12 Easy-Peasy Writing Secrets, or How to Find Ideas

I get to talk with 4th graders this week about writing. 

As they especially want to know where writers get their ideas, 

I thought I should make a list. 

I decided to share it with you, too. 

This isn't the quantitative, end-all list of idea-catchers, mind you

because, as all writers know, ideas can be found....

• 1. At the bottom of the dryer
• 2. In snatches of conversation 
• 3. In the waiting room at the doctor's office 
• 4. Under the couch, next to the monster's eyeball
• 5. Inside a pair of Seven League Boots
• 6. Buried under the witch's bones in the graveyard
• 7. In a fistful of stolen pirate gold
• 8. In the pocket of the Wrong Coat at the Lost & Found
• 9. Behind a secret staircase in the old castle
• 10. In the next chapter after the final chapter of the last book you read

Of course, this list goes on 

and on

and on...

Writer friends, where do you find your ideas?

Any special plants or potions or special tricks

 that keep your ears and eyes 

ready for your next idea?

Teachers, you are welcome to use this freebie printable as a teaching resource.  Feel free to share links to this page. 

To use this resource, just drag the image to your desktop and print. 

Thank you for keeping this original content credited to its creator.  Cheers!

Let Sleeping Bears Lie, and Sneak Peeks

It's not exactly sleeping bears, -not much sleeping at all, really, 

but I am discovering that the road to illustrating picture books  

involves much burrowing away in caves.

A bit like hibernating. 

The good news is that sometimes 

when writers and illustrators hibernate, 

they have magical news to share.

I am a sucker for fairy tales. 

In 7th grade, I won a poetry contest. 

With my prize - a gift certificate to a local bookstore -

I bought two of the largest collections of fairy tales I could find. 

I devoured those books. I breathed in those stories

and longed to make my own. 

And now my life has come full circle. 

I'm thrilled to tell you that I get to illustrate Lynn Parrish Sutton's story

ONCE UPON A TIMELY

with Kane Miller books. 

What magic!

A huge thanks to Molly O'Neill and Root Literary for helping make this happen. 

Thanks to all of my friends and mentors who have encouraged me along the way.

And thank you to the bookstore, the poetry contest, the teachers 

who coaxed me to read and write and make art... 

Where would we be without the very special magic of having someone believe in us?

Here are a few sneak peeks...