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| SMART PIGGY'S NEWSLETTER By Audrey Wood Compiled by Heath Uliasz August 1999 Issue #7 Dear Friends, "Audrey, where do you get the ideas for your stories?" That’s a question I’m asked wherever I go by both children and adults. It’s an important question and I’m going to tell you all of my secrets. I have a secret story finding method. If you follow it you will be able to discover all the ideas you’ll ever need for writing a story. I get the ideas for my stories from the following sources: day dreams; night dreams; life experiences; emotions that make me think about something in a sad, happy, worried or angry way; doodles I draw while talking on the phone; a sentence that pops out of someone’s mouth while I’m walking by; visual sources such as photographs, art magazines, and paintings; memories I recall of my childhood; a quote written in a book; a line spoken in a movie or play; statements or lyrics that I misunderstand; subjects that are exciting to me that I want to investigate; and last, but not least, bolts of inspiration sent to me by my muse from out of the blue! Ok, but that doesn’t answer the question, how do I get my ideas. The above list simply reveals some of the places where I uncover ideas for stories. Here’s the secret - ideas are everywhere. The trick is recognizing an idea when it jumps out in front of you and catching it before it dissolves away into thin air. How to be an "Idea Catcher" Start this way- one morning, just before you get out of bed, tell yourself, "Today I am going to be "idea hungry." I’m going to be alert and ready for anything I may hear, read, or experience which might lead me to an idea." You may not always get a complete idea for a story, I usually don’t. More often, I stumble across a little piece of information that may someday lead to a complete idea. For instance, you might get an idea for a character. Our friend, Harry Bidgood, inspired the character for my story, KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB. Or you may be inspired by a situation that interests you. Young children say bad words and adults don’t like it. That situation led to the idea for my book, ELBERT’S BAD WORD. Perhaps a title will lead you to an idea for a story. I used to take our son for a nap at his grandmother’s house. I called her house THE NAPPING HOUSE. This led me to write the book of the same name. An article about the art of recycling sparked the idea for my story, NONA’S RED RACER. A quick sketch turned upside down led to the idea for the character in my book, SILLY SALLY. Create an "Idea Box" When you start catching ideas you’ll be amazed how many are bouncing around you. I guarantee you will find more ideas than you can use in a lifetime! But here’s the trick- if you don’t immediately write down the idea or the piece of idea that you have just noticed, it will vanish in an instant. Quick! Grab something to write on. Use a napkin if you have to! Find a pencil or pen and jot down that slippery little piece of information or observation before it’s too late! Once you’ve captured the "idea fragment," take it and drop it in a box you’ve labeled, "Idea Box" and forget about it. But don’t stop there. Every morning remind yourself to continue to be an idea catcher. Before long your idea box, like mine, will be overflowing with all sorts of bits and pieces of ideas. Information you can use to create stories will be waiting for you whenever you need it. Now, when you are ready to sit down and write a story, go to your idea box, dump out all of the little pieces of paper you’ve tossed in there, and begin to play. Allow yourself to skip through your collected bits and pieces of information, arranging them by theme, or just randomly. Eventually one or two or five will surface. Dream on these. As you dream, idea fragments you rejected might assume renewed importance. Dig through the stack again and locate them. Now comes the fun. Weave a story with the materials in front of you. Usually your ideas will naturally group into several themes because there will be themes that interest you. Try matching titles with themes, character sketches with photos, and so forth. Occasionally an idea is so strong it stands on its own. Perhaps you didn’t know this until you compared it with all of the others. So now you know where I get the ideas for my stories and how I use them. This system has worked for me; perhaps it will work for you, too. Get out there and catch some ideas -- it’s fun! -AW *********************************************************************** BABIES IN THE WOOD STUDIOS!!! Two adorable seven week old Pugs have just arrived at THE WOOD STUDIOS. If anyone has Pugs out there and could let me know, I’d love to e-mail you with a few Pug questions! For instance, one of their tails curls clockwise, the other curls counter clockwise. Is this common? Is there any hidden meaning? -AW *********************************************************************** SMART PIGGY‘S INSIDER NEWS! David Shannon, an esteemed Caldecott Honor award winning illustrator and one of the illustrators who has his own page in THE CLUBHOUSE, has created another wonderful book. If you, like me, adored the frisky little fellow in Shannon’s book, NO DAVID!, you will be delighted with the sequel DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL. Parents and teachers will laugh out loud when following David’s escapades throughout a school day. And when David has to stay after school to atone for his misbehaviors, every child will relate to David’s predicament. If I were you, I’d reserve a copy of DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL, at your local bookstore before it hits the shelves. The publishing date for DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL is September, but you may be able to get it sooner! *********************************************************************** HERE’S WHERE HE DRAWS THE LINE! Every artist has his or her own way of creating rough sketches and turning them into a finished illustration. To follow David Shannon through this process: Enter THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Meet The Artists" link. Then click on the "David Shannon" link. Then click on the "Picture Book Illustrations" link. *********************************************************************** HOOKED ON READING! Hi! My name is Karen Roudybush and I am a teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Pittsburgh, PA. I just wanted to thank you for your wonderful words and stories. My students have become hooked on reading, thanks in large part to your marvelous stories. The students loved QUICK AS A CRICKET, THE RED RACER, and THE NAPPING HOUSE, but KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB really brought literacy home for all of them. So, as a final tribute to our students and our school year together, I purchased a copy of KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB for all 12 of my students to help them remember our year. And personalized their copy with a similar inscription. Thank you for providing a valuable newsletter that teachers can use to connect our student’s learning to everyday life. Your newsletter made this year even more special for my students. Sincerely, Karen Roudybush Dear Karen - Letters like yours are special treasures to me. Thank you for sharing and we hope you enjoy your Smart Piggy’s Award! -AW *********************************************************************** NEW ACTIVITY PAGE!!!!!!!!!! This month we are introducing a new activity page to the "Activities" section of the CLUBHOUSE: THE RED RACER Find-a-Word activity Page! Enter THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link or the "Fun Bag" link. Then click on the "Activities Page" link. *********************************************************************** SMART PIGGY SHARES A SECRET / WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED NAPPING HOUSE POSTER!!! Because you are a Smart Piggy, you are the first to know! For years fans have been asking us if we would consider making prints available from our original children’s book illustrations. Teachers have asked for high quality, autographed prints for their schools; librarians want to hang prints in their children’s library sections; parents have asked for prints to decorate their children’s rooms or to buy as a memento of their children’s favorite books and collectors want fine art children’s illustration prints to add to their collections. Good news! We have decided to release a limited number of fine art prints directly from the Wood Studios. Next month (if we can get all the walls painted and the illustrations hung) you will be invited to view our brand new online art gallery! We are working hard to create a web site that will be separate from THE CLUBHOUSE. Quality fine art reproduction prints will soon be available for viewing and purchase at STORYBOOK FINE ART PRINTS from the WOOD STUDIOS. The following books will have selected prints hanging on our online gallery walls: KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB. THE NAPPING HOUSE, HECKEDY PEG, PIGGIES, SILLY SALLY and THE CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE OF SPACE ELF SAM. How to win a NAPPING HOUSE collector’s poster! We are still in the process of selecting which pages from our books will be made into fine art print reproductions. Only three to four pages will be chosen from each book. It’s a tough decision for an artist to make this choice. If you’d like to help us by letting us know what would be your favorite choices in a particular book, it would be greatly appreciated. Just send us an e-mail with your suggestions to info@audreywood.com and on the subject line write in Art gallery suggestions! Every person who helps us out in this survey will be entered in a drawing to win an autographed NAPPING HOUSE collector’s poster. Our publisher printed these promotional posters, when our book first came out in 1984. The publishers supply ran out long ago, but we tucked a few away in our art drawer. There are only a limited amount of these posters in the world. We are told they are considered collector’s items. Thanks for your suggestions! Smart Piggy *********************************************************************** WHEW! I ALMOST MISSED THAT! Have you ever left THE CLUBHOUSE with the unsettling feeling that you may have missed something important? There is a way to make sure you have visited all areas of interest to you while you were at THE CLUBHOUSE. To do this: Enter THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Lost and Found" link. *********************************************************************** AND THE WINNER IS... Congratulations to Deanna Herrmann of Orem, Utah! She won a free autographed copy of KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB from Audrey and Don Wood! MAY CONTEST QUESTION: In our book KING BIDGOOD’S IN THE BATHTUB, what type of fish are the King and the Duke fishing for in the bathtub? ANSWER: Trout! Thanks for all of your entries. Enter our August contest and you could win an autographed copy of the book, THE RED RACER. *********************************************************************** AUGUST CONTEST!!!!!!!!! DON'T MISS OUT! This month one lucky person will win an autographed copy of THE RED RACER! To enter the contest go to THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Contest" banner. If you answer the question correctly you will be entered into a random drawing. The winner will be drawn at the end of the month. Good Luck! *********************************************************************** NEW SUBSCRIBERS! If you would like to check out past Smart Piggy's Newsletters, go to THE CLUBHOUSE at http://www.audreywood.com and click on the "Parents and Teachers" link or the "Fun Bag" link, then click on "Smart Piggy's Newsletter Past Issues" link. *********************************************************************** Keep your questions and suggestions coming! Warmest Regards, Audrey Wood Info@audreywood.com http://www.audreywood.com |
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