Love a pet.
Take lots of photos of pet.
Create pet’s own Instagram.
Believe people when they tell you you should write a story about pet.
Choose precious filtered photographs for illustrations.
Draft a manuscript.
Research self-publishing.
Pay an editor to edit manuscript.
Pay a book designer to lay out your “book”.
Join SCBWI.
Purchase software because you think you can actually build your own website.
Get refund on software because you realize you have no idea what you’re doing.
Pay a website designer to build a website for you.
Yep… it gets worse…
Ask a real-life, amazing author who you don’t really even know to give you feedback on your book.
Beta-test your “dummy picture book” with friends.
Continue to believe them when they tell you it’s good.
Receive a real-life, incredibly thoughtful manuscript critique from the real-life, incredibly kind author you hardly know.
Go catatonic for a few months when you realize you have not written a picture book at all.
Crawl under a rock when you realize that you presumed you could write, publish, and sell a picture book when you actually have very little understanding of what it takes to do this.
Sheepishly re-read – over and over and over again – the amazing wisdom and suggestions the real-life author makes about learning and studying the craft of writing for children.
Start signing up for webinars, online courses, and craft workshops on writing picture books.
Panic when you realize you have a website almost ready to go live that says you’re an author.
Ignore and procrastinate finishing the website, hoping a Picture-Book Fairy will turn you into an author overnight.
YOU
DID
WHAT?
Take more courses, read Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books and admit what is true: You are a newbie.
Reach out to fellow students in one of the writing courses and explore starting a writing group.
Start writing down story sparks that pop into your head every day screaming: This would make a great picture book!
Find the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge and Storystorm 2021 and start envisioning more realistically what is possible.
Re-start.
Commit to WRITING everyday.
Writing picture books is easy!
NOT!
I am blessed with an amazing husband who continues to say “Write!” One of my sisters has been a Kindergarten teacher for over 30 years and she keeps telling me “You can do this!” But it took the “real-life author” (you know who you are!) who prompted me to look critically at what I was trying to do and who gently showed me that writing picture books is a craft. I understand now that to practice this beautiful craft, I should commit to learning how to do it well.
I begin this year humbled, hopeful, and truly astounded by the generosity and encouragement of the picture book community.
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
… Perhaps learning is the journey AND the destination! Keep stretching and growing and you will find your voice!
You have done all of this, as you always do in life, with thoughtful precision. You continue to learn and though you may take two steps back, you continue to take three steps forward. I have every faith in you that you will see this through.
A blessing to be going through the journey of learning with you AND OF COURSE, Penny!
Looking forward to following your journey my friend ❤️
You are a thoughtful writer and will succeed. Just maybe not as quickly as you would like. We know your love of the subject.
My heart is filled with joy as you take this big next step. So happy you shared it with us.