Growing Together–Part I
Greetings to all, and to all, the most hopeful and bright New Year!
Why do we humans make New Year’s resolutions? For lots of reasons, I suppose. But I think nearly all of them could be summed up by saying we want to experience growth and change. And of course, in our work, we do grow and develop—otherwise we might never enter an art contest or submit our work to publishers. Even so, growth and change aren’t easy for most of us. I would maintain that often there are habits, self-perceptions, or fears (EEK!) that thwart us from our own desired growth.
You know how sometimes a word or phrase will keep showing up in your life, and you start to wonder why? Well, lately what keeps showing up for me is that pesky concept of “getting out of your comfort zone.” It pops up in my reading and in conversations, and I am forced to reckon with it—even in my house.
Over the past few weeks, our home has been in upheaval. The original diagnosis: cracked boiler. The solution: a completely new forced-air heating system. My husband and I have felt defeated some days, due to the progressive destruction of walls and ceilings, the dust that creeps—seemingly even between magazine pages—and the noise that batters.
But there has been an upside. We are examining how we use each room in our house and what we truly want our home environment to be. Truth is, I hadn’t spent much mental energy on what surrounded me in years. Much to my surprise, I’m now quite energized by the changes that are necessary—the empty spots crying for a new piece of furniture, the chance to reconsider paint colors, and so on.
So yeah—back to writing and art. At Prairie Writer’s Day, I invited everyone to think back over the day, take some “aha! moment,” and use that insight to work in a new way for a few weeks or months. For example, one person’s insight might have been, “I’m too lazy about character development, so for the next week, I will not write a word of my story—I will just work on knowing my characters.” Another person might have scheduled herself to work away from home one day every week—to declare victory over the temptation of laundry.
As we ring in the New Year, I’d like to invite you to identify at least one way you wish to grow in your work. And be as specific as you can. Make sure there’s an action you can take. Want to know my “homework topic” for 2010? Here goes…I write from my head way too much. I write from my heart way too little. It’s a scary thing, to focus on the stuff that really matters to you, or the stuff that would really show people who you are. I have often “kept my distance” from the heart of my own writing—but it doesn’t serve me to do that.
So a few months ago I got an idea for a book vastly different from others I’ve written. The subject matter just grabs me and holds me. I love to imagine a kid learning from this book, and having a good laugh besides. I keep toying with sidebar ideas…when I’m supposed to be figuring out what’s for dinner. So I am going to pursue this manuscript— not because I’m sure it will sell, but because I will love every minute of it.
This writing life is so rich—especially if you enjoy sharing it with others, as we take a break from Butt In Chair. And one of my joys of 2010 will be to share the creative journey with all of you—in small ways like this.
Here’s to our hearts, our heads, and our productive hands,
Lisa Bierman
Co-Regional Advisor
SCBWI-Illinois
Of course, children’s book creators live and breathe change. We know too well: If our characters don’t change, if they’re not different for their journeys, there isn’t a story.
Beginning 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 4, several of our Chapter’s authors take to the stage at the Family Tent in Chicago’s Millennium Park to read aloud their recently published picture books in this first-ever, eleven-week 11 a.m.-to-noon Readers Circle partnership with the City of Chicago and Target. 
Much like the story’s star, Sallie too was stuck, for more years than she’d probably care to share, believing in her story yet unable to find that one like-hearted, like-minded responsive editor.
