:: Picture Book Idea Month ::

Ever since I was young, I was always pretty comfortable drawing. It came natural. It's easy to be good at something when you have confidence.

Unfortunately I lacked the same conviction with my writing. As hard as I try, I have great difficulties honing and crafting my written ideas. My problem stems from my obsession over details. I need to communicate all ideas clearly, concisely, and perfectly. That is a lot of self-imposed pressure.

Confession - tweeting is actually quite laborious for me. I write and rewrite all my tweets many times before hitting send.

I fully understand and recognize the magic, power and beauty of well placed words. Great writing can communicate complex ideas with brevity and style. Great writing can paint fantastic worlds without a paint brush. Most importantly great writing can inspire. And that is what I want to do, oh so very badly.

Well, something changed exactly one week ago...

I signed up for PiBoIdMo. "Picture Book Idea Month" is a 30-day challenge for picture book writers. The concept is to create 30 picture book ideas in 30 days. There are over 700 participants world wide!

This fun month-long exercise has allowed me to write freely without all the pressure. The result has been absolutely amazing! I have written down and sketched out a dozen solid picture book ideas. I have also completed three written manuscripts and most importantly I am really happy with my writing!

So thank you Tara Lazar. Thank you for curing my writer's block and providing me confidence to write. You are a star!