Hello, lovely Pagers
It makes me so happy to have you join me every ten days. Thank you. I hope you’re well.
Today, I’m sharing my responses to some questions posed last year by a university friend of my daughter’s who is studying education with an elective in picture books. She was looking to add something extra to an assignment by way of an author interview. (I’ll tell you how she went at the end.) Her questions about working with an illustrator seem to link nicely to this previous post.
Picture books are complex, compound texts due to the important interplay between words and images. In your work, do you prioritise words over pictures, or vice versa? Or does one enhance the other?
When I’m working, I’m focused on the words because that’s my job. My intention is to create an interesting story with a pleasing rhythm and some kind of emotional impact. In the back of my mind, I know the story will be illustrated so there are things I don’t need to include because the illustrator will provide those details. For example, at the moment I’m working on a story about seahorses. One of the most striking things about seahorses is their beauty but I’ve not included a single word about their elegant appearance because the illustrations will capture that. In a successful picture book, the words and pictures work in tandem to engage and move readers. Both the written and visual texts are essential. Design and layout also play an important part.
How do you balance your writing with the illustrator's work? Is there an amount of creative freedom that the illustrator has?
I write the best story I possibly can, fill it with the most delicious words, and then I pass it on. I never spend long describing a setting or a character’s general appearance because that will be shown in the pictures. I try not to include many illustration notes unless a publisher or illustrator asks me to clarify something. My words should convey the feeling of the story and the main actions; a skilled artist can fill in the rest. I want an illustrator to enjoy the creative process as much as me, so they need the freedom to do that. If they’re bored, constrained, their illustrations will be stiff and one-dimensional. I don’t interfere with the illustration process unless I’m asked to. It’s not my domain.
Is it challenging to convey how you would like certain characters, settings, and graphic elements portrayed to an illustrator?