{"id":4743,"date":"2014-08-27T18:03:48","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T18:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/?p=4743"},"modified":"2014-08-27T18:32:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-27T18:32:36","slug":"meet-janet-lawler-levy-research-grant-recipient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/2014\/08\/27\/meet-janet-lawler-levy-research-grant-recipient\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Janet Lawler, Levy Research Grant Recipient"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blog Post 1:<\/strong> Author-Illustrators<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>As a writer, I confess to a long-held jealousy of the author\/illustrator who gets to \u201cplay\u201d with both parts of the picture book package, from idea through publication. I somehow had the idea (prejudice?) that creating a picture book is easier for these multi-talented people because they can \u201csee\u201d the whole project; the story (and related art) must just flow for them. I suspected that their process would not include the painstaking attention that I give to every word, and to every one of multiple variations of a story.<\/p>\n

Although I have had several well-received picture books published, I continue to strive to improve my craft. I decided that a study of the process of author\/illustrators might well help me better understand the magical interface of text and art that occurs in the best <\/em>picture books. I hope my research helps improve my skill as a picture book writer, even if unlocking the secrets of author\/illustrators can\u2019t turn me into an artist.<\/p>\n

Because I mostly write for the very young, I started my research with archival material of author\/illustrator Katie Davis, who also writes for this audience. While I have only completed a review of two of her picture books, Kindergarten Rocks!<\/em><\/strong> and I Hate to Go to Bed!<\/em><\/strong>, I have already learned so much. And I have totally discarded my assumptions and prejudices.<\/p>\n

Katie\u2019s author\/illustrator process is meticulous and time-consuming. For I Hate to Go to Bed!<\/em><\/strong> I studied twenty-seven<\/em><\/strong> dummies that Katie created. Each one included text revisions and illustration revisions, as she tweaked her story in major and minor ways. It appeared that many of these versions were done as part of her creative process before<\/em> she came to the point where she was satisfied and ready to show a dummy to an editor. (I hope to interview Katie, to confirm this and ask other questions).<\/p>\n

I now think that the author\/illustrator\u2019s job of writing a story may even be harder than mine because <\/em>he or she thinks visually and can see so many possibilities.<\/p>\n

Text and illustration revision of I Hate to Go to Bed!<\/em> by Katie Davis<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a representative sample, here are several text revisions Katie played with for the opening spread of this book:<\/p>\n

\u00a0I hate to go to bed! This is because I\u2019m a very outgoing person and I can\u2019t stand the idea that I\u2019m missing something. And I just know I\u2019m missing something really fantastic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hate to go to bed. This is because I\u2019m a very fun person and I can\u2019t stand the idea that I\u2019m missing something fun. And when I\u2019m sent to bed, I just know I\u2019m missing something really fantastic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hate to go to bed! My mama and daddy absolutely swear nothing good is happening and that I won\u2019t miss anything but I\u2019m not too sure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I hate to go to bed! This is because I\u2019m a very fun person and I just know I\u2019m missing something really fantastic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hate to go to bed! Because I just know I\u2019m missing something really fantastic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I HATE to go to bed! I just KNOW I\u2019m missing something.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I HATE to go to bed! I just know<\/em> I\u2019m missing something!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

A study of the illustrations in these many dummies reveals a similar \u201cvisual\u201d revision process. All of the dummies show a frowning little girl (Katie captured her protagonist immediately). Some of the earliest dummies show \u201cthought bubbles\u201d of her parents partying after she is asleep. Others show her room with piles of toilet paper rolls (from which she later makes binoculars for spying). In some, her matching fowl (ducks\/chicks?) slippers are quipping back and forth.<\/p>\n

Here are three examples of Katie\u2019s many illustrations drawn for the opening spread of I Hate to Go to Bed!\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>Click on each image to enlarge.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Opening<\/a>

Opening spread of I Hate to Go to Bed!, 1st dummy in Box 4: Folder 15 of Katie Davis Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A later version, with simplified text:<\/p>\n

\"Opening<\/a>

Opening spread of I Hate to Go to Bed!, 2nd dummy in Box 4: Folder 18 of Katie Davis Papers. All rights reserved. No reproduction of any kind allowed.<\/p><\/div>\n

And the final opening spread found in the published book:<\/p>\n

\"Davis,<\/a>

Davis, Katie. I Hate to Go to Bed! (New York: Harcourt Children\u2019s Books, 1999), 4-5. Photo taken from : CLDC1438, Archives and Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries<\/p><\/div>\n

The study of both text and illustrations reveals that Katie kept working the text and art, paring both<\/em> to their essence.\u00a0 Her final version of the first spread immediately grabs a reader and sets the stage for the storyline to play out in a well-paced way over the rest of the book.<\/p>\n

The frowning face of the determined protagonist remains almost identical throughout all versions of the first spread. Ultimately, that face, along with twelve words in two short sentences, clearly share her BIG problem with the reader.<\/p>\n

Throughout the many variations of the remaining storyline, Katie explores different approaches, both with art and text, to reveal how her protagonist tackles and solves her dilemma. All versions include varied layers of meaning and humor. Sometimes, the same words, illustrated in different ways, change the plot and the story\u2019s pacing.<\/p>\n

How will what I\u2019ve studied so far change my own process as an author?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I plan to slow my process down to focus more clearly on my story\u2019s essence. I will try to pare text to get to the universal\u2014the situation, emotion, or problem that every kid can relate to in my writing.<\/p>\n

I hope slowing down will help me to imagine different ways the story arc might play out around the universal theme. I shall play \u201cwhat if?\u201d and \u201cwhy not?\u201d with my words in a way that will let an illustrator fill in blanks. I will strive to be less wedded to the \u201cfirst\u201d story I write; there may be other words or plot angles that offer more opportunities for an illustrator.<\/p>\n

If I am to truly leave room for an illustrator, I need to focus even more on making every single word musical and meaningful.<\/p>\n

Writers should make dummies as part of their process<\/strong><\/p>\n

To accomplish all of the above, or to strive to do so, I plan to create a dummy (for the text) for every<\/em> story I write. I have done this with some of my manuscripts, but not all, since I have developed a good sense of story arc and appropriate length for a 32-page picture book. However, I believe parsing the text of each story I write, and placing it on the pages, will further improve my craft by encouraging me to 1) better examine what words belong on each page\/spread, 2) consider whether my words allow for expansion of my story through different actions\/illustrations, 3) improve forward plot motion and page turns,4) evaluate alternate story possibilities and pacing, and, just perhaps, 5) \u201csee\u201d more clearly how a better story might be told.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wait to start! And I can\u2019t wait to continue my research!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blog Post 1: Author-Illustrators \u00a0As a writer, I confess to a long-held jealousy of the author\/illustrator who gets to \u201cplay\u201d with both parts of the picture book package, from idea through publication. I somehow had the idea (prejudice?) that creating … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,9],"tags":[205,73],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4743"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4747,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4743\/revisions\/4747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-dev.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}