William Stafford’s poem, A Course in Creative Writing, does what great poems often do – reveal to us a truth that we’re too caught up in life to see.
A week or two wouldn’t pass without an email in my inbox – how do I get into children’s publishing? And, the internet is full of helpful (and expensive) courses, masterclasses, & tutorials that promise to teach storytelling for children. Yet, the emails still come.
My story is not like the others. I never followed any of the advice. I never set out to fill a market need. I never researched publishers. I never even thought about children’s publishing as an end goal. All I did was make stuff I liked, then told people about it. The rest isn’t history, it’s a career.
Whilst I do believe that there are some fundamental skills one can learn when it comes to storytelling – structure, character development, the mechanics of writing and drawing – what cuts through is originality and authenticity. How does one find that? Well, perhaps William Stafford already has the answer?