A ‘Writing Process’ post

My friend, San Antonio SCBWI Illustrators Coordinator Akiko White recently tagged me to take part in the Writing Process Blog Tour. It was fun because it got me thinking about how the kind of online journalism I’ve been doing lately is much like the writing I’ve always done as an author-illustrator of three books for upper elementary grades, a free-lance writer and small town newspaper reporter.

“Seeing Stars: McDonald Observatory and its Astronomers” written and illustrate by Mark Mitchell (Eakin Press)

The questions are the same for everyone, so I’ll get right into them.

1.) What are you working on?

I’m writing educational content to stitch together the more than 100 videos I’ve made for my online course on illustrating children’s books, Make Your Marks and Splashes.

It feels like writing copy for a very large magazine article — or a big nonfiction book, requiring that same organization and the continual effort of trying to say more with less, which is the writer’s burden and bliss.

2.) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I’d like to answer this from the perspective of someone who has written nonfiction books for children. In researching and reporting my subjects, I try to create a vivid sensory experience and a feeling of place to try to put the reader inside the situations I’m writing about.

I also like to have a a storyline — if I can find it in the material.

“Raising ‘La Belle’: the Story of the ‘La Salle Shipwreck'” written and illustrated by Mark Mitchell (Eakin Press)

3.) Why do I write what I do?

My reporting experienced has influenced how I write.

I try to follow the rules of journalism while also remembering that I want to incite the reader to keep reading, to go on to that second paragraph.

So I think that curiosity and suspense are ways to hold a reader (of any age) and also a way to set fire to a reader’s imagination, which helps the reader to identify with a story.

In a creative nonfiction story those suspense-creating elements must arise from a foundation of solid reporting.

As children’s nonfiction author Russell Friedman has said, “A nonfiction writer is a storyteller who has sworn an oath to tell the truth.”

4.) How does my writing process work?

First research and making notes, then interviews, followed by lots of personal observation of locales, if possible and making more notes. Then a few thumbnail outlines, trying to tease out the ‘plot points’ ‘dark moments’ and the climax, if I can find them in the material.

Next a rough draft, ‘the sloppy copy’ as they say in elementary school, typed in an inspired burst or a series of inspired bursts over many months.

Then editing, untangling all those knots of bad prose fishing line. Simplifying, smoothing out and lots of cutting, until the language feels alive and like it has found its voice for the story.

* * * * *

Next up on the tour, author-illustrator and watercolor fine artist Rob Smith who will post next Monday April 7 on his own writing process — writing in words and pictures. Rob is the author-illustrator of the Kindle e-book, Undead Ted as well as the author of the self-paced video course, Buildling EZ Picture Books for Kindle.

And author-illustrator Laurie Edwards whose first-in-a-series new YA book, Grace and the Guiltess (Curious Fox – UK) under her nom de plume Erin Johnson has just been published. Three other books in the WANTED series will be coming out in May, August, and December, Laurie says. Laurie’s in the middle of edits on her NA/adult nonfiction book, Cyber Self-Defense, written with cybercrime expert Alexis Moore, which is set to release in October from Globe Pequot.

Stay tuned for more details/authors on the Writing Process Blog Tour.

Making it up as we go along…

Author-Illustrator Jeff Crosby

Children’s book author-illustrator Jeff Crosby (Wiener Wolf, Disney-Hyperion) was talking with young students of the Austin Independent School District the other day — and he let them tell him a story, while he illustrated their scenes.

A bit of a high wire act, yes but he pulled it off with his usual calm and cleverness.

You can see the story somewhere in the following slide show.

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The slides include some of Jeff’s original sketches and paintings from Wiener Wolf as well as for Little Lions, Bull  Baiters  & Hunting Hounds (Tundra Books)  that he wrote and illustrated with his wife, author-illustrator Shelley Ann Jackson.

The event was for a birthday bash of sorts, 100 Years of School Libraries in Austin.

Illustrators recognized as the 2012 SCBWI Summer Conference wraps up

Congratulations to Melissa Sweet — winner of the 2012 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration,  for Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of the Macy’s Parade (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), a picture book biography that was five years in the making and has won several other awards.

And congratulations to Juana Martinez Neal, Grand Prize winner, and Mary Jo Scott, Nancy Armo and  Mary Lundquist,  honor winners in the Summer Conference Portfolio Contest.  

The awards were presented at the conference Sunday luncheon in Los Angeles.

Painted motion on glass

Does the Russian animator Alexander Petrov know a thing or two about using thumbnail sketches to build his stories and move them forward? Of course he does! Read about this and see his complete Academy Award – winning animated film, The Old Man and the Sea (20 minutes), based on Ernest Hemingway’s short novel here on the Illustration Course blog.

On your mouse, get set…go!

Austin SCBWI’s Digital Symposium II: Nuts and Bolts of Success is a hands-on technology workshop for illustrators and authors of all techie levels. Be it blogging or beveling, tweeting or technique sharing, hyperlinking or hashtagging, the intention of this symposium set for October 6 at St. Edward’s University is for the participants to leave with new skills to add their technological tool belts. You can download the full packet here, which includes conference info and an off-line registration sheet.

Parlay your ideas into children’s book art

“Make Your Splashes – Make Your Marks!” online course

Learn drawing and painting the fun way this summer. Take Mark Mitchell’s self-paced, online course Make Your Splashes – Make Your Marks! 

It teaches a dynamic approach to illustrating children’s books using traditional painting mediums.

Discover a great secret about drawing (four videos) and find more details about the course here.

The miracle month

You might have noticed that the blog has been left with the lights still on, but untended lately.  Not a lot of discussion about illustration, drawing or painting has been going on here.  I’ve been distracted by worry — not an uncommon ailment in families.  Yes, I’m going off the topic of children’s book art — just for today. Because  I want to explain whats been happening and ask your indulgence in my failures to post this first quarter of the year.

My stepson Glenn had been taking an intravenous drug to keep his multiple sclerosis in check. It was a true wonder drug, brand name, Tysabri that had allowed him to remain at work in a demanding telecommuting job and stay highly engaged as a wonderful parent, with his wife, of two small children.

Perhaps the drug worked too well. It completely suppressed his immune system, leaving him vulnerable to an intruder, a strange little virus carried by most of the  human population – the John Cunningham (JC) virus.

Glenn’s first symptoms were failing vision, weakness, blurred speech and a loss of balance. Just after New Year’s Day he was diagnosed with progressive multifocal leukoencephalitis,  a rare, often fatal viral disease (called PML for short, mercifully.)

The virus, which most of us catch in early childhood, never troubles us much — unless our central nervous system immune barrier stops working. Then it can pass from the blood into the brain and trigger the condition of PML.

PML attacks the myelin sheathing of our nerves. Myelin is the white tissue of the brain, an electrically insulating material that wraps our nerve fibers and actually speeds the transmission of electrical signals.

In fact the auto-immune disorder MS acts the same way as PML, chewing up these insulated nerve pathways and leaving scars that block the nerve signals. But PML is more aggressive and there’s no medicine or cure for it except the body’s  natural immune defense system.

Tysabri molecules were removed from Glenn’s plasma in an emergency series of blood transfusions.

But it didn’t slow the progression of symptoms.  Over the next few weeks we watched in helpless terror as he lost his vision, his abilities to speak clearly and remember what had been said to him just  moments before.

His brain stopped communicating with the left side of his body. He could no longer walk, sit or hold up his head (although he still had use of his right hand and  right leg. )

A watch and wait vigil began. Glenn’s own immune system (suppressed since 2006 by the the Tysabri) would have to wake up and confront the virus.

But that first month, his body did not want to engage the enemy.

He was moved from the hospital into a skilled care nursing facility.

No one knew where this was going — not even his doctor, a highly regarded MS specialist.  Glenn was his first case of  PML induced by Tysabri.

A new threat appeared, even more life-threatening than PML.

Glenn was now joining the battle. But sometimes when a CNS immune system awakens to danger, it over-reacts. The result is the brain swelling, like you see in severe head injuries.

Steroid drugs were administered to counter the  inflammation. Doctors wanted Glenn to fight — but not overly hard. They wanted to manage the immune reaction like a controlled burn — and wait for the forest fire (the PML) to rage itself out.

There was nothing for us to do but hope and say our prayers. There was nothing for Glenn to do but try to survive

He turned the corner ten days ago. His sentences became longer and his speech, more coherent. (I should say that a therapist at the center had been working with him every morning on these abilities.

For the first time in nearly four months, he moved his left foot.  The next day Glenn was  lifting his left leg off the bed, demonstrating for anyone on the floor who could stop and watch.

One evening while he sat propped up in bed, visiting, his left arm moved on its own. It straightened out a little at the elbow, almost as if by accident. Glenn paused mid-sentence. He looked at his arm and started to cry.

“I don’t want you to think I’m crying because of pain or sadness,” he told us. “These are tears of joy.”

Last night I saw Glenn stand by himself — and my eyes had difficulty believing the sight. His nursing attendant Blanca was helping him from his wheel chair to his bed. But she didn’t pull or lift him this time. She just stood close for support. “Okay you can do it, Glenn,” she said.

He raised up somehow on both legs, holding on to her shoulder for balance. He turned a quarter of a circle and sat himself on the bed.

He has a long road ahead and he knows it.  He’s still blind. Yet his vision, or much of it could return.

He’s still quite weak — his muscles have atrophied after four months in bed. But the therapy will be stepped up and expectations are for him to be able to walk again.

His MS has not gone away — and Tysabri is no longer an option to help him. But we’ll take — and celebrate  — this day and future days as they come.

His physician, therapists and caregivers have been superb and kind.  Glenn has shown uncommon bravery, toughness, patience and wisdom (typical for him, really) — as has his family.

The most devastating thing I’ve ever seen has turned into the most extraordinary thing. We’ve seen enough miracles unfold in the past few days to last a lifetime. Or maybe I should say, we’ve seen enough miracles now to know that life teems with them.

So, if you’ve seen me not “showing up” lately here’s my why —  my “dog ate my homework” story.

To my friends: if I’ve seemed distracted while dealing with you since the first of the year or rude in the way I’ve not responded to invitations or replied to e-mails or phone calls, please excuse, understand and forgive me.

Now that things actually might be returning to normal, I’ll take my cue from Glenn — and strive for improvement.

Portfolio room at the Austin SCBWI 2012 Regional Conference, “Something for Everybody” at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas

And you thought this was a blog about children’s book art crafting…

Oh, it still is. I have photos of the Houston and Austin SCBWI 2012 regional conferences and from Dan Yaccarino‘s Picture Book workshop and  some interviews from the 2012 Digital Heroes Tour to share with you in the coming days.

There’s a one- question trivia contest newly up on the other blog.

We’ll select a winner Wednesday so there’s still time for you to enter.  The winner will receive a link to Dauntless Design, a lesson from the Make Your Splashes – Make Your Marks! online course.

I have a guest post up on the KidlitArt blog — part of their Picture Book Dummy Challenge series. The topic is how to turn a thumbnail scribble into a full-sized finished sketch. I think you’ll enjoy checking out the entire series of guest posts on the blog there and reading the chat transcripts for the KidLitArt Twitter sessions on Thursday nights that you’ll find there.