Facebook

I have dipped my toe into the world of Facebook. Check out my author's page at Daryl-Lynne Gottier, I will try to keep it up-dated with fun information for writers, teachers and nature lovers alike.

PiBoIdMo

I was thrilled with the challenge of Picture Book Idea Month. Thank you Tara Lazar and all the wonderful guest bloggers that made it happen. I completed it and have 30 new ideas to start refining. I also won a prize, a picture book ms critique!

My word for the year- CHALLENGE

I recently heard Jon Gordon speaking about New Year's resolutions on the Today Show (yes, I was procrastinating when I should have been writing!) He suggested that while resolutions are often broken, people find success in choosing a word to guide them through the new year. We decided to try this in our family. My word was inspired by this tree we saw in Arizona...it is Challenge. I would like to challenge myself to grow, to expand, to try things outside my comfort zone and to get more writing published. I may need to bend, twist and change direction but like this tree, I will not break. I will be stronger for it.

Enough Said...

"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives." ―Clay P. Bedford

Early Storytellers

We were lucky enough to spend some time in Arizona recently. These petroglyphs are about 1000 years old. What stories were the artists trying to tell us? Was it a time of sadness? A full moon? Was the stork part of a creation story or merely a heron eating a frog? How amazing that the desire to tell a story was so strong then and still is now!

PiBoIdMo is Off and Running

Picture Book Idea Month is off to a roaring start. I have read inspirational blogs, educational posts on Facebook and even a few pins on Pinterest. People have suggested all kinds of places to find those elusive ideas- everywhere from classic fairy tales, to childhood memories and walks in the woods.

 It sounds like I have spent far too much time on my computer, but not so! I have come up with a few ideas worth playing with.

I also want to share a few links that I found helpful.
Vikk Simmons on her blog Down the Writer's Path had some wonderful suggestions for where ideas might be hiding.

A question was asked about how to write in rhyme if it doesn't come naturally. I might suggest sticking with what does come naturally, it will seem the most honest and will show in the quality of the end result. Several good on-line resources were suggested for writing in rhyme. These included:
Lane Fredrickson's RhymeWeaver.com
Harold Underdown's link to Margot Finke
And finally The Meter Maids

Getting Excited About PiBoIdMo

Picture book idea month is coming in November. I participated last year and diligently (and sometimes painfully) came up with a PB idea each and every day. Well, it's coming again...

The information about registration and logos (by author-illustrator Joyce Wan) by just arrived from Tara Lazar at www.taralazar.com/piboidmo. I'm looking forward to having 30 fresh ideas by Dec. 1!