I am very often asked whether the story or the pictures comes first with a book. Obviously the Katie books are a bit different, because I have to choose THE PICTURES before I can write any story, or do my own illustrations based on them.
With Katie in Scotland, I expected the process to be more traditional – story then pictures. But I struggled. I could not develop a story that I felt worked, nor include enough about Scotland to please my publisher. It seemed I was failing from all points of view.
But the recent trip to the Highlands changed everything, and I came back with a much better – indeed passionate – understanding of what would work and what would not. And so I have worked a little differently. Rather than trying to perfect a text and then add images I have worked on both at the same time, developing a narrative around the key images I HAD to include and including the unmissable iconic things about Scotland that struck a chord with me. The process took a little longer and the text will still need editing, but it was a very satisfying process.
I began with thumbnails, planning the whole book as a sort of visual strip-cartoon. and I suppose I did slightly help having several unseccessful drafts of text in my mind, as some sections were kept.
The sketches were pretty skimpy – I didn’t want to invest hours in them in case my publisher doesn’t like the concept. Once the structure is approved I can put elaborate on these early doodlings and produce more carefully considered roughs, where necessary. I think this is an apporoach I’ll try more often and it has resulted in a match between words and image at a slightly earlier stage of things. I must also remond myself of the importance of being there and seeing things. I couldn’t have got this far without visiting the real (and wonderful) Loch Ness!
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