter I'd have lots of time to get writing done. Oh yes, I'd finish up a few of those picture books I've been working on. Maybe I'd even revisit that middle grade novel I have half way finished that is sitting in the file waiting for me. I had other big plans too but, ya know, they didn't quite happen as planned.

The thing is that writing something of quality always takes longer than I feel like it should. Logically, I know this. I work long and hard on each one of my picture book manuscripts. I get critiques, revise, re-revise, and revise some more. I mull over that scene, that phrase, that word until I can get it "just right" for the story. Still, my brain can't help but think, you know what the story is. Just get it finished up already!

Of course, writing a publishable picture book takes time. Sure, we hear the stories of 'it just came to me, I wrote it down, sent it out, and the publisher loved it!' I am certain that can happen but I tend to take any of these sorts of statements with a grain of salt. They are not the norm by any means. The picture book authors I know work long and hard to make those few words shine. They get critiques, revise for their agents, revise for editors, and sometimes... eventually those words get turned into a book.

Finding that "perfect" way to tell a story that will mesh with illustrations takes a lot of thought time. I can tend to get hard on myself that I am not getting anything accomplished. I have to remind myself that I am. Stories are always rattling around in my brain. They have been all winter. And now, suddenly it's spring. And that's okay. Because now I can write outside.