[Writer Post] From Idea to Plan in Three Easy Steps
This week’s blog post…how a random idea can become a “Full-Fledged Plan” in Three Easy Steps.
1. Agree to something you wouldn’t normally do
2. End up with a brain worm of an idea
3. Mention it briefly on Facebook and have it bloom
Yeah…that happened yesterday. You see, I had this idea for converting a children’s short story I wrote and had published about 6 years ago in a small Sam’s Dot anthology (so very few people have seen it), do a quick polish on it, and see if maybe I can convert it to a chapbook-sized coloring book.
To make this work, though, I needed to enlist the aid of an artist (because unless it’s written word? Yeah, that not me). So I posed the question on Facebook yesterday, just to see if what I wanted to do was something that could actually be done.
This was what I am/was looking to do… my story is about 800 words, which means for kids/coloring books set up probably about 100 words a chapbook page with facing black-and-white simple line illustrations – suitable for coloring in by little hands (or big hands for the kids-at-heart). That should be a fairly simple (and pretty inexpensive) chapbook production-easily stapled, with perhaps a color illustration for the cover design.
The deal (which is still to be knocked out with the artist) would be shared credit on the cover and either payment in cookies or a shared cost of production with a split of the print run. The purpose of this thing would be a $1-$2 sale price, or the occasional giveaway to a kid’s function. That way there’s something “cheap” on any event/show table.
My initial deadline/run date is a stickler though, I’m hoping to have this done by FenCon in September, but that’s a tough turnaround time for any artist, no matter how “simple” the drawings. But I mentioned that up front. It may still be a pipe dream, but it’s at least a goal (because this all started from a question asked at the last FenCon meeting).
I’m honored that a very talented artist has already expressed interest. I’ve sent him the original story. I’ve got to finish the edit/polish/slight rewrite this morning and send it off, see if it’s something he really wants to do. I hope he does, because it would be a fun project to collaborate on.
So…moral of the story? If someone (such as She Who Runs FenKids) asks you to do something outside your comfort zone–consider it. It might lead to something you never expected to happen. AND…remember when I said writers should befriend artists? Well, it’s not just for good covers, y’all. You might get a popular artist to help you make a coloring book just because you know each other. Word.
Now I have to go find a Golden Book that was important to me as a kid. I put it someplace safe, and now have 65 days to remember where that place is… D’OH.