How To Write A Powerful Children’s Book, with Authors Claire-Voe & Kendra Ocampo
Writing a book is hard. Writing a good book is even harder. Writing a good book for children is in many ways even harder than that.
So it’s rare for me as an adult nonfiction author to have a children’s book catch my eye as an example of good writing. The last one that comes to mind was B.J. Novak’s The Book With No Pictures. The latest one just came out this month: Mighty May Won’t Cry Today by Claire-Voe & Kendra Ocampo.
The irony of the book’s title is that as an adult, it might actually make you cry. Mighty May is more than a fun kids book; it’s an opportunity to shift perspective in the way that the TV show Modern Family altered viewer’s perceptions of what’s different about having gay parents vs. straight parents (it turns out, not much, aside from other people being weird about it). In both cases, the story and writing came first — not some sort of heavy hand — and that’s why it works and stays true to real life.
Even if you don’t write for kids (or TV), I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from writing like this. So for this month’s author interview, here’s how Claire-Voe and Kendra Ocampo write:
What rituals, if any, do you have as writers?
CVKO: Put kids to sleep. Heat up spinach and artichoke dip. Get comfy in bed. Grab laptop. Start typing. Eat tortillas. Repeat.
What’s your writing toolkit?
CVKO: Laptop, printer, paper, a red pen, and peace and quiet!
What was your process for putting together MIGHTY MAY WON’T CRY TODAY?
CVKO: It didn’t take very long to come up with a right idea. We knew we wanted to write a book that normalized a family with gay parents as we rarely found these stories in children’s books that reflected our family. We read all kinds of children’s books to see the style we liked and what meant the most to us. We also read many LGBTQ books to make sure we didn’t duplicate what already existed. That’s how we came to the important part of our story: that it’s about MAY and not about how May’s moms or her family are different. We also researched what crying means, and why it’s important.
Writing the story: We wanted to get the storyline and message right first before continuing forward. This took a few months to draft and finalize the manuscript.
Reaching out to friends and family network for creative inspiration for storyline: We were connected with our network throughout our writing process. We asked friends what topics would be unique and new for an LGBT children’s book. Once we decided on crying, we asked for example of moments when their kids cried. Some of our most powerful examples in the book (when May misses her bus stop on the way home) happened to one of our best friends’ kids! We also reached out to teachers and school psychologists for their input which was very useful in learning more about kids’ behaviors.
Editing: We asked a few close friends to read the script and provide constructive feedback. We hired a children’s book editor to review the script
Illustrations: We found a fabulous illustrator that really fit our creative style, story and theme. Before hiring, we first reviewed character designs to ensure the illustrator brought our character to life. The illustrations followed a very specific timeline: book storyboard with storyline and placement of imagery. The script had to be completely finalized before going into the storyboard because the illustrations are built around it. We also had several rounds of illustration revisions to review: the rough sketches, the color schema and then the painted artwork.
What did you learn while writing it?
CVKO: It helps having a wife who is also your co-author for collaboration, ideas, commitment and sharing workload!
Find an illustrator who can bring your characters and story to life, has awesome work ethic, and is easy to work with because they’ll be with you every step of the way
Kickstarter is a great way to get supporters, raise awareness about the book and pay for some of the illustrations
More than anything it takes discipline and a ridiculously good timeline to write and come to full accomplishment.
Where do you go for inspiration?
CVKO: The library and the bookstore! We would pour through books to look for ideas from illustration placement to color schemes.
What’s the favorite thing you ever wrote?
Claire-Voe: I wrote a few poems in high school about coming to terms with my sexuality and issues surrounding it
Kendra: My wedding vows
What’s the first book you remember loving?
Claire-Voe: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Kendra: The Giver by Lois Lowry
What’s your best piece of advice for writers?
CVKO: Don’t let life get in the way of you trying to make something you believe in.
Don’t cut corners: really invest in making the best quality book that you will be proud of
What do you want written on your tombstone?
Kendra: “Bring the past for judgement into the thousand-eyed present, and live ever in a new day.” –Emerson
Claire-Voe: “How YOU doin’?” — Joey Tribiani
