Welcome to the Second Annual National Picture Book Writing Week (aka "NaPiBoWriWee") event! The event officially begins at midnight on Saturday May 1, 2010 and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Friday May 7th.

From April 1-30, 2010, I will be posting an inspirational blog every
day with picture book writing tips, quotes from published author
friends, and encouragement as you prepare for this year's
NaPiBoWriWee.  For the month of April, I encourage you to brainstorm
ideas, take notes, do research, and even outline your books.  BUT... ABSOLUTELY NO PICTURE BOOK MANUSCRIPT WRITING IS ALLOWED DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL. 

In the spirit of National Novel Writing Month ("NaNoWriMo") where people across the country try to write a complete novel in one month, the fine folks at www.paulayoo.com have decided to start the first ever National Picture Book Writing Week, affectionately nicknamed "NaPiBoWriWee."

The goal? To write 7 picture books in 7 days.

All NaPiBoWriWee participants should register on my website (http://paulayoo.com/) and comment on my blogs every day with your own progress. You can also email me at paula at paulayoo dot com if you want your name to be included in the prize drawing at the end of the event. For more information on how to register on my website, go here: http://paulayoo.com/content/help-and-faqs

For those of you who participate in this year's NaPiBoWriWee, I will select several winners at random on the 7th day - those winners will receive an autographed copy of my picture books, "SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY" (Lee & Low Books, 2009) and "SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY" (Lee & Low '05). Winners will also receive fun prizes from our NaPiBoWriWee Store (http://www.cafepress.com/paulayoo) and some autographed books from famous picture book published authors to be announced soon! I also encourage you to check out our NaPiBoWriWee Store - we will have new 2010 designs for t-shirts, notebooks, buttons, coffee mugs, mousepads etc. as a way to encourage you to keep writing!

The basic rules? Just write 7 complete and separate picture books in one week. Each picture book must have a clear beginning, middle, and end. There is no required minimum word count because picture book lengths can vary from 50 words to 2000 words, depending on the genre.

Caveat: This is NOT to say writing a picture book is easy. On the contrary, it's EXTREMELY difficult and challenging to write a?complete story with a beginning, middle, and end, an original plotline, and a unique character with a compelling voice for the picture book genre. Every word has to count. Every image and every action has to speak volumes in terms of theme and deeper meaning... while still being kid friendly, fun, and appropriate for the tone of the book (be it a quiet literary picture book or a hilarious, laugh out of loud funny picture book).

Having said that... I want everyone to have fun with this! I'm not expecting Shakespeare or "Goodnight Moon." This is an attempt to encourage people to finally write that picture book they've been dreaming of... please think of this as a fun opportunity to brainstorm and finally write that first rough draft that you can go back to later and revise and improve upon. So often we  procrastinate or convince ourselves that our idea for a picture book is not "good enough." So NaPiBoWriWee is a fun way to have everyone GO FOR BROKE and write 7 picture books in 7 days and see what happens!

For everyone who has a website or blog - you are encouraged to promote NaPiBoWriWee on your blog/website/myspace/Facebook/Twitter. I only request that you provide a link to my website - http://paulayoo.com/ My Twitter page is here: http://twitter.com/paulayoo and my cat Oreo's page is here: http://twitter.com/oreothecatyoo

And for those of you attending the national Society for Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (http://scbwi.org/) conference in August, let me know and I'll arrange for an informal gathering during the conference so we can meet in person and celebrate our first NaPiBoWriWee!

To summarize, the basic rules:

1. Midnight May 1st to 11:59 p.m. May 7th: Write 7 separate and complete picture books.

2. You are NOT allowed to write the same picture book in 7 variations. Each book must be complete and separate.

3. No minimum word count. Instead, each book must have a clear beginning, middle and end.

4. You are allowed to brainstorm and research book topics before May 1st. Outlines are acceptable. First draft writing is NOT. Do NOT write your books before May 1st - only brainstorming, taking notes, and outlining are allowed.

5. You are NOT allowed to write a single word of your draft until midnight May 1st.

6. There is NO minimum word count required. The fine folks of NaPiBoWriWee require nothing but your word of honor. We will embrace the Honor Code. If you say you have written 7 complete picture book drafts in 7 days, we will believe you. Besides, why would you lie to us? You're writing picture books for little children! Picture Book Authors are nice, honest people who would never lie!

7. Please register on http://paulayoo.com/ in order to write comments on Paula's blog every day with your progress and questions. Go here for help: http://paulayoo.com/content/help-and-faqs

8. If you plan to blog about your NaPiBoWriWee journey, please include a link to: http://paulayoo.com/

9. Several winners will be chosen from random of all the people who comment from May 1-7 on http://paulayoo.com/ or who email me to request to be on the drawing list at paula at paulayoo dot com. Winners will receive an autographed copy of my books "SHINING STAR: THE ANNA MAY WONG STORY" (Lee & Low Books 2009)  and "SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY" (Lee & Low '05), along with items from our NapiBoWriWee Store (http://www.cafepress.com/paulayoo) and a couple of surprise autographed book prizes from special guest authors!

10. For those of you attending the national Society of Children Book Writers & Illustrators (http://scbwi.org/) conference in August, let me know and I'll arrange for an informal gathering during the conference so we can meet in person and celebrate our first NaPiBoWriWee!

Good luck and I look forward to writing 7 picture books in 7 days with everyone!

And keep coming back every day in April, where I will be posting 30 blogs in 30 days with writing tips, advice, inspirational quotes from author friends, etc.

Happy Writing! Write Like You Mean It!