Hopeful authors and illustrators might want to make a booking. The New England Writers’ Centre is kicking off its busy calendar of events this year with a behind the scenes look at writing picture books next weekend.
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“Picture This” – an all-day workshop at the Wicklow Hotel on Sunday, April 8 – will teach how to write a good picture book. Award-winning writer Michelle Worthington and local author-illustrator Trish Donald will facilitate the event, sponsored by Create NSW, the state government’s arts policy and funding body.
The workshop, Ms Worthington said, will give participants a step-by-step guide on the process of how a picture book is created. A successful author, illustrator, and publishing team will teach them about best practice when it comes to what publishers are looking for, how an illustrator can really enhance the text, and what text works best based on child development theory. They will also find a group of like-minded people, and maybe meet some new friends.
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Sometimes the most valuable thing about going to a workshop like this,” Ms Worthington said, “is finding someone whom you can talk to about picture books.”
The workshop, Ms Donald promised, will be hands-on and very exploratory. Participants will create and develop characters; play with different illustration techniques, such as pen, paint, ripped paper, and collage; and learn about layout. Publishers Peter and Kathy Creamer from Little Pink Dog Books, specialising in children’s picture books, will share industry knowledge.
“A good picture book,” Ms Worthington said, “allows children to see a little bit of themselves in the words, the pictures, or both. Children like to feel heard.
“Picture books are an amazing tool for introducing literacy from a young age. more than that, they allow children to find their place in the world, either by seeing themselves in stories, or by learning new things in an age-appropriate manner.”
Today the Brisbane-based writer is a success. She won the International Book Award for Children's Hardcover Fiction twice, was a finalist in the USA Best Book Awards and Book Excellence, and received a Gelett Burgess Award for Children's Literature and a Silver Moonbeam Award for her contribution to celebrating diversity in Picture Books.
Getting there was difficult. It took her a decade to get her first book, The Bedtime Band (2011), published; she had to do it all herself because she didn’t know there were workshops and organisations that could help.
“I'm passionate about sharing my knowledge with aspiring writers because if I can teach them how to limit the amount of effort between them and success,” she said, “it would have made all those incredibly hard ten years worthwhile.”
Trish Donald, a graphic designer and artist working at the University of New England, had her first book published last month.
Tissywoo and the Worry Monsters is about a little girl who’s worried about starting her first day at school. Her worries turn into monsters and her room disappears, but she remembers the mindful breathing technique her mother taught her, and uses it to banish the demons.
“It's not a self-help book and it's not a book to dictate to people how you should do things,” Ms Donald said. “It's a starting point for parents, caregivers, and teachers to have a conversation with children about things that might be worrying.”
One boy read the book, and told his mother that he had some worries at school.
“Without that she would have had no idea, so who knows if it would have got bigger? There could have been some real issues for her son. But they talked about it early on, so that was fantastic. It was good because he actually recognised he had worries, and that there was something he could do about it.”
Although intended for a younger audience, parents have bought the book for teenagers going to university, while grandparents have thought the book would have helped them when they were youngsters.
“It’s resonating really well with people,” Ms Donald said; “it’s surprising the age range that are really loving it.”
Peter and Kathy Creamer of Little Pink Dog Books asked Ms Donald to write the tale. She met them through the Writers’ Centre, discovered they were looking for illustrators and authors, and showed them her portfolio – including drawings of strange creatures.
“They asked if I would write a story about them,” Ms Donald said. “Could they be worry monsters, could the story be about a little girl who's starting to worry, and could it be about how she deals with those worries? They asked me because they're very socially minded, and they're interested in stories that will help children.”
Participants don’t have to be great illustrators to learn from the workshop. “It’s a starting point,” Ms Donald said. “Even if you can't really draw, the exercises are very simple, and it's a great way to understand how illustrators work, which is often useful for writers as well.”
Picture This” is at the Wicklow Hotel, Armidale, from 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sunday, 8 April. Cost: $85 for NEWC members; $90 for members for partner organisations; $95 for non-members; $75 for 13 to 18-year-olds. Price includes lunch and refreshments. Participants can book online through the New England Writers’ Centre’s website: www.newc.org.au/picture-this.html, or turn up on the day.
Ms Worthington will also speak at the launch of Boof Goes to Beauty School by Caroline Tuohey, illustrated by Kim Feint, at Reader’s Companion, 151 Beardy Street, Friday, April 6, from 5.30pm to 7.00pm.
