#FirstDraftFriday with Lynne Marie

Lynne Marie is here as our final #FirstDraftFriday guest of 2024. She has quite a tale about how her most recent picture book, BROOMMATES, came to be. Read on to get inspired and then draft your own picture book manuscript today.

BROOMMATES, written by Lynne Marie & Brenda Reeves Sturgis and illustrated by Nico Ecenarro, is available now from The Little Press.  

To order or learn more about Lynne, visit LiterallyLynneMarie.com. 

Lynne is generously offering a manuscript critique prize for someone who completes a draft today! Details on how to enter at the end of this post.

Welcome, Lynne! Can you tell us a little about your book? 

There's room for improvement when witchy sisters Mathilda and Malin share a broom, and a room! One's bright and airy, the other dark and scary! Each sister knows exactly how they should decorate. Unfortunately, their disagreement ends in disaster and a broken broom. Will they ever find a way to meet in the middle?

What inspired you to sit down and write the first draft of this story?

While the story was inspired by my sisters, it was written at a time that I was challenging myself to write about humans as opposed to just anthropomorphic animals. Like with many things, baby steps was the best approach and I wanted to jazz up the “human” aspect to a story to make it what I consider a bit more creative and more fun. I was thinking about things from my life I could write about and the word RoomMates came to mind, which immediately morphed to TombMates and drew upon my love for mummies and Ancient Egypt. After I finished that story about two brother mummies, I drafted BroomMates about two sister witches. BroomMates just happened to be the one I sent out first, and TombMates is now being considered.

Do you dive right in and start drafting when you have a story idea or do you let it stew for a while?

I am not one to write a story until it’s solidified in my head for the most part, so the answer is always that I let it stew. I consider the characters, the setting, the flaw, the motivation, the stakes, the plot, the complications, the actions, the deep dark moment, the twist, the satisfying resolution, and more. Once I have a good sense of it all, I will start putting words down, but I don’t want to get caught up in the words until the story is fairly straight.

While you mull over an idea, do you do any pre-drafting or brainstorming exercises to help you flesh it out?

I often do word web exercises to give me ideas. If I don’t do them at the brainstorming phase, I will for sure do them at some point to make sure I have covered or at least thought about covering all the related aspects of a character, a setting, a problem, etc. 

I have also, from time to time, done a flow chart, if I need to look at something visually. But usually, I just work it out in my head first. 

Do you remember what you thought of your first draft of BROOMMATES when it was done? Did you think it was a winner or were you not even sure you’d keep working on it? 

Yes, this is one of the stories that I immediately thought had potential. It was relatable, had tension, was fun / funny at times, had a good message with takeaway value, and a Halloween tie-in! But I should note that I originally wrote it in prose and then transposed the story to rhyme along with my partner in rhyme Brenda Reeves Stugis.

Can you share an excerpt of your original manuscript that changed significantly and how it appears in the final book?

Unfortunately, I had a computer crash and lost all drafts prior to 2020. So I cannot put my finger on them. The takeaway value to this is to work in Google Docs or back up your work with a reliable source.

However, I did not necessarily think it needed a lot of work, but rather the publisher who requested work from me had a lot of books in rhyme, so I thought it would be prudent to send a rhymed version. They did like it and gave an R & R, but Brenda and I didn’t want to have the girls on the broom throughout the narrative, so we declined and submitted elsewhere. Thankfully, the next publisher (The Little Press) loved it the way it was, and accepted it . 

But I can tell you that when Brenda and I first put it in rhyme and felt good about it, we went over it eight more times to tweak words and meter.

What is the hardest part of writing a first draft for you? And how do you deal with that?

Hmm…I’m not sure I find one part of the process hard per se. I do think writing a wonderful story is difficult (but also cathartic) at its core, so I don’t necessarily expect it to be easy. For me, ideas are plentiful, so perhaps the challenging part is figuring out which one will be the most marketable and salable given a certain publisher or the current market. I could be crazy, but I love first drafts when a blank page changes from nothingness to a story.

As a writing mentor I often come across people who attach themselves to their first idea, rather than entertaining several ideas and picking the best, most marketable and geared for success, one. So I do want to recommend choosing your idea wisely, and making sure it’s one that you can do justice to, from beginning to end, before you fall in love with your own words.  

What are your tips and tricks for getting that first draft committed to the page?

I do have a picture book skeleton that I am willing to share. Once you have these elements in place, it is easier to write a solid story that will stand up. Of course, there are other checks and balances, but this one is a good start!

And speaking of starts, now is the time to start writing because it's #FirstDraftFriday!

To enter for a chance at a free picture book critique from Lynne (<750 words), do the following by 10 pm ET today (Dec. 6, 2024):

1. Follow me on Bluesky (if you are on it! If not, I hope you'll consider joining the growing #kidlit community there. I'm leaving Twitter.): @holliewolverton.bsky.social
   

2. And follow Lynne at any of the following: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/WordsandPictures.by.LynneMarie

   TWITTER: https://x.com/Literally_Lynne

   INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/literally.lynne.marie/

   GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4848931.Lynne_Marie

   
   

3. Complete a full picture book draft

   
   

4. Return to this blog post and comment that you’ve completed your draft and provide your Bluesky or Twitter handle or full name. You will need to Sign Up/Log In to leave a comment (it’s easy - just an email and password).

   
   

You don’t need to send in your draft or provide proof - we’re all about the honor system here! The lucky winner will be randomly drawn from the comments and announced on Bluesky and Twitter shortly after 10 pm ET tonight

Happy drafting!