Writing so your illustrator won’t hate you (with tips from a pro!).

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably a writer, and not an illustrator (unless you are an illustrator and are wondering how not to hate yourself?). 

So it’s not your job to draw the pictures for your story.

Sounds basic, but too many authors forget and overstep what they’re supposed to be doing.  On the other hand, there are writers who go too far the other way, and don’t give the illustrator anything to work with.

Let’s look at both these types and figure out how to turn you into the kind of writer your illustrator will love!

The two kinds of boo-boos

Since I’m not a visual person (as in, when I draw stuff you can’t really tell what it is that I’ve drawn!), I’ve asked illustrator Christine Tripp, a writer and illustrator of over 50 kids’ books, to help me out in giving advice from her own experience of working with a number of authors.

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The worst advice about writing: “a writer writes.”

In the movie Throw Momma from the Train, Billy Crystal’s memorable character, a frustrated writing teacher, used to intone wisely, “a writer writes… always.”

Probably the most common advice given to writers:  “writers write.”  It’s also balderdash.

Which you realize if you consider the flip side of the equation:  if you have written anything – an email, an excuse note for your kid’s teacher, a “Lost Kitten” poster – you’re automatically a writer.

Sometimes, even the best advice is wrong.  Like when you have a baby and everybody says, “sleep when the baby sleeps.”  Of course, it’s great advice in a universe where you have nothing else to do but look after the baby.

Better advice:  a writer writes… sometimes.

When I first saw the title of this QuickSprout blog post, A Simple Plan for Writing a Powerful Blog Post in Less Than 2 Hours (yeah, I read blogs about blogging, and QuickSprout is among the best!), I was horrified. 

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