The first week of May is National Picture Book Writing Week. The aim: to write a picture book a day for seven days. The picture book manuscripts do not have to be perfect; they’re just drafts. The point of NaPiBoWriWee (as it is affectionately known) is to get motivated to write. As always, it is hosted by Paula Yoo, who has some great things planned for the week, including Q & As with published authors/illustrators and giveaways!
Fingers crossed I will be attempting it again this year (it will be my third NaPiBoWriWee). Whereas the 12 x 12 challenge is pushing me to write a picture book a month, NaPiBoWriWee will be an even bigger challenge, since I will only have one day to write each draft instead of a whole month. This year will be even more challenging since I have one more child than I did last year and since she’s just 2 months old, and still feeding through the night, my writing time is rather sparse at the moment!
While some of my PB drafts from previous NaPiBoWriWees are sitting in folders and will probably never see the light of day again, I really love some of the other PBs that have come out of this challenge. In fact, I already saw some success with one of my NaPiBoWriWee PBs when it won second place at CYA last year. Who knows what this year will bring!
Worried you’ll be stuck for ideas? Alison Hertz (who participated in NaPiBoWriWee last year) has a great exercise on her blog to help prepare for NaPiBoWriWee.
Will you be attempting NaPiBoWriWee this year? Have you attempted it in the past? Any tips for new NaPiBoWriWee-ers?
Jo Hart - Author 
I would love to do this, Jo, but I am exhausted after the A to Z Blogging Challenge! Too bad they are so close together…hope you do well!
MakingTheWriteConnections
LikeLike
Hi, Jo. This is the first time I’ve heard of NaPiBoWriWee. Oh, it’s a USA event. I tried to write a couple of picture books once and soon realised it’s not as easy as it looks! Tip 1: there are some great resources at The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) that might help spark some ideas for those participating in NaPiBoWriWee. Tip 2: A children’s author once told me that it’s important to see the world through a child’s eyes when writing children’s books. She said the number one rule is to get on the floor. I’ve tried it and amazingly, you get to see and experience all sorts of things from a new perspective. Good luck everyone!
LikeLike