A Beginner’s Mind
Professional artists & amateurs have something in common, they embrace a beginner’s mind.
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities. In the expert’s mind there are few.
-Shunryu Suzuki
Beginner’s Mind
Inspired from the classic Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, the beginner’s mind provides artists with the real secret of the arts; always be a beginner. Put simply, when an artist never stops learning and growing, they are able to cultivate a mindset that nurtures inspiration and play throughout their artistic endeavors.
Whether you practice art as a hobby or working professional, it’s important to maintain a beginner’s mind so that you can continue learning new skills and sharing your knowledge with others.
Last Week’s Newsletter Recap
Last week, we discussed getting bit by the Picturebook Bug and tips for beginning to dip your toes in the wonderful world of children’s literature. Whether it be for writing and/or illustration, these tips are helpful in establishing your baseline in your own personal journey.
We discussed finding your “Why?”, and procuring a “Notebook” for writing and “Sketchbook” for drawing.
This week, we’ll be covering the topic of learning.
Learning How to Learn
If you’re anything like me, more than likely you are beginning your journey in writing and illustrating for children as an adult. Do you remember the year you graduated college? Yep! It’s been a while, but now that you’ve been bit by the Picturebook Bug, you’re ready to just dive right in. I mean, you have to strike when the iron’s hot, right?
Recommended Resources
For Writing
If you are interested in learning or improving the craft of writing for children, I suggest the following books and resources (in no particular order of precedence):
Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul
Ann Whitford Paul is an award-winning author and will help you develop the skills in storytelling and publishing.
Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon
Lisa Congdon is a bestselling author, artist, and illustrator and brings her expertise to this guide to the process of artistic self-discovery.
Find Your Artistic Voice helps artists and creatives identify and nurture their own visual identity.SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writing and Illustrators)
I would be remiss without mentioning SCBWI, which is an excellent resource for beginning writings and illustrators.
SCBWI is the preeminent membership organization for children’s book creators. We are a global community of writers, illustrators, translators, publishers, librarians, advocates, and other industry professionals working to establish a more imaginative and inclusive world through the power of children’s literature. Founded in 1971, SCBWI has more than 22,000 members worldwide.
Personally, I have found SCBWI to be helpful in providing industry-specific advice and unparalleled knowledge of children’s publishing. For example, SCBWI has the “Book”, which is an essential guide to publishing for children. Additionally, they have newsletters, podcasts, interviews, and many more resources to help you in your own personal journey.
Perhaps the most exciting are the Winter and Summer SCBWI Conferences in New York and California, respectively. Many of today’s amazing authors and illustrators were discovered at an SCBWI conference, including the incredibly prolific Dan Santat, who received a 2-book deal in 2022 from Arthur Levine during an SCBWI Conference! You can read about his experience here.
Here’s an excerpt taken from the wonderful blog Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast by Jules published on 27 May 2014:
“I graduated in 2001 and grabbed my first job working in the video game industry, while working on my art portfolio every night after work at home. One year later, I attended my very first SCBWI conference with a dummy book I had been working on for about three months and met my editor, Arthur Levine, at the conference portfolio display show. He gave me a two-book deal a week later. The dummy book was The Guild of Geniuses. The second book was what became Sidekicks.” - Dan Santat
Just for fun, here’s a recent photo of Dan and I in Houston, TX during his tour promoting a first time for everything, which by the way, is a National Book Award winner! Way to go, Dan!
Final Thoughts
Since this publication is rightfully titled, Just One Thing!, we will only cover the aforementioned writing resources. In our next newsletter, we will discuss resources for Illustrators, including classes I highly recommend and tips for learning.
To close, I encourage you to continue learning and embrace the Beginner’s Mind throughout your own personal journey in writing and/or illustrating for children.
Thank you for reading Just One Thing! If you found anything useful in particular or would like to share any thoughts, please feel free to do so in the comments.
Ross
I shall be seeking out those two books and looking forward to devouring them. Thanks for the recommendations. 😋
Thanks, Robyn! I'm sure you'll find them useful.