The Author - Illustrator relationship

The other question I’ve been asked recently is on working with illustrators. I’ve been lucky enough to work with many wonderful artists – and I think I was particularly lucky that I loved Gillian Campbell’s images in my first book, “Amanda’s Dinosaur. Like most novice authors I’d thought of the book as purely mine, and imagined the pictures that were in my mind as I wrote the story. Of course, they were not exactly the same: they were much, much better, adding elements I hadn’t considered. I remember looking at them for the first time with a strange mixture of déjà vu and delight that allowed me to realise that this was Gillian’s book too.
Even in chapter books with very few illustrations, the pictures enhance or add another interpretation to the author’s words. People often ask how I feel about pictures that aren’t the way I imagine the characters, but the answer is simple: if I haven’t described it, the artist is free to use their own imagination – they certainly can’t be expected to tap directly into my head! The story in a chapter book, however, tends to belong very much to the author.
Of course there’s interaction, whether directly or through the editor. Sometimes the artist needs something clarified – which might mean the reader will too, and that it needs rewriting – or it might mean that it’s a useful place for a picture to show something not easily described. Occasionally a page will need a few words removed to fit the picture in. And occasionally the artist makes a mistake. By the time it’s discovered it’s usually easier to ask the author to change the text to fit in. If it makes no difference to the story I agree – a couple of times I’ve had an illustrator’s mistake that I thought was an improvement on what I’d written. If it changes something important, and a few times it has, I fight hard to get the image altered to fit the story.

When I think of the hundreds of illustrations scattered throughout my books, it seems amazing how few of these sorts of problems there have been - and equally amazing how much richness they've added to my stories. For the reader, the artist's portrayal becomes the character that enters their own imagination, an indissoluble part of the whole.

But picture books, even though the original story still comes from the author, are truly a joint creation – which I’ll talk about more in my next blog.

Editing

I did a Writing for Children morning with a class of 2nd year Professional Writing and Editing TAFE students last week. One of the things they were struggling with was the thought of being edited: how to deal with someone wanting to change your work; how to negotiate - and even wondering whether an editor's suggestions affect your copyright (No, they don't.)

I think the most important thing to remember is that the editor and the author want the same thing: the best book possible. Sometimes you'll disagree about what that means, and the more you each care about the book, the more passionate the disagreement can be. That's one of the reasons I enjoy this part of the process so much: it's a dialogue, and it's how a sudden surprising solution may be born. You'll rarely get a chance to discuss your work with anyone who cares that much, so you might as well enjoy it.

I find there's a psychological process, rather like the Kubler Ross stages of grief, when an editor asks for a major change: Denial "She can't be serious! It's perfect the way it is!"
Despair, "Maybe it's not working, but there's no way I can fix it."
Acceptance, "I can't see how to do it yet, but there's going to be a way."
And finally, "Ah, ha! This is exactly what needs to happen."

Sometimes if an editor asks for major cuts or changes I copy the whole ms into a new document, so mine is still intact and I can try what she suggests without feeling I have to commit to it. Usually when I see it like that, I can see that most of what she's suggested is right.

Of course you won't agree with everything an editor suggests. Sometimes they will miss the point of what you meant; sometimes they'll suggest a change that is contrary to what you mean. But even if their change isn't right, it nearly always means that there's something in that scene, paragraph or sentence isn't working, and you need to look at it again.

And occasionally, an editor will simply have misread, or have a different opinion, and you'll feel passionately that this is something you can't change. So don't. It's your book, and your name on the cover.

I've been lucky over the years, and have worked with a variety of editors - and learned from all of them. We haven't always seen eye to eye during the process, but the best editors are the ones who've challenged and pushed me to take this ms into the book I want and haven't always known how to find.

The March of Books in Israel

My wonderful Hebrew translator, Gili Bar-Hillel Semo, recently emailed to tell me
that "Nim's Island" was voted the most popular book for 4th to 6th graders in "Mits'ad Hasfarim" - "The March of Books".

This is an interesting award: there's a jury-selected shortlist that includes all sorts of books, some very old, and then a poll of Israeli schoolchildren conducted by the department of education. (Sounds like a wonderful way to do it!)

So, I'm thrilled!

Here are some of the other winners - (Gili says she's omitted Israeli books I couldn't have heard of):

1. NIM'S ISLAND by Wendy Orr
3. THE ISLAND ON BIRD STREET by Uri Orlev
4. PRIhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1147064&id=669674397NCE CASPIAN by C.S.Lewis
6. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID by Jeff Keaney
8. THE LEGEND OF SPUD MURPHY by Eoin Colfer
10. WHITE BOOTS by Noel Streatfeild (Gili translated this one too)

Mrs. F-B's Book Blog: Peeling the Onion - Wendy Orr

A lovely review of Peeling the Onion - it's nice to know that the book is still finding new readers!

"HOW did I miss this book that's been out for ten years? AND how did I stumble across it now? Sometimes I know exactly how or why I'm reading a particular book. I remember that it's won an award or I remember who told me about it, but then there are other times when I just have no clue. Did it just strike my fancy as I walked past it in the library? Did I see it mentioned on someone's blog? Did a student tell me about it? I need to start keeping track of that I guess...Or at least paying better attention.

Anyway! This is a really powerful book which explores the feelings of a young woman who's been badly injured in a car accident. She has, in fact, broken her neck as well as her ankle, and, in many ways, even her spirit. In the morning she is a karate champion, by evening she is in the hospital trauma unit, no one knowing what her future holds. In fact, the accident has drastically altered both her present and her future.

To read the rest of the review and see an interesting librarian's blog:



Mrs. F-B's Book Blog: Peeling the Onion - Wendy Orr