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What about the pictures?

4/29/2015

I’ve been devoting a lot of time to the writing process because writing doesn’t come naturally to me. What does come somewhat easily for me is drawing, regardless of whether one thinks I am actually good at it. So how did the illustrations and the style for the book come about, you might ask?

You can see from my professional work that my illustrations must suggest as much 3D-form as possible, through application of perspective, core shadows, cast shadows, highlights, reflected lights, textural detail, etc. So you’re probably wondering, how does what appears on the left translate into what is on the right:

AY Chen Illustration & Design glomerulus, early work for Centipede Dragon A Benevolent Creature, first designs for Worries illustratione

I can’t really tell you because I simply don’t know. What I can show you though is this:

This illustration very early on in my artistic career demonstrates a tendency I have exhibited in the way I have viewed the world (not literally, of course) since before I could even write my own name. We’ll explore this tendency of mine further in the next post!

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Centipede Dragon in the local paper

4/21/2015

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http://connectionarchives.com/PDF/2014/073014/Mt%20Vernon.pdf
It's hard to believe that I was interviewed for a newspaper article last summer after launching the book publication. And though this is quite the leap from the story I have been telling about the process of writing, illustrating, and self-publishing this book, it speaks to a very important aspect to a book's financial success: advertising/marketing. You'll hear me speak A LOT about this aspect of the game in later posts, but for now, a preview of my marketing campaign.

This was a truly humbling moment for me. Sure, it wasn't New York Times or Washington Post, but it gave me goosebumps nonetheless. Ms Germanos, the writer of this piece, interviewed me for no more than 10 minutes on the phone, and really got how this book's message was really important to me. I want her to know how much I appreciate her skill as a journalist, so, if Ms Germanos is following Centipede Dragon at all, thanks so very much.

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Gigi's question, my response

4/17/2015

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Gigi's question was one of many laser-sharp questions I received from those kindergartners. Is Centipede Dragon fiction or non-fiction, and, will I be selling copies of the book?

Well Gigi, the storyline is fiction, I created it entirely based upon that one-sentence description I found online in 2005: "A benevolent creature that takes the shape of many forms." But, as the Centipede Dragon character is based on a real art symbol, does that make him non-fiction? Or, since he is a symbol that represents bringing good fortune to the Miao people, is he then fiction? Would anyone like to try and answer this question for Gigi?

My thought is Centipede Dragon is fiction, though I'd certainly LOVE to believe that a magical creature who helps people in need WAS real.

As to copies, well, YES Gigi, 2+ years after reading a prototype of this book to your class, it IS indeed on sale now! I hope you remembered it, and, if you by chance seen it somewhere!

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Taking it to the masses, part 1.

4/14/2015

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Previously I recounted that one kid—out of my targeted age range—had read the book thus far. I could no longer put off that I needed to test drive my book on actual 3-to-7 year-olds.

In May 2013, I read Centipede Dragon A Benevolent Creature to 21 kindergartners. Ms. D-, their teacher, had prepped them for my visit so that on the day I walked into their classroom, there was a sudden whoosh! of children assembling around me, ready for a good storytelling.

In my opinion, the true test for anything in life is to vet it through a 5-year old. Kids in this age range see the world with a clarity not clouded by personal experience. They keenly observe and unequivocally question. They laser-point out a hole in your plot like nobody's business. They are not concerned with YOU, they are concerned with your character. A kid will also tell you what you should change in your book. Keep in mind, it's nothing personal, as the next moment will be snack time, and then, nap time.

Ms. D- then had them draw pictures and describe their favorite part in the book, or, ask me a question. She gave these to me, and the feedback from that one school visit was so insightful, that I'll highlight in future posts how many influenced and improved my book.

Here’s a brilliant pic by Gigi. In the next post I'll present Gigi’s question and my response!

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Show, don't tell

4/10/2015

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An important part of writing children’s books is to read your story to kids who are in the age range of your book. Writing for the 3-7 year age range means writing in a different language than for ages 1-3 or 8-11. The ecology of kids is so vastly different from one age group to the next; you all know this from having been a kid. But determining this up front is critical to the success of the book, because it dictates how many words you use, which words you will use, the style of illustration…EVERY detail, EVERY punctuation mark, EVERYTHING.

The most recent trend in word count is economy. Picture books used to contain 1500+ worded stories. Now the publishers and agents say to keep word count under 1,000; even better if under 500! At the same time, you are supposed to “show” and not “tell” your story. Take a look at the pictorial example I have drawn up especially for this post for when you are writing how a character feels:

Does this add up to you?

In short, it is up to YOU as the writer to find that happy medium.

FYI, if anyone’s interested, Centipede Dragon, A Benevolent Creature clocks in at 704 words. Boo-YAH.

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Thanking the Academy, part 2.

4/7/2015

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With all the work on story line, character development, drawing, re-drawing, and re-writing I had done to this point, you might be shocked to learn that I hadn’t actually SHOWN the book TO a kid.

The truth is I was afraid. Afraid that a kid, in the way that kids are very straightforward, would straightforwardly tell me that my book was crap. When I finally broke down and showed it to my friend’s kid, D, I had visions of him throwing it to the ground, stomping furiously upon it and declaring it rubbish. Which is sometimes what I felt I wanted to do to it.

Minutes of agony went by as he paged through the book, lips moving, eyebrows going up, then back down…what, D, WHAT?!? Tell me what you are thinking!

D was thinking...two thumbs UP!

A huge first hurdle to cross, for testing your book out on its target audience is rather key to knowing if your book would be interesting to a kid. Admittedly, D was a little older than my target age group (he was 9 at the time), so I wasn’t yet out of the woods. But in my euphoria, I asked if there was anything he’d like to see changed? Though this question took him off guard, he was quick with suggestions. So, here are D’s direct contributions to the book!

Daniel's contributions to Centipede Dragon A Benevolent Creature, plug in fence post, mittens on legs

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Character development: Ariel

4/3/2015

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Ariel was inspired by my niece. Unlike her brother, she was all for the character being named after her. But it felt a little unbalanced to blatantly take her identity (can’t I get arrested for that?). So, she became Ariel, which happens to be her middle name.

At first Ariel was the younger kid. To make her more like her namesake I made her older than Ben, as little kids tend to look up to older kids. Unless said kids are siblings. Then they are just annoying as they are always telling you what to do.

Ariel gets the job done no matter what. Give her a task, she’ll complete it in record time. Give her many tasks and she will sassily reply “…you want fries with that?” She’s normally calm in any situation but like any kid, she is prone to worrying about things out of her control. She can see the big picture, and uses her moral compass to guide her through decision-making. In short, Ariel ROCKS.

Another critical issue with which I wrestled was the kids’ ethnicity. I’m Asian, and this symbol is Asian, so it should follow that the kids should be Asian, right? The sad reality is that picture books featuring minority kids DO NOT SELL. So my initial intent was to keep their ethnicity ambiguous. In my children’s book group one of our members really pushed for this continuity.

Though I was aiming to make them Asian, the kids have a certain ambiguity to their ethnicity. To one they looked Latino, while another thought Arabic. What matters is that Ariel and Ben represent a growing number of kids who are growing up without these role models and idols who look like them.

Different characterizations of Ariel, evolution of Ariel, different faces of Ariel

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What about the pictures?

More kindergartner questions

Centipede Dragon in the local paper

Gigi's question, my response

Taking it to the masses, part 1.

Show, don't tell

Thanking the Academy, part 2.

Character development: Ariel

Alice Y. Chen

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