The Evolution of My Book Dummy Part I

What would you say is the most challenging aspect about writing and illustrating your own story? Well, some might say writing is the hardest part. Others might say illustrating is the hardest part. I'm about to prove that the most complex, the most challenging part (for me anyway) is actually a combination of the two. That is, putting together the necessary book dummy. No picture book got to where it is (that is, on a shelf), without some form of a book dummy that came before it. And there's about a billion ways to make one. I'm going to share my process of making a dummy. I'm going to keep the story and title a bit vague for now, for fear of having it considered published by posting it on my blog (though I'm sure it's safe at these beginning stages, right? Anyone?).


So basically, this is how I'm starting, with a simple layout of 32 pages, the typical page count for any picture book. As long as it's divisible by 8, you're good. But generally, 28 or 32 pages is the norm. As you can see, this is just a general map to organize where I want a spreads vs. single page illustrations. I'm setting the pace of the book. And what I'm showing here may or may not change. It's just a first step in organizing onto paper what is floating around in my brain! A plan of action if you will! And we all know how plans change. A couple things to note: my story begins on page 5. Some stories begin on page 3 or 4, but mine will start on 5.

My next step will be to draw larger thumbnails and start fitting in the text and some very loose sketches. I'm going to get a HUGE sheet of paper, probably 18x24, redraw the pages, and loosely (VERY loosely) start sketching in the illustrations. I'll post a picture of that when it's done!


In the meantime, I started developing my main character who I'll call Jack. I've assigned some physical traits to him, which may or may not change. I will next complete a character sheet, to develop what he looks like from various angles. Also will post that! He may change a bit in appearance first - I'm still deciding what I want him to look like. And I think I have a great exercise that may help me develop his physical appearance. If you've never done this, it's a great exercise. I learned it in a picture book illustration with Laura Montenegro last spring. It's called "A Letter To the World", and it's written in first person by your character. It begins "Dear World..." and you just sit back and let your character say what he needs to say.

So to wrap things up, my next steps will be:
1. Larger thumbnails with pictures
2. A character sheet
3. Jack's letter to the world

I hope you find my process helpful and perhaps amusing! If you would like to download the book dummy file for your own reference, please do so:) If you'd like to share your process of making a book dummy, or if you have yours on line somewhere, please share it with me. I'll include a link for you of course!

Happy Creating!