PiBoIdMo Winners

I'm one of the 160+ PiBoIdMo Winners. See my badge? Picture Book Idea Month 2010 was awesome. It will be an annual treat for me. This was my first year participating. So here's my pledge:

I do solemnly swear that I have faithfully executed the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge, and will, to the best of my ability, parlay my ideas into picture book manuscripts.

Of the 30 ideas (yes I only got 30, and just barely too) ...

• 19 are fiction
• 11 are nonfiction
• 4 are absolutely terrible, and 4 are maybe okay
• Of the 19 fiction, I'm excited about 11.
• Of the 11 nonfiction, I'm excited about 8.

Now I just need to choose my top five, just in case I win one of the three grand prizes: feedback on my best five by a literary agent! Hmmm...decisions, decisions. I'll probably choose all fiction.

For those of you that may have missed out this year, or would like to have a quick summary, here's the 30 idea generators for 2010:

1. Get out and live. Imagine! See life through the eyes of a child.
2. Break a few rules.
3. Think "little." Find your inner childhood memories. 
4. What "bugs" you?
5. Road trip game, "No, it wasn't."
6. Use puns.
7. Write poetry to flex your wordplay muscles.
8. Draw your characters, doodle, or write up a character sketch.
9. Revisit childhood misunderstandings and disappointments.
10. Play with the bad ideas, too (and think of a fractured fairy tale).
11. Listen to children.
12. Be weird and wacky.
13. Listen to your ideas. Push them if they need it.
14. Get kids to turn the page.
15. Use pictures as story starters.
16. Be open to ideas from toys and everyday objects.
17. Use music. Write a story to go along with existing pictures.
18. Think in puzzles.
19. Read a picture book.
20. Use collage to find setting, characters, and emotions.
21. Listen to yourself.
22. Describe an object in ten different ways.
23. Give the familiar a severe twist.
24. Pick an idea and finish the first draft.
25. Use a storyboard to help flesh out an idea.
26. Be a kid again. Remember your childhood and all its simple pleasures.
27. Read writer quotes to stay inspired.
28. Be funny, even it seems too silly.
29. Rewrite a picture book you don't like. Work on character.
30. Write the hook first. Try to brainstorm a new idea in under two minutes.

A big thanks goes out to Tara Lazar and all the contributors for this wonderful online event!

On a side note, my last round of library books has proven disappointing to my son. The last three or four I've read to him, he said, "Remind me to never read that one again. Mom, don't pick that one again. It's so dumb." Well, at least we have the same taste in books, even though I DID choose them. Oh, well. Maybe the rest will be good.