Today I am delighted to have my writer friend and critique buddy Kellie DuBay Gillis as my guest blogger. Kellie writes picture books and middle grade fiction. Take it away, Kellie!
When I was ten, I wanted to be a writer or an archaeologist. Or both. Then I grew up and did neither.
Until now.
For the past three years, I’ve been serious about writing picture books. And as most picture book writers know, when the ideas start flowing, we can pump out manuscripts left and right. And as most picture book writers know, they aren’t always good. But we continue to write for the love of the form, for the practice of our craft. One or two might rise to the top, but the others…well, they might get buried on our hard-drives. Mine do.
Until now.
Recently, I’ve decided to pursue that archaeology thing. But instead of digging in a remote location looking for arrowheads or shards of pottery, my expedition focuses on excavating picture book manuscripts in the strata of my hard-drive. Why? Two reasons: I want evidence of my evolution as a writer and I want to find and preserve valuable artifacts.
Some of the remains at the very bottom of the dig are painful to read. Like my first picture book about a little toe. (Evidence I’ve evolved as a writer: In most cases, MC should be a whole kid, not part of a kid.) But the valuable artifact I see in this manuscript is whimsy and a twist, qualities I can preserve and use in future manuscripts. As I work up through the layers, I see assemblages of manuscripts that are more sophisticated, that reflect the input of trusted critique partners and other industry professionals. While some of these manuscripts in their current form might never sell, as a story archaeologist, it’s my job to figure out which manuscripts are worth dusting off and analyzing. After all, these old relics might have good bones.
Kellie DuBay Gillis entered her local library’s Be-An-Author contest (and won!) when she was ten. She hasn’t stopped writing since. She’s member of SCBWI and Verla Kay’s Blueboards, where she met Laura. In addition to picture books, Kellie is working on a middle grade novel and is one of the weekly #mglitchat hostesses. She lives in Fairview Park, Ohio with her husband and two kids. When she isn’t writing, she visits yard sales hoping to score a vintage purple Schwinn tandem bike like the one at www.kelliedubaygillis.com
Fun post! I love digging up that old stuff and having those “What was I thinking” moments.
Being a lover of all things absurd and quirky, I have to admit I’m intrigued by the toe story. Was this a severed toe? Did it have it’s own feet to get around on, or did it just lie there? What was the toe’s dilemma? I must know!
Renee, you are too funny!
Iza, we might have to think about planning an intervention for Renee if this
continues… ;-D
LOL. I’m curious too. I hope it wasn’t severed. I imagine a pinkie toe might have an inferiority complex. I big toe could clumsy. Then there are all those forgotten toes in the middle. Are you sure there aren’t any good toe bones here, Kellie? =)
It was a story about a little toe who wanted to be big…it wasn’t severed, but it did travel to experience life as the big toe, so…it technically had to find a way to move. A nightmare for an illustrator (and maybe readers!) LOL.
I love this post. We all need to have a little archaeologist in us to salvage, analyze, and grow as writers. Good luck. I hope you dig up something valuable!
Yes, digging through old drafts can be fun and productive- and it really is great to see how our writing has evolved.Time is a good editor.
Great post, Kellie, about searching for great writing elements in our old manuscripts.
Beautiful post and well-worth keeping on top of the rubble. I, too, have done some digging with mixed results. Reading this made me feel I have another soul sister.
Great post! I love digging through old stuff…especially when I’m feeling uninspired. It can be a great way to come up with a “new” idea. I also love the fact that I can now see exactly why certain poems or stories were rejected. That makes me feel like I’ve grown at least a little bit as a writer.
Fun post Kelli! I’ll keep my eyes open for that purple Schwinn tandem in the New England area!
Ooooh, that would be great. And I’ll ride it back to Cleveland! That would be the best road trip ever!
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing
Great post. Talk about following your dreams.
Great post! And that toe story sounds funny! Reminds me of “Spoon”, which I love. I like to dig through my old files as well. Sometimes a fresh eye is all that is needed to polish something up. But sometimes, I just cringe and move on.
This is awesome. A bone that I would be more than happy to leave in the ground is the story I wrote about a shoebox banjo.
Yes. It was riveting.
However…now he lives on as a possession of my middle grade MC’s little brother, so I think it was worth it:)
Now that’s an AWESOME way to re-purpose an old bone!Thanks for joining in the conversation.
I think that is bound to happen…an element from a story finding its way into another. Very cool the shoebox banjo found a home!
Wow, great post. I never thought of myself as an picture book archeologist but now I have a new way of looking at it!! How fun.
Thanks again to Kellie for inspiring us to dig into our files for old bones, and thanks to all you lovely folks for stopping by! Happy writing to all!
It was fun to hang out on your blog. Thanks, Laura!! And thanks to your blog visitors for their nice comments.