If Costello Wanted to Buy a Computer from Abbott

A friend of mine recently emailed me a part of this interchange. I googled the Internet and found that the author is Tom King of Flint, Texas. He granted me permission to post it here and noted that "Drama teachers are using it as a humor exercise - teaching actors how to use comic cadences to generate laughs. The skit, because of its resemblance to the Abbot and Costello style allows the actor to learn what it was that made Abbott and Costello funny... As writers, capturing a living person's delivery style in your writing is an art." 


I thought that upper elementary and middle school students would enjoy acting this out--probably fighting over who would have the chance to be Abbott and Costello! Class discussion could focus on how word contexts are critical in reading and writing.


ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look in the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: What if I don't like wallpaper?
ABBOTT: Just change it.
COSTELLO: Isn't that expensive?
ABBOTT: No, it's free with Windows.
COSTELLO: I have to buy the Windows to get the wallpaper.
ABBOTT: It's free if you buy the computer.
COSTELLO: They give you windows for your office if you buy a computer.
ABBOTT: Certainly!
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What have you got?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, lets just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some straight answers. OK, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?
ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real.
COSTELLO: Sure I may want to watch a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of your business. Just tell me what I need!
ABBOTT: Real.
COSTELLO: Well, I don’t want a fake one!
ABBOTT: Of course.
COSTELLO: So what do I get?
ABBOTT: Real Player.
COSTELLO: Yes, I want a Real Player.
ABBOTT: And you’ll have one
COSTELLO: A Real Player?
ABBOTT: Certainly.
COSTELLO: OK, I'm at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?
ABBOTT: You click the blue "r".
COSTELLO: I click the blue what?
ABBOTT: The blue "r".
COSTELLO: The blue “r” what?
ABBOTT: Just the blue “r”
COSTELLO: The blue “r” what?
ABBOTT: The blue “r” nothing.
COSTELLO: If the blue “r” nothing, how do I watch the movie?
ABBOTT: You click the blue “r”
COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue w?
ABBOTT: The blue "r" is the Real Player and the blue "W" is Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: But there's three words in "office for windows"!
ABBOTT: No, just one. But it's the most popular Word in the world.
COSTELLO: What is?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: Word?
ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. Word pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.
COSTELLO: Word?
ABBOTT: Woooord, dude!
COSTELLO: I don’t know what you’re talking about! What about bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

A FEW DAYS LATER . . .

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START"..
COSTELLO: Now don't you start that again....
ABBOTT: But I thought you wanted to "STOP"
COSTELLO: That's right. This thing has been on for 3 days and I can't find the "STOP" button.
ABBOTT: Click on "START"
COSTELLO: I don't wanna start!
ABBOTT: But you have to click on "START".
COSTELLO: Why do I have to click on "START"?
ABBOTT: So you can stop.....
COSTELLO: So I have to click on "START" to "STOP"
ABBOTT: That's so you can log off.
COSTELLO: I click "START" and then I log off.
ABBOTT: That's right, you log off.
COSTELLO: I log off
ABBOTT: That's right, now go ahead and log off.
COSTELLO; What if I don't have a log. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A FIREPLACE!!!!!
ABBOTT: No, you don't need a log. You just want to get the computer out of Windows
COSTELLO: Which ones?
ABBOTT: Which what?
COSTELLO: Which Windows?
ABBOTT: The only Windows you've got.
COSTELLO: So it doesn't matter which Windows?
ABBOTT: You just want to get out of Windows.

(sound of wood and metal scraping followed by breaking glass)

ABBOTT: Lou, what was that?
COSTELLO: Oh, I threw the computer out the front windows! You said it didn't matter and the front windows were closer than the back ones....


Copyright 2011 by Tom King. Used by permission. http://twayneking.blogspot.com

Click here to read the original "Who's on First" script or watch it on You Tube:

A Woman With a Vision

I recently participated in a one-day writing workshop sponsored by Write2Ignite! During our informal luncheon I asked Jean Hall, the founder, to describe her vision for the organization. In this guest blog, she shares that vision with you.  Without further ado, here is Jean:

“In 2008 God called me (and other wonderful writers) to organize and lead Write2Ignite! At first I was a most unwilling leader, something like Gideon of the Old Testament. However, God verified for me that this is His plan for me at this time in my life, and I now willingly embrace that call.

“I envision Write2Ignite! as an organization that provides conferences, workshops, support groups and other services to Christians who create, publish, represent or sell literature for children and youth. I view our role as that of teachers, encouragers and inspirers.

“I hope that Write2Ignite! participants will leave our conferences with three things:

• The knowledge that they heard from God during the weekend about something specific in their writing and/or personal lives
• Improved or new skills to use in writing and/or publishing
• New or strengthened connections with other writers, illustrators, teachers, librarians, agents, editors, reviewers, and/or book sellers

“I envision Write2Ignite! as an organization for the Southeastern USA, that hosts at least two conferences each year, one in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. However, of course, there is always the possibility that God’s purposes are larger than that.

“My vision also includes the following:

• Smaller, local Write2Ignite! workshops in cities across the Carolinas
• Smaller critique/support groups either face-to-face in various locations, or online
• Possibly a thriving Write2Ignite! Yahoo Group
• Monthly online Write2Ignite! Chats (possibly via Skype)
• Possibly a quarterly Write2Ignite! online newsletter

"I am amazed at the ways God works to accomplish these things 

step-by-step for Write2Ignite! I am also amazed at the generous, 

dedicated volunteers who work hard to put God’s plans into place. 

But we can always use a few more.

"If you are interested in becoming part of the Write2Ignite! Conference Team please contact me at write2ignite@jeanmatthewhall.com.  To find out more about our conferences and workshops, please visit our website or our blog."


Thanks, Jean, for sharing your vision with us. I hope many of my readers will find their way to Write2Ignite!

Riot: Multi-Racial Read #6

This powerful novel written in screenplay format, takes place during four hot days in July, 1863. Walter Dean Myers layers conflict after conflict into this little known story about the riot between African Americans and Irish immigrants in New York City. 


On the national level, the Civil War rages and Abraham Lincoln has just instituted the first draft law. Wealthy businessmen can pay $300.00 to any man willing to take their place on the battlefield. Tensions are high as Irish immigrants compete with blacks for jobs. 


Into this hot stew of passions and emotions, Myers places Claire, a 15-year-old light-skinned daughter of a black man and an Irish woman. Her struggles for racial identity and adulthood scaffold this dramatic narrative.


Here are some of the poignant questions which she asks during these tumultuous days. During the riots she asks, "If it's my skin that makes me unsafe, can I take it off and put it in the drawer somewhere until the streets are safe again?...Can I change [my skin] like I change my dress or my apron?"


To her mother she asks, "Where is this safety you're talking about? And if I'm black and you're white, where is this family you're talking about?"


As she muses about her own experiences during the riot she says, "I just wanted to be a human being...without a race or a place in life. What is so wrong with that?" And, "Our skin made us targets, not our hearts."


She realizes she is growing up when she says, "I'm finding a black woman where there was only a girl before."


She thinks about the future, after the war, and asks, "Will we be trapped in our skins? Forever held to being different because we are not white?"


Towards the end she concludes hopefully, "If we can't go back, we should try even harder to go forward."

******

I listened to the audio book which was enhanced by sound effects of the street scenes and period music, including a moving African American spiritual. The interview with Myers at the end was also insightful. I would recommend Riot for girls and boys of ages 12 and up; it will enhance American history classes as well as discussions on prejudice, immigration, economics, and race relations.  

Two Tech Toys and One Book

It has been quite awhile since I have posted about a technology tool that I have found useful. In the last ten days I've used two that I want to share with you.


During a recent class at Central Piedmont Community College on "Crafting Characters that Connect" I brought Joyce Hostetter into the classroom via this wonderful tool, a Microsoft RoundTable camera.

Photograph courtesy Saad Khan

The students enjoyed interacting with Joyce as she answered questions about character development, staying focused as a writer, and receiving critiques. 

Photograph courtesy Saad Khan

A week later, I spent time researching for Half-Truths in the Carolina Room at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library. Hours sped by as I looked through the Charlotte News (Charlotte's afternoon paper) and the State of Zion (the weekly newspaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church) from 1950 on this machine:

A teenager walked by and asked me what it was. Microfilm machines aren't new technology, but they're helpful for reading old newspapers and magazines to gain an understanding of a time period. Unfortunately, they don't have "search" functions and this type of research feels very similar to sifting through sand to find treasure. 


But the real treasure that I found was this book:

The Charlotte City Directory for 1950 provided such interesting details as the names of the jailer and sheriff  as well as a list of area dentists. I found a listing for the Coca-Cola company that will play a small role in my book. Each page was packed with information.

Not only were people listed with their phone numbers, but there were also street listings that included an assortment of information. A small icon of a telephone indicated whether or not an individual had a phone,  a "r" showed that the person lived in the rear of the building, occupations such as maid, cook, lawyer, or company president were listed, and a c with a circle around it stood for "colored."


Technology carries us forward providing many new educational possibilities. But history provides a great many lessons too. 

Black and White

http://www.uky.edu/KGS/rocksmn/rocks.htm

It's been sometime since I have posted a poem. Here is a personal take-off on a diamente poem. It is inspired by my research and interviews  for Half-Truths and the rock colors I saw on a car trip through Tennessee and Kentucky.

Black

Onyx, deep and glistening. No shadow

of rich brown granite or weathered shale.

But layers of bronze clay and ashy strips of gray

fading to cream colored rock. Sandy pebbles glisten

White

Getting to Know Kate

This interview is dedicated to Harold Underdown and Ann Manheimer, who have pushed me to figure out what my main character in Half-Truths wants.  

*********

As I read novels I try to uncover what the characters want and the obstacles that get in their way.  In a well-written book this tension between goal and satisfaction of that goal drives the story and keep readers rooting for the main character's success. 


A few days ago, in an attempt to solidify what my main character, Anna Katherine Dinsmore wants, I decided to interview her. Here is what she told me.

CAROL: What do you want, Kate?

KATE: I want my grandmother to like me. To stop bugging me. To leave me alone and let me be myself.

CAROL: Why?

KATE: Because she gets on my nerves. She makes me feel like I’m not good enough the way I am.

CAROL:  There’s got to be more to it than that.  Did you ever feel loved by anyone?

KATE: In Cheraw. Auntie always made me feel safe. Selena liked me. The goats did too. But they would like anyone who fed them and rubbed their heads. Dolly was sort of partial to me though.

CAROL: What else do you want?

KATE: I am lonely and would like a friend. To feel like I belong somewhere. I belonged on the farm in Cheraw. Now I don’t. I’ve told you. In Myers Park I feel like a cornstalk in a rose garden.

CAROL: Anything else?

KATE: I want to go home and have Daddy there and feel safe again.

CAROL: I didn’t know that. So, is this book going to be about you trying to get back to Cheraw?

KATE: No, I don’t think so. I also want to be able to speak my mind. Does that count?

CAROL: You’re cheating. You must have read the book!

KATE: Come on. I want honesty, a friend, to feel safe and accepted.  What do these all have in common?  

CAROL: Hey, I thought I was asking the questions! These are all internal struggles. What about some external struggles? You know, “public stakes.”

KATE: Having a friend so I’m not lonely is public. I might have to take some risks to prove to that person that we can be friends.  And I’d also love to get back at Grandmother for how she treats Mama and to tell her to stuff it! That’s pretty public!

CAROL:  I would say so.

          **************

After this interview, I took out a copy of my reproducible, Create a Character, and filled it out. This also gave me more insights into Kate, her longings, and her personality.

If you are writing fiction, feel free to download this reproducible. That's how I found out that Kate wants to get even with her grandmother. Other interesting tidbits came out including how she is embarrassed about the pimples on her forehead, her changing body, and her smelly feet. 

I don't know where Kate is taking me, but I think I'll go along for the ride. Meanwhile, here are two Norman Rockwell pictures that have

helped me to picture Kate as I write her story. The first one is how I picture Kate at about 10, the second when she is 13. 

Girl with Black Eye, 1953

Girl at the Mirror,  1954

                        

Creating Mr. Bad Guy

Today, in preparation for the class I am teaching at Central Piedmont Community College,  I am thinking about what makes a memorable antagonist.  All writers are tempted to create absolutely good protagonists or absolutely evil antagonists. But as Robin Hemley points out in Creating Fiction, "Most people are neither all good nor all bad, and even the best are capable of small and large betrayals." (p. 84)


I subscribe to Delanceyplace.com which sends daily selections from a variety of books. Today's e-mail was from Deeper into Movies and shared excerpts from Pauline Kael's 1972 review of Marlo Brando's acting in The Godfather. This struck me as a good example of an interesting and layered antagonist:


"Don Vito could be played as a magnificent old warrior, a noble killer, a handsome bull-patriarch, but Brando manages to debanalize him. It's typical of Brando's daring that he doesn't capitalize on his broken-prow profile and the massive, sculptural head that has become the head of Rodin's Balzac - he doesn't play for statuesque nobility. The light, cracked voice comes out of a twisted mouth and clenched teeth; he has the battered face of a devious, combative old man, and a pugnacious thrust to his jaw. The rasp in his voice is particularly effective after Don Vito has been wounded; one almost feels that the bullets cracked it, and wishes it hadn't been cracked before. Brando interiorizes Don Vito's power, makes him less physically threatening and deeper, hidden within himself." (p. 422-423)


Hemley makes a number of good points in her essay, "Sympathy for the Devil: What to do About Difficult Characters." Here are a few:


"While fiction certainly deals with conflict, it's also about seeing into the true nature of people, uncovering falsehoods and half-truths. Most people (and by extension, most characters) have fatal flaws." p. 88


Interesting characters are complicated. "If we understand why someone feels she has to kill her child....we might be brought to a place of genuine compassion and understanding that would hardly seem possible without the prose writer's magical ability to make us recognize our deepest selves, the ones we try daily to bury." p. 89


How about you? How do you layer the antagonist in your work? Or, what character have you found in literature who portrays this mixture of good and evil? Let me know and I might include your comments in my class on Thursday night!

Three Not-to-Be-Missed Events

#1: If you're working on a manuscript intended for the Christian youth market and need some outside help, then consider attending Write 2 Ignite's one day summer workshop. Here is a brief blurb from their website:

A Day Apart is not another conference. It’s not a writer’s retreat. And it’s not just a workshop. It’s more than a critique group or a writer’s group. A Day Apart is bits of all these things rolled into one day. It is A Day Apart for us to focus on revision, and on helping each other perform radical surgery on ailing manuscripts. 

Please see their website for more information. 

********

#2 If you're interested in a improving your skills as an author or illustrator for children, then I strongly recommend attending the SCBWI-Carolinas fall conference. The brochure is beautiful, enticing and will make you wish that September 23 was right around the corner. Plus, if you live in Charlotte--you don't have to pay for a hotel!

The weekend will be filled with great speakers, opportunities to be critiqued, and workshops on many different facets of writing, publishing, and marketing (including one by yours truly).

******

#3 If you love reading YA books and adore meeting their authors, then you need to check out the "Ash to Nash Book Tour." This novel idea (all puns intended) is the brainchild of Myra McEntire, Victoria Schwab, and Beth Revis. As they journey through the south, they will be joined by other authors including Alan Gratz (one of my favorite middle grade authors) and Ruta Sepetys.t’
s

 notkshop

 It’s more than a critique group or a writer’s group. A Day Apart is bits of all these #rol/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/Masters/2011/07/06/20110706-203129/scbwi-logo.gif rolled into one day. It is A Day Apart for us to focus on revision, and on helping each other perform radical surgery on ailing manuscripts.  Apart is designed with those manuscripts in mind. It’s not another conference. It’s not a writer’s retreat. And it’s not A Day Apart is designed with those manuscripts in mind. It’s not another conference. It’s not a writer’s retreat. And it’s not just a workshop. It’s more than a critique group or a writer’s group. A Day Apart is bits of all these things rolled into one day. It is A Day Apart for us to focus on revision, and on helping each other perform radical surgery on ailing manuscripts.  a workshop. It’s more than a critique group or a writer’s group. A Day Apart is bits of all these things rolled into one day. It is A Day Apart for us to focus on revision, and on helping each other perform radical surgery on ailing manuscripts. 

Zora and Me: Multi-Racial Read #5

I didn’t realize when I selected Zora and Me from the audio book shelf of my local library that I would be treated to a powerful, multiracial historical novel. But I was.  

Under 200 pages long, this book is the result of collaboration between Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon. Their fictionalized account of Harlem renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston’s childhood, brings the reader into gator country, Eatonville, Florida, during the Jim Crow period.

Zora’s outspoken manner and boldness is seen through her best friend Carrie’s eyes. The two young girls get caught up into the myth and mysteries of the local “Gator King” (half-man, half-alligator) which they imagine to be ghostly white. In a line foreshadowing later conflict, Carrie observes, “If coloreds can be different colors, why can’t gators?”

When Ivory, an itinerant turpentine worker is murdered, Zora decides to apply her alligator-sleuthing abilities to solving the murder. The story gets more complicated when the girls meet Gold – a woman who is beautiful, stylish, and colored but “not like us.” Gold is engaged to a white man and the black community is horrified that she has turned her back on her people.

In a powerful scene, the girls come across Gold sitting in the forest by a fire, her clothes dirty and in disarray. By the firelight Gold “looks colored but like she’d been wiped down by chalk dust.” Zora confronts Gold on why she has chosen to pass. Here are snippets from this dialogue revealing Gold’s conflicts and motivation:

Zora asks, “Why would you want to be like white folks?”

Gold replies, “I get tired of being colored. I get tired of seeing everything the world has to offer and settling for a big bowl of nothing."      

During the same scene, Gold relays a story from her own childhood. Her mother was much darker than she was. When the two would go shopping, Gold’s mother would pretend to be her nanny in order to purchase what she wanted. Gold remembers, “It’s like I was the skeleton key unlocking the other world just for my Mama.” In this conversation Gold tells the two friends, “You’re both lucky. You don’t have to make hard choices. You know exactly where you belong.”

This is a powerful story about hurt, fear, and prejudice and two young girls coming of age in a town that had previously sheltered them from the bigger scope of life’s conflicts. As Carrie realizes at the end, “The bad things in life don’t define misery—what you do with them does.”

This book would be an excellent supplement to a class in US history, or to be read during Black History month. Although the two main characters are both girls, Ivory’s plight and the overarching historical theme make this also an appealing book for middle school boys. Students and writers should both analyze the internal and external conflicts permeating Gold’s, Zora’s, and Carrie’s lives. There is much to learn from this well-written book. 


View this video for more information on Zora Hurston and the story behind the story: 

Digital Tools for Teaching

I’ve often compared writing and publishing a book to pregnancy, labor, and birth. Within the context of that simile, if I help a friend or student write or publish a book I either feel like a midwife or grandmother.

When I received my copy of Steven Johnson’s book, Digital Tools for Teaching, I definitely felt like a proud grandma. I hadn't contributed one iota to the content. Instead, I introduced him to Julia Graddy, my publisher at Maupin House.

I met Steve three years ago when he participated in the “Is There a Children’s Book Inside of You?” NCCAT  seminar  which Joyce Hostetter and I co-led. At first he successfully hid his expertise as a technology facilitator and focused on writing a funny picture book. But when he leafed through Teaching the Story and we began brainstorming the digital tools which could enhance the process of writing short stories, the second edition of my book was born. 

Steve and & I brainstorming at NCCAT

After Steve wrote twelve technology mini-lessons for my book, he began work on his own project with Maupin House. He wanted to create a book that would make technology accessible to every teacher--even those who were techno-phobic.  His dream was to provide an overview of e-tools which can be used in the classroom,  show how they could be used in a variety of subject areas, and meet the needs of a variety of techno-savvy elementary and middle school students.

No small task. But with the able help of my editor, Emily Raaj, Steve accomplished exactly that.

The first thing that will reassure teachers overwhelmed with digital technology is Steve’s division of thirty e-tools into three groups:  those for newbies, developing users, and advanced users. From there he encourages teachers to rethink their role as educators:

Going forward, our jobs must be about giving our students personalized, relevant instruction that develops their ability to make meaningful sense of the information-rich world they live in. Sure, they can find anything and everything under the sun on the Internet-but do they know what to do with it?  Can they evaluate the accuracy of what they read? Can they analyze and organize the glut of information? How does it improve their lives? They might have the world at their fingertips, but we have the power to guide them towards molding it into something worth creating. p. 4.

Steve next presents the eight characteristics of the “Net Generation.” Reading this will help you understand the different ways in which your students approach the Internet. And, it will help you feel OK about asking your students for help troubleshooting when something goes wrong. In fact, figuring out what went wrong is part of the learning process for everyone.

The meat of this encyclopedia of digital classroom technology, is the 30 alphabetized tools. Each double-page spread explains  what you need to do prior to utilizing the tool in your classroom, tells you how to get started, lists other issues to consider, and provides examples of how to use it in language arts, science, math, and social studies. It would be easy to feel overwhelmed except that the book is very readable and Steve walks you through the process of classroom implementation. If that wasn't enough, Steve offers his website as an on-line "living, breathing resource for all teachers."

Steve's enthusiasum for the power of using digital tools in your classroom is contagious.



Steve in the computer lab at Washington St. School

Rockingham, NC

And I'm not saying that just because I'm the proud grandma.

It's the honest truth. 

****

Joyce and I are giving away a copy of Steve's book in our next issue of Talking Story. If you haven't subscribed yet, click on the link which will bring you to our last issue. On the top, click on "Subscribe" and then send us an email when you receive your copy in a few weeks.  

Interview with Harold Underdown- Part III

In the spring I published two interviews with Harold Underdown, children's book editor and children's publishing maven. In Part I he answered general questions about writing and publishing for children. In Part II he answered questions from illustrators. 


Here in Part III, Harold answers questions specifically about crafting picture books. 

Question:  Recently I heard Tracey Adams of Adams Literary talk about how the industry standard for picture books is now moving to being geared towards 3-5 year olds and of course, much shorter word counts. But K-8th grade teachers all use longer picture books in their classrooms. Is there no room in the market for longer picture books?

Harold: Yes, longer picture books are still published. Tracey is reflecting on the reality that the larger publishers have largely abandoned the school and library market, and are seeking material that will do well in bookstores (also known as the trade market). She's an agent and so she wants material she can sell for a good advance. That is the kind of picture book she describes. But Holiday House and Charlesbridge and Boyds Mills and Whitman, to name just a few, still publish for the educational market.

Question: When writing a picture book manuscript, how much information and/or details should a writer include that could wind up being shown better in the illustrations? With word counts being so low, should an author bother giving much description of the setting or how a character looks and just leave it up to the illustrator, or should that be included in the manuscript?

Harold: I regard it as good standard picture book writing practice to leave out the words that just aren't needed. This serves a dual purpose, since it both reduces word count and leaves an opening for the illustrator.

Question: Should a picture book writer include illustrator’s notes in their manuscript? What if they want to have a wordless page? Should that be noted?

Harold: A writer can include a short note in the manuscript, perhaps in brackets. However, I would warn writers about features like this--don't make your story too dependent on them. The story should still work even if the publisher or illustrator doesn't feel that this is a good place for a wordless spread, and that decision will be, in the end, theirs to make.

Question: A panel of agents and editors at a recent conference was asked if a writer could continue submitting after receiving a few rejections. The agent basically said, if I've rejected you twice, you probably shouldn't submit to me again. The editors seemed to be nodding in agreement. How does anyone ever get an agent or publisher if you're not supposed to submit with new projects more than a few times?

Harold: I think that to answer this question you have to understand the context that that agent was assuming. She's assuming an actual correspondence with an author, not the case of someone, as is often true, who starts submitting early on in their writing development and sends out a number of manuscripts before reaching the point at which an agent or editor sends a "personal rejection." Here the agent is assuming that someone met them at a conference or impressed them with something in their submissions, and they've written to the agent. And written to them again and perhaps again. I don't think the agent is suggesting a three-strikes-you're-out situation, but more of a practical rule of thumb in a certain situation.

At that point, if a writer isn't hitting it off with an agent, it might be time to take a break, and perhaps come back at some point in the future. 

·    People writing picture books would do well to get Ann Whitford Paul's "Writing Picture Books.” here's a review that I wrote: http://www.underdown.org/writing-picture-books-review.htm

·       For advice about creating illustrator’s notes in a manuscript, writers should consult this article: http://www.underdown.org/picture-books-illustrations.htm

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Thanks, Harold, for generously sharing your publishing wisdom with us in this series! 

Three years ago Harold taught me to probe more deeply into what my
 main character wants at the Highlights Writers Workshop