Ah, the beauty of Fall. Crisp apples, hayrides, upcoming family visits, free Halloween candy (shush, it’s not stealing, it’s a mommy tax).

But also, it’s Picture Book Idea Month!

Yes, I’m a pledged participant (again)!

This is a free club challenge, if you will, where those that sign up agree to come up with one picture book idea everyday for the month of Nov. Sounds easy, right? HA. I dare you!

You don’t write a picture book every day, you “simply” create an idea for one. It’s like NaNoWriMo only it’s for the children’s book industry. There are other programs in Jan and Feb for you to hone those ideas and sculpt them into manuscripts; more on them later.

Dedication is key. Well, so is creativity, but I truly believe creativity can be cultivated. It doesn’t have be an innate skill you were born with. You can become creative if you put the effort in and learn. [Shout out to Malcolm Gladwell and his Outliers concept]

The main reason I love this challenge is because it forces daily effort and commitment to writing. Carpools, soccer games, messy kitchens…they are all gonna be there. So will writing time, if you choose to make it so.

Here’s to creativity, dedication, and overall authorship joy.