I recently visited my former high school to speak to senior students about my experiences as an author, and I was delighted with how enthusiastic and curious my teenage audience proved to be. After my brief presentation I opened the floor to questions, and one eager young writer asked where I get my inspiration. I’ve published three picture books so far (so far…), and each story has its own inspiration, which I am happy to share with you today.
Wild One – My debut picture book, which follows the everyday antics of an imaginative small child, was inspired by my real-life experiences as a newbie children’s librarian. Early in my career I had the opportunity to deliver story times to children in inner-city child care centers. Many of the children I visited with had never attended a library story time, and others had developmental and behavioral challenges which could sometimes make self-regulation and participation difficult. Being relatively green, my first few story time visits were absolute disasters – I came into the programs expecting to be able to deliver my regular story time, which would have required some of the children to participate in ways that they simply were incapable of doing. I quickly learned that the key to success in this environment was to harness the wiggly energies of my audience, rather than to try and suppress it. Picture books that encouraged movement and action became my saving graces, and eventually, with practice, we all finally found our story time groove.
And so, while trying to find my footing in a challenging new position, the seeds for Wild One were sown. The energetic toddlers and preschoolers I worked with danced and jumped around in my mind as I sat in front of my computer. If I couldn’t get my audience to sit still, then I’d get them stretching like a cat, bounding like a puppy, and bouncing like a hare! While inspired by a specific moment in my career and published long after I’d moved on to other roles, Wild One‘s emphasis on physical literacy and the opportunities it provides for movement, action and participation make it an ideal read-aloud for a story time in any environment. As any story-timer will tell you, sometimes you just need a story that will get those wiggles out!
A Good Day for Ducks – My second picture book, which celebrates the joys of a rainy day, was again inspired by my work as a children’s librarian, and in particular by my outreach visits to preschools in my community. Vancouver in the autumn, winter and spring is wet. It rains, and it rains, and it rains. I would trudge from the library to preschools, pulling my rolling cart filled with books in one hand and carrying an umbrella in the other, cursing the weather in this soggy temperate rainforest. And yet, the play areas of every preschool I would visit would be full of small children in their rainsuits and gumboots shrieking with laughter as they chased each other around, leaping into puddles and squelching in the mud. Nothing but the loudest thunderstorm could keep these little monkeys from getting their fresh air and exercise! After one rainy day visit I sat down at the lunch room in my library on my coffee break and wrote out the entire first draft of the book, which imagined my ideal childhood rainy day, complete with cozy pajamas and steaming cups of hot chocolate!
My most recent title, Queenie Quail Can’t Keep Up, was actually inspired by my late father, who commented something along the lines that I should write a picture book about quails, since they’re so cute and comical. I took up the challenge, and Queenie and her mama and papa and siblings were born! My father didn’t get a chance to see Queenie in print, but I know he would be pretty tickled to see the book that he helped inspire. I’ve written more about the specific inspiration behind the character of Queenie in a previous post that you should definitely check out!
Inspiration can come from just about anywhere – as a writer, you never quite know when and where the inspiration for your next story might spring up. That’s why it’s so important to keep your eyes, ears and mind open at all times, so that when something interesting presents itself, you’ll be ready!
If you’re a writer, where do you find your inspiration?
You never know how and when a story muse will strike – it is a delightful anticipation!
I agree! Thank goodness for my phone – I’ve frantically typed out more than a few story ideas on my commutes!