Sketch Day 3 - Bernie

Sketch Day 3

I have been a little scared to try drawing Bernie, but I decided I might as well give it a try. I don't like the body, hands or feet much, but the face is pretty close to what I want.

One of the challenges in visualizing Bernie and Tish is whether I think trolls are more human-like or less human-like.

Sketch Day 2 - The Waterfall

The Waterfall

Sketch Day 2

I went for a very different scene today. This is the waterfall behind which Granny Mac and Tish live. (The stream which leads to the waterfall is the Lillygusset for those who like names, and this is Lillygusset Falls, though it is quite small.)

I am experimenting with sketches at the same time as trying illustrations, and this is my try for more abstract surfaces. I kind of like it, though I am sure there is more I could do to emphasize the light on different rocks without getting too concrete. Still, I am quite proud of this one. Maybe tomorrow I will even try Bernie. 

Maybe.

Sketch Day 1 - Granny Mac and Tish

Sketch Day 1

As many of you know, I am in the middle of polishing a novel for middle grade (7-12 y.o.) kids. It is called Reach for the Sky, and it features two troll children, Bernie and Tish. I decided that rather than sketch random stuff, I am going to try to visualize some of the characters and scenes from my novel each day. This is very experimental, as part of my passion for learning to draw is trying to figure out what Bernie and Tish look like. I'll also try sketching where they live, some of the obstacles they face (giants! dragons!) and perhaps a map of where there adventures take place.

Tish lives with her Granny Mac, and I decided for my first day to try drawing the two of them. This is somewhere between drawing and sketching, and we will have to see whether all my sketches are like that or some are more or less detailed. In case you wonder, this is not really how I see Granny Mac and Tish looking, so I may have to keep trying to get them closer to my internal (and very fuzzy) image.

Still Life with Convoluted Cow

Art class has finally started up again after the holidays, and our first project was a mixed up sort of still life. Our instructor likes these because she thinks it helps get you away from the idea of the thing to the reality of the thing. She is always telling us to draw what we actually see, not what we think we should see.

I am fairly happy with this, especially because I captured more of the character of the odd clay cow than I thought I would be able to. (It has horns and udders, so I am choosing to call it a cow, though it is possible it was intended to be some other animal entirely.)

I am also hoping to do a sketch-a-day, though I likely won't do them the days I do art class. The subject of those sketches will be revealed when I post the first one.

To worry or not to worry, that is the question

There are many things to worry about as an author. A few of them are actually important, while many are probably irrelevant. For example, my two Bernie & Tish novels (almost ready for queries) are aimed at the 7-11 age bracket, generally termed "middle grade" although definitions of that vary. 

For those ages, there are a few guidelines I've gleaned about what to avoid:

1. No sex (overt romanticism and crushes are okay, but keep off the bases)
2. No profanity (even if 11 year olds you know swear, teachers might read this aloud)
3. Violence should generally be off screen (opinions vary)

Then there are guidelines about what to include:

1. Make it exciting
2. Friendship is very key to this age
3. Themes of growing up and independence (different than YA independence, which is more about leaving home and going out on your own)
4. Learning your power and how to use/not abuse it (not superpowers just regular powers)

But then there are more random worries, and I have no idea of their actual importance:

1. Novel length - I am aiming for 30,00 words for my novels, which may be the right length and may not be. Is that really important to kids? Is it important to agents/publishers? Not sure.
2. Chapter length - I aim for 1000-1300 words in a chapter. That feels right to me, and it seems like whether a teacher were reading aloud or a kid were allowed one chapter to read before bed, consistency and predictability would help. Is that really important? Is it even the right length? I am not sure.
3. Innocence - My stories are relatively innocent and straightforward. Some modern middle grade books seem to fall into either far more complex or far more violent/scary/disturbing than I like. Is that what kids want today? Is it what publishers want? Am I underestimating my audience? I am clueless, but write stories the way I enjoyed them as a kid.
4. Language - I write by instinct and experience. Do I use too many big words? Too few? Out of date terms? I don't really know. I have read a lot of books for this age, so I think I am okay. The MS Word review says the Flesch-Kincaid reading level is 4.4, and while I don't put a lot of stock in that as it mostly has to do with words per sentence, etc, it is right about where it should be.

Where your characters live

It helps to know where your characters live so that you (and your readers) can visualize their lives. Here's a snippet from Reach for the Sky, which I am revising for a second time.

Not always a straight path

I am busy revising Reach for the Sky, and I made this to remind myself that it is not always a straight path to the end result you want.