Writing Without Pictures: Guest Author, Susanna Leonard Hill

I am thrilled to introduce a new series on my blog about Picture Book writers who DO NOT illustrate.

Recently, while struggling with a manuscript, I went to my own bookshelf for inspiration and discovered that almost all of my books were from Author/Illustrators. I didn't have any books that were written by one person and illustrated by another. I realized that I needed to seek out Picture Book writers who did not illustrate their own work as a way of discovering my own process and place in the Picture Book World. I needed to find my peeps!

On Mondays for the month of April, I will be spotlighting a Picture Book writer who will share their experiences with "writing without pictures".

Today I welcome Susanna Leonard Hill!  Susanna is author of Punxsutawney Phyllis, April Fools Phyllis, and Can't Sleep Without Sheep.  I consider Susanna a major inspiration and a wonderful person who is never too busy to help out us fellow pre-pubbies. 

I am honored she is here to share!  Here is Susanna!

There's a lot to learn in the world of picture books! What language, length, and subject matter are appropriate? Is it okay to write about talking animals or inanimate objects? And what about art? If you're a writer only, how do you allow for the equally important other half of a picture book? How does a writer know how much room to leave an illustrator? How much direction can you, as an author, give?

When Marcie asked me to address this question, I had to laugh. Obviously, it's on people's minds of late, because only a couple weeks before I had talked about the same thing on my own blog.

Here is the link, if you're interested. There are some excellent comments at the bottom, some from other published picture book authors.

http://www.facebook.com/l/tAQFFu4SFAQEPMjKgsnO-AFQ5kcJnXZ3KbwaKTic-EcDXdQ/susannahill.blogspot.com/2012/03/pitch-pick-6-and-oh-susanna-how-does-pb.html

I think what it really comes down to is a combination of strong writing and thinking visually. Your illustrator needs changes of scene, perspective, and emotion - plenty to choose from so that the pictures can vary from page to page. They also need freedom to express the story in their way - many books have whole other story lines told in the illustrations that were the brain child of the illustrator, or hidden characters or objects that children can look for, or indications as to the time of day, season, or other setting details that bring the story to life in ways you might not have foreseen.

Marcie asked about what happens if you overwrite by 20 words or so to get your image across. When you talk about overwriting by 20 words or so, what exactly are those words saying/trying to accomplish? Some details (like what color the MC's hair is) do not need to be spelled out. Unless it is critical to the story that her hair is red, leave it out and let the illustrator draw what he/she imagines. It may not be what you imagined, but those details aren't the ones that matter. It's the MC's character and motivation that matter.. The illustrator needs to pick up the feel of your character from your words, so that when they draw your character her determination or shyness or grumpiness or sense of humor shine through.
As an example, when I wrote Punxsutawney Phyllis, it never occurred to me that when the book was painted the groundhogs would be wearing clothes! I pictured them plain furry and brown with cute little faces, but I didn't get any farther than that. When the book showed up and they were all dressed, was it exactly the way I had pictured it? Not quite. But did it make sense? Absolutely! How else for a child reader to easily distinguish one from another? And did it harm the story in any way? Not at all! The critical element - Phyllis's spunky character - came through beautifully - even enhanced by Jeff's choice of green overalls with a yellow flower on the pocket for her.
Does any of that make sense? Feel free to ask follow up questions in the comments below - I will check in :)

In terms of what gets cut, that's a tricky question. An editor may want to cut any number of things for reasons other than illustration. But sometimes once a picture is drawn, there are words that are no longer necessary, so out they come. I gave an example in the blog post above from Can't Sleep Without Sheep, where once the illustrations was complete, some of the words about the hippos were no longer necessary and the story read better without them.
When I write, I always think visually. I can see the story in my head like a movie - kind of funny because I can't draw to save myself. I can't tell you how to do that, or even if it's necessary - it's just how my mind works. I know that's not particularly helpful!

I can tell you one story, though, a situation where I thought everything was crystal clear and it turned out not to be the case. I wrote a story called No Sword Fighting In The House. The characters names were Arthur, Lance and Gwenn. The father was the King who worked at the castle, the mother belonged to the Camelot Ladies Garden Society. Now before I say anything else, what setting do you imagine?

I imagined a medieval setting - knights, horses, castles, armor etc. The illustrator drew modern day suburbia.

So sometimes things aren't as clear as they seem!

One of the things I didn't know when I was first published was how little authors and illustrators work together. The publishing house chooses the illustrator for you. (Maybe when you're Jane Yolen or someone you get some say :) but as a first-time author, it's out of your hands.) Then, depending on your editor and the particular publishing house's policy, you may not get even a glimpse of the art until it's done. With one exception (Can't Sleep Without Sheep) I have never gotten to see my art in process. I understand the reasons for it, but it does make waiting for the art a bit of a nail-biter. Will your illustrator have the same vision you did? Will he or she draw anything like what you imagined? For the most part, I have been incredibly lucky. Jeff, Nicole, and Mike have been particularly wonderful to work with! But surprises do pop up from time to time - like the setting in No Sword Fighting, or how with my first book, The House That Mack Built, I wrote a whole spread about a bulldozer only to find when I got the proofs that the illustrator had drawn a loader. No self-respecting 2 year old would let that go by! It was too late to change the art, so I had to change the story! But in my experience, it generally works out in the end :)

Thank you for inviting me to your blog, Marcie! And if anyone has any questions, fire away :)


Susanna lives in Poughquag, NY.  She is a successful author and has published many titles!  Check her out at www.susannahill.com, or read her blog at http://susannahill.blogspot.com.