Today is the first day of PiBoIdMo! There is a wonderfully inspirational post up at the blog here by Carol Hampton Rasco. She is the President/CEO of Reading is Fundamental (RIF). I have wonderful memories of the RIF program when I was a child. I would cherish the books I received. To learn more about RIF please click here.
I woke up at 4 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep for a while. The post for PiBo wasn’t up yet, but I felt inspired. I grabbed my sketchbook and started jotting down the ideas. After a bit I came up with 3 ideas and a few little thumbnails. One was a very good idea that I am hoping to really expand on. Then the PiBo blog post appeared in my feed! After reading it, I was inspired again, and 2 more ideas flowed! Yay! I love days like that don’t you?
Some people have asked how I do PiBo. I usually start with a sketchbook. I think visually, so usually I have a picture in my head first. Then after that the words usually flow. My pages in my sketchbook end up looking a bit messy when I am done with my scribbles and doodles. But it doesn’t matter. This is the brainstorm stage. I don’t need to be bothered with details at this point. I just need to feed that muse 🙂 Here is a photo I took this morning of some of the doodles and writings I did.
I ended up with 3 full pages of this. At the end of PiBo, I usually go back and pick out the drawings I really like and start writing and expanding on the ideas I’ve written down. Everyone who participates does it differently. You just have to figure out what works for you! Good luck to all participants, and also good luck to everyone participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). November is such a creative month!
Tara Lazar 01/11/2011
“I woke up at 4 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep for a while. The post for PiBo wasn’t up yet…”
I thought posting at 6 a.m. was early! Looks like I might have to post at midnight for the insomniacs (which is sometimes ME)!
Loni 01/11/2011 — Post Author
Hi Tara! Yes, that would be cool if you could set it up like that. I’m a night owl for sure 🙂
Stacy S. Jensen 01/11/2011
I can’t draw, so I think it’s fun to hear about your process. I normally don’t sleep with the iPhone next to me, but am this month. I jot down ideas in the “note” or memo section. I’m also using 3×5 index cards to write down ideas. Best of luck to you.
Loni 01/11/2011 — Post Author
Hi Stacy!
That is a great idea. One friend said they bought a waterproof pad and pen and have it near the shower! Wherever the ideas happen, we need to jot them down however we can! 🙂 Good luck to you also!
Monica Carnesi 01/11/2011
Best of luck with PiBoldMo, Loni! I haven’t officially signed in, but will try and participate as much as I can.
Like you, I usually start with a sketchbook too 🙂
Loni 01/11/2011 — Post Author
Hi Monica! Thanks for stopping by! Best of luck to you also.
sketched out 02/11/2011
That’s very cool, Loni! I work similarly, by leading with the sketching. I created a dummy pb by sketching the story first, visually finding the arc and rhythm. Afterward the writing came more easily. I already knew the story, now I just needed to tell it.
Funny though, I forgot to employ this technique to PiBoIdMo. Thanks for posting this and reminding me. I’m going to start doing that tomorrow!
Loni Edwards 05/11/2011
That’s great Linda! I hadn’t thought about doing a dummy that way. I think I would have a lot of success with that technique. Thanks back to you 🙂