Forgot to post when this article went up on the Writers Rumpus blog – hope you enjoy!

When faced with a new project that I’m not sure how to approach, often my first instinct is total avoidance. All of a sudden, the household tasks that I’ve been successfully ignoring – sink full of dishes, laundry waiting to be folded – begin to take on an air of new importance, as if they really need to get done right this very minute. Spoiler alert: they don’t.

Wait long enough and the dishes will do themselves!

The laundry doesn’t even want to get folded.

I’ve found that when this happens, I need to find a way to trick myself into working. Over the years (and with the help from many SCBWI workshops) I’ve developed some go-to activities/exercises to get past the fear of starting and to get myself into a better mindset.

Here are some things I’ve done recently when trying to get my brain to settle down:

List-making:

Sometimes the best cure for the fear of the blank page is to fill that page up as quickly as possible. Making lots of lists can keep me from editing before my pencil hits the paper. I’ll tell myself “This stuff doesn’t matter – it’s just warm-up stuff. You can toss if it you want!” But often, new ideas will emerge from this process that I couldn’t have gotten to any other way.

You could try making lists about:

• unique locations for your story
• what is inside your character’s purse or in their medicine cabinet
• problems that a character could have
• solutions to that problem
• potential names for your character’s new rock band

Some lists of things to look up for a new project!

The key is to get it down as fast as you can, no editing your thoughts. If you get a list of 20 things, there may only be one or two that appeal to you – but that’s better than nothing! After all, you can’t edit a blank page.

Looking for more ideas? Check out this book by Jaime Zollars:  IlLISTration: Improvisational Lists and Drawing Assists to Spark Creativity.

Sketching lots of variations the same thing:

Drawing lots of variations of the same thing one way I can get myself to stop thinking and to just get my pencil moving. This can also be sort of a visual version of listmaking.

I’ll pick a simple topic, maybe chickens, doors or coat racks, quickly find a bunch of reference material, and draw as many as I can, one right after another. Some resources for reference material include:

• Pinterest or google image search (just don’t fall down an internet rabbit hole!)
• furniture catalogues or magazines
• Books like 642 Things to Draw or 642 Things to Write About can help take away some of that initial “what do I draw?!” decision-making when you first sit down.

Coat racks from THIS OLD HOUSE magazine! Which one would your character pick? What would they hang on it?

Filling the well:

I first learned about this concept from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. If I spend too much time with my butt in a chair, I start to feel a bit depleted. I’ve found that I need to find ways of going out into the world, allowing myself to be curious – and only then do I have the mental energy to focus once I’m back at my desk. Here are some things I’ve tried:

• Reading more books in and out of my target market (I create picture books, but recently I’ve read middle grade, adult fiction & nonfiction… as well as lots of picture books, of course). Having trouble finding new books to read? Try looking through Goodreads lists, talking to your local librarians and putting out a request on Facebook to ask your friends about recent books they’ve enjoyed. (For even more ideas, check out this excellent post Don’t Forget to Read! Writer’s Rumpus post by Laura Fineberg Cooper!)
• Getting outside: taking a walk, planning a visit to a museum, show, farm, nature preserve, botanical garden or some other interesting place!
• Flipping through a magazine I’ve never read before. Your local library might have a surprising selection – I know mine did!
• Making plans to spend time with friends, both in & out of the kidlit world. Socializing with family & friends can help you get out of your own head, especially when you’re treading water on a new project.

Do you find you need to trick yourself into getting your pen to hit the paper? What kinds of creative procrastination have you tried?

My debut picture book, THE BREAKING NEWS (Roaring Brook/Macmillan) comes out in April 2018, but you can see the cover for the first time today!  Tara Lazar, author of lots of great books and the leader of the Storystorm challenge, graciously offered to reveal the cover on her blog.

Here are some early sketches below – to see the final cover and to learn more about the process and inspiration, check out the cover reveal post here!

I’ve reached day 70 of my second run at #the100dayproject … and I’m taking a breather!

Over at Writers’ Rumpus I wrote a post about the balance of creating everyday and then periodically taking a break. If you’re on break from whatever you were just doing,  check out the article here!

It’s been a year since I began the #100daysofdrawingonphotos project… and I’m doing it again!

Inspired by #the100dayproject coordinated by @elleluna on Instagram, I’ll be taking a photo each day and drawing on it (mostly in Photoshop, but sometimes using the Procreate app).

I’ll be posting daily through the end of July on Facebook & Instagram (follow along @thereul, #100daysofdrawingonphotos).

As of the writing of this post, I’m up to day 7 – here are a few favorites so far.

All of last year’s 100days are gathered here. Hope you enjoy!

Finally had the chance today to compile some of the  #tinydragonpaintings I did last fall! Check out the updated page here.

Hoping to get a post up soon about the Museum of Science Forest Animals mural – was super fun to see it in person last month!

Update on my 100days project, #100daysofdrawingonphotos! I’ve compiled them (all 102, due to counting errors:) to a new page on the website.  Hoping to have some prints available soon, so definitely contact me if you have any favorites.

It’s been busy over here with under-wraps book projects and some other fun stuff I hope to be able to share at some point.  New posts coming soon on my other recent personal projects, #tinydragonpaintings and my in-progress attempt at #inktober (see sporadic updates on Instagram under my account @thereul!).