(Set) Design Within Reach by Jason Kirschner

I've recently started a new day job. (woot!)  I'm a set designer by trade, and I've started on a new television show (that I think is going to be great btw) but the hours have been LONG. As a consequence, I haven't been doing much work on my books and my mind is preoccupied with set stuff. And here it is...my week to blog. It seemed unfortunate until I started thinking about the way my day job informs my night one--that is how my set design training impacts my writing/illustrating. I thought I'd share a couple of things.

My first takeaway is one that I go back to really often, especially when I'm stuck.  As a set designer, when I’m sketching out a scene-- any scene— whether it's a Late Night skit, Hamlet Act IV scene iii, or “Luck be a Lady” from Guys and Dolls,  I don't start with the set or the lighting or the special effects. That's kinda huge, no? The set designer doesn't start with the set!  So where I start? I draw only what’s necessary to depict the action of the scene. If I'm designing Romeo and Juliet Act II scene ii, I know right away that Juliet has to be up on a balcony, forlorn and wistful. Romeo is down below about to surprise his true love. Not much else is needed to tell the story in that scene. (And Baz Luhrmann would tell you you don’t even need the balcony. He did it with a pool.)   I'm not worried about what the backdrop looks like or the lighting or the style of architecture that best describes the palace. That's all icing on the cake.  The same holds true for any two page spread in any picture book. Establish the characters' relationships correctly and put down on paper only what you need to complete the action in the script. Once that's solid you can get to bells and whistles.  I always draw characters first and backgrounds second. (It has nothing to do with the fact that I don't like drawing backgrounds. I pinky swear.)

Rough Sketch "Luck be a Lady" circa 1997. Don't judge harshly

Got the characters down. The emotion is clear.  Backgrounds come later.

Here's another. Did you ever notice how most classic sitcoms open every episode with an exterior shot of the house where the main characters live? Then they fade into a wide shot of the living room or the kitchen where we can see all the characters?   I love that they take the time to do what’s called an establishing shot.  It’s on the screen for maybe a second but it's SO vital. It tells us where we are and quickly defines some parameters for that world. Maybe that status quo is a deserted island with 7 castaways, movin' on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky, or a Miami bungalow with four elderly divorcees. (I watch a TON of Nick at Nite.) Then once we understand where we are and what the status quo is, they cut to a close-up of a main character where they can do more character work. Close-ups are also better for comedic situations so you can see more detailed expressions. Conversations occur on a two-shot (where two characters are in frame.)   I think all of this applies to storytelling picture books as well.  Establish your status quo on a wide framed illustration.  Zoom in for character moments or funny stuff.  It really does work.

Establishing shot of the Brady Bunch house.

Establishing shot of Mr. Particular's house.

I think good storytelling is good storytelling and it transcends media type. I'll try to come up with a few more for a future blog.  This is all I've got for now.  Remember -- I've got that new job?  Long hours?  Geez.  Give a guy a break, will ya?


By day, Jason is a set designer for television, with credits that include The Meredith Vieira Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. By night,
Jason is an author and illustrator of children's books. You can find his debut picture book, Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion on shelves in bookstores everywhere. See more of Jason's work at www.jasonkirschner.com. Follow him on twitter @jason_kirschner .

Small Crisis - by Jason Kirschner

I am facing a little bit of a dilemma right now. A small crisis of faith. I'm a guy with a family and a day job who wants to write and draw for kids. I'm passionate about it. I do it in my spare time, weekends, late nights, Arbor Day. I've got one book out and it’s doing ok.  People are buying it and based on reviews, liking it! But … it hasn’t made national news or a best-seller list but if you’re reading this blog, odds are that you've heard of it.  And I’m proud of it.  I believe in it.  I think the work is strong.

Currently,  I’m working on some follow-up projects.  I have ideas.  Lots of ideas actually, but there was one I was drawn to the most and I decided to concentrate on that. It’s the kind of story I like — silly and nerdy and a bit wordy.  I’ve finished a manuscript that made me laugh. I’m in the process of drawing the dummy now and I like how it’s progressing.

And still, my mind wanders back to the first book often.  The one that’s on shelves but not “breaking the internet” in any way, shape, or form.  This new book is written very much in the same vein as the first.  Not the same story or characters, but I think stylistically they’re cut from the same cloth.  I wonder if I’m making a mistake.  Should I infer some lesson from the “not huge success” of the first book?  Should I change my style? Should I be trying something completely different?

A sketch from the new project--and also sorta how I'm feeling (minus the tutu.)

I’m not sure of the answer here.  When I first started trying to write and illustrate books, I tried very hard to make the kind of books that I saw on the shelves. I was probably imitating more than creating.  I was so frustrated that I was making the kind of thing that I saw in the stores and yet I couldn’t sell a thing.  So I took a small leap and created something I really loved.  I honestly thought it was going to be an exercise or a practice project of some sort.  I didn’t think anyone would ever bite.  But they did!  I thought I’d found the secret.  Make what you love!

But based on early sales, not as many people love it as I’d hoped.  I’d hoped there would be one in every household across America. It didn't happen. There could be loads of reasons why.  I'm a first time author.  Perhaps I didn't market it perfectly?  I've learned a lot on that front for next time. (Also see Mike’s brilliant entry from last week for help there.)  But part of me thinks that if the work is out there and it’s appealing, then people will find it.  It might be naive but it’s the way I feel.

So…some questions.

Also from the new thing.

First off — what’s my goal?  If it’s to match J.K. Rowling’s sales, I’ve failed miserably.  If it’s to get my books in the hands of kids that might love it, I think I’ve done that. In fact, I know I have. I've seen great reviews and received kid drawings that tell me it's true.  Ding!

What to do with the new project?  Should I scrap it? Do I rewrite it and make it more stylistically different from the first?  I think I am going to rewrite a bit.  Just a bit.  I won’t make it something I don’t love or just imitate what I see on shelves but if you just ignore what you’re seeing in the world around you than you're burying you head in the sand. Ding?

So. What have we accomplished here?   Believe in your work.  Write what you love. Know the market.  Know how to market. I know all of this isn’t new ground for writing/illustrating blogs but it was my week to blog and this was much cheaper than therapy. Much appreciated and Happy (belated) Arbor Day!

Jason Kirschner is the author and illustrator of Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion from Sterling which you can now find on shelves in bookstores everywhere. Get your own copy and see more of Jason's work at jasonkirschner.com.

The Reward - by Jason Kirschner

    So…I wrote this book.

It's a total mess. I know.

    I spent hours and days and months writing and revising in my little attic studio until I had the text exactly as I wanted it.  And then I started to draw. And draw. And draw until the illustrations were just as I envisioned them.  We sold the book (yay!) and then I began to revise and revise and — you see where this is going.  There was a LOT of time up there alone in the attic with only my cats for company and, quite frankly, they’re not the friendliest.  We didn’t get into Wilson the volleyball territory but I wasn’t that far off.  Then, one day not too long ago, the book was released into the wild.  There were social media posts and tags and tweets and someone opened the door to the attic and said “Come on out buddy.”

    And I did.  I made it out of the attic, had a shower and a shave, and moved on to promoting the book.  This largely meant book signings and school visits. I was nervous. Would I read the book well? What if I lose my place on the page. Would I keep their attention?  Do you banter with kids? Which shirt in my closet looked friendliest? Plaid seemed wrong somehow.  And what if no-one came?

    But all the hand wringing was for naught.  People did show.*  Plaid turned out to be ok. Some kids do banter and I had no reason to be nervous.  Why?  Because kids are great!! That’s why we write for them.  After months of talking only to cats, I had forgotten.  I forgot about the random comments and questions.  The utterly astonishing non-sequiturs.  Their absolute need to tell you about their pets and grandparents.  The tidal wave of sound that occurs when you ask a group of kids ages 2-9 any hypothetical question. Most of all, I forgot that I LOVE those things. 

See? Plaid was ok. @ Little City Books.

    So now I sit up there on my little stool and read my book. I ask lots of questions along the way and provide many many points of audience participation.  If you have a question, don’t save it until the end — I almost encourage the interruptions now. And except for the one kid that brought me his booger mid-book, (not making it up) I’ve not been disappointed. 

Kid-made superhero banners.

    This is the reward, people. The kids are the reward.  I did a school visit today (shout out to Slackwood School!) for 200+ kids that made banners and superhero signs for me.  They listened and laughed and cheered at my story.  Some asked me about how they can become authors too. Others asked about character creations and plot points. One kid asked what a rutabaga was.  SO MANY questions. All about my book…the one from the attic, with the cats and the volleyball.  The book I doubted myself about regularly.  They loved it. It made my heart happy.

    I can’t wait to get back to my attic and write another one.

Pierre

*Full Disclosure: There was one book signing where no one except my grown cousins showed up. But we went out for burgers so it was all good.  Thick skin people. Thick skin.

And fine -- I did have a volleyball friend.  His name is Pierre and he accepts me for who I am. Happy now?





Jason Kirschner is the author and illustrator of Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion from Sterling which you can now find on shelves in bookstores everywhere. Get your own copy by clicking here and see more of Jason's work at jasonkirschner.com.

The Journey - by Jason Kirschner

If you know me, have heard of me, follow me on social media or just exist in a realm that picks up on my psychic vibrations, you may have heard that I wrote and illustrated a book that officially launches next week but is (surprise! surprise!) on shelves everywhere as we speak.  I have not been at all shy about this.  In fact, if I could sing, I’d have fellow D2PB’er Mike Ciccotello play jazz piano while I crooned about it.  It is, with very few exceptions, one of the things I am proudest of.
 

Photo Credit: Barbara DiLorenzo

I went into a bookstore with my wife this past Friday and saw the book on a shelf “in the wild” for the first time.  As I posed for a few selfies with my book, I reflected back on my journey so far with Mr. Particular.  And make no mistake —it is a journey.  I hope Mr. Particular and I have further to go together, but we’ve also come along way.

It’s my thinking that this journey, this campaign to get published for the first time,  is a series of successes.  There are the bigger achievements — winning awards, signing with an agent, selling your first book, your first good review.  Those are the ones you celebrate, the ones you savor and clink glasses over. 

Most successes, however, are small — teeny.  I’m not even sure you notice all of them as you go along.  A few might only be recognizable in hindsight.  You have to think hard to remember a positive portfolio review, or when yet another zany book idea woke you at 3 a.m.  It’s easy to forget the morning you nail down a plot point that’s been escaping you or the evening a slight change in your color palette makes everything mesh the way it should.  Goodness knows that the small text revision you made yesterday changed it all, but no one hung streamers when it happened. Rest assured, it’s still an achievement.

Post sale, there are more small tiny wins.  You might get the perfect person to write your back cover blurb or a mention on the right blog. It’s a win when you see proofs that prove you’ve finally got the colors right. And although you may not mark the day in your calendar, I promise your heart will swell, just a little, when you see your name on the spine of that book for the first time.  There are F&Gs to pass around and marketing campaigns to launch and promotions to be completed. And then you walk into a bookstore and there it is…on a shelf. And a kid picks it up and starts to read it and you feel like the journey led somewhere worthwhile.

(Then of course you have to ask the kid to put the book back on the shelf so you can take a picture with it. “It’ll just take a second kid.”)

I’m sure everybody’s first book experience is different, but no matter what path they took, I promise it was made up of  little victories.  All those little wins count too. They're all part of it.  And what that means is, even if you're not published (yet), you’re already on your way.  Try to remember that the little wins aren’t really so little.  Its a journey.

This is the print. Fun right?

Jason Kirschner is the author and illustrator of Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion from Sterling which you can now find on shelves in bookstores everywhere. Get your own copy by clicking here and see more of Jason's work at jasonkirschner.com.

ONE MORE THING-- Send me your selfie of Mr. Particular or post it on Facebook or Twitter and tag me and I'll enter you in a contest to win a signed 8"x10" print of our titular hero!  I'll pick 5 winners on May 27t

Facebook:  Jason Kirschner 
Twitter: @jason_kirschner

 Instagram: @jkirsch118

What's next? by Jason Kirschner

“What's your next book going to be about? Where do you come up with the ideas?” Someone asked me this recently. I’m sure each of you has been asked some version of this at one time or another.  I’m snarky so I usually just make up some answer about my cats writing most of my stuff and move on.  But my first book launches really soon,  (May 10th --7 weeks and counting people.) and I’ve been in the planning stages of my next project(s). I find myself asking “What’s my next idea? What do I want to work on?” 

This is the book people. Took me 2 1/2 years.
I'm still sweating.  

One of my biggest takeaways from the whole experience with Mr. Particular: The World’s Choosiest Champion is that writing and drawing a book takes a LONG time.  I can say I’ve truly loved just about every second of it but…it’s a tremendous amount time, 2-3 years or longer from inspiration to publication.  I’ve drawn Mr. Particular about 40,000 times this year.  But –I still love him. In my mind, the only way to make it through this process is to LOVE LOVE LOVE what you’re working on. You should know and love your characters because of or despite their little quirks.  

I think 40,000 times might be underestimating.

So – where do I get ideas I love so much that I won’t lose interest?  How do I decide what I want on my drawing table for next for the next 2-3 years?  I start with a few things.  

I tend to think about my kids a lot. They are a breeding ground for good ideas. If you don’t have kids, consider renting.  I try to look for bigger concept rather than specific incidents. Specific happenings tend to weigh me down and make me inflexible about changing details for the good of the story.  Mr. Particular is based on the choosiness of my kids but not really any one occasion.  I’m now in the middle of a manuscript about my daughter’s tendency to throw tantrums, but not on any one specific tantrum.

Here's two elements right here - kids + sci-fi.
 Hmmm.  I just got an idea for another book. 

A good title is also a great starting point for me.  I like puns a lot. Too much, probably. I recently heard a story on NPR about Witzelsucht (a mental condition marked by the making of puns and poor jokes http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/witzelsucht) and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that they were talking about me.  But, I digress.  I try to think of playful jokey titles that will set me on a path towards a good story.  I know a funny title will always make me pick up a book to investigate and I hope others will do the same with my books.

I’ve previously mentioned my membership in Nerds of America, so I feel no shame in saying that there are certain genres I love. I love outer-space adventures, superheroes, time-travel stories, and monster movies.  Elements from these types of stories float through my head at all time.  They take up a LOT of room.  Its why I forgot your last birthday, I assure you. When I can, I like to tailor my stories to include fantastical things because I tend not to lose interest in these things. 

Seriously- these are my doodles. Space girls, space dogs and,
apparently, guns that shoot bubbles.  Very effective 

I also keep a file on my phone’s notebook app so I can write down any of the gems that occur to me so I don’t forget them.  My memory is awful.  I have forgotten the topic of this blog at least twice since I started typing.  The odds that I’ll remember today’s brilliant idea tomorrow are slim to none.  Write them all down.  That way when you are considering your next project you can refer to an amazing list of ideas that you can’t for the life of you remember having.  Its like magic.

So in short, I try to find something about my kids (who I love) that I want to write about.  I mix in some nerdy sci-fi elements (that I love) and find a funny title (that I also love) to wrap it all up. It will keep you interested and invested for the long haul. And if you’re blocked, refer to a list of all the ideas that you loved when you wrote them down, but just can’t remember.  As always, I hope you find something useful here and anything you hated was written by my cats.

(Mr. Particular: The World's Choosiest Champion is available for pre-order at Amazon.com, B&N.com or grab it at your favorite bookstore on May 10th.)

Evil little buggers aren't they?

Website:  jasonkirschner.com

Facebook:  Jason Kirschner

Twitter: @jason_kirschner
Instagram: @jkirsch118

Q&A - Jason Kirschner

Jason Kirschner
www.jasonkirschner.com

Hi everyone. I'm Jason -set designer, illustrator, author, comics enthusiast and occasional maker of kale chips. This is my first ever blog entry so bear with me.

Any Good news?
Yes!! My very first picture book, Mr. Particular:The World’s Choosiest Champion will be in bookstores everywhere on May 10!! It's the most exciting thing that's happened since the birth of my kids and the invention of sliced bread.

Mr. Particular's Cover!

What are you working on?

I am working on a ton of stuff--or maybe it just feels that way. I'm always juggling a bunch of things which keeps it really interesting. I’m working on a new picture book manuscript that I really love. I've dipped my toe into the “trying-to-write-a-middle-grade” pool-- not sure how that's going to turn out. I've got some magazine illustrations on my plate. First and foremost, I’m working on all of the marketing and promotions for  Mr. Particular, which is due out in May people! I can hardly wait. Mix in a day job, my lovely wife, and 8 year-old twins and I barely have a second to spare.

What inspires you?

Well...it's just us here so I feel I can admit something. I'm a...a...nerd. I grew up reading/watching/inhaling comic books, sci-fI and fantasy. If someone made a pork chop in outer space I wanted to know about it. And so as a “grown-up,” I love delving into those worlds and trying to make my own small additions to those genres. Mr. Particular is my shot at writing superheroes --with a dash of personal experiences and a kidlit twist. The pb manuscript I'm working on is drawn from a love of “monster movies” and the middle grade is my outer-space adventure.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Petri dishes of inspiration I live with and provide meals for...my kids. They're a constant source of ideas. Anything from everyday occurances to strange turns of phrase can spark ideas. If you don't have kids, I highly recommend visiting your local megamart and picking some up. Very useful.

Mr. Particular - Interior page

Super...Raccoon? Not sure. I just liked that it looked like he was wearing a mask.

If you were an animal what would it be?

It's probably the most widely picked answer but I'd probably be a dog. I really like having my back scratched. Not my ears so much- but i’m open to it.  I eat most things out of bowls and I'd bet I'd like the crunch of kibble. Ooh- and I'd love one of those plaid doggie coats. They always look so comfortable. Not sure about the little booties though. I like bare feet.

I will share, as a bonus, that my daughter would like to be a giraffe and my son, a penguin.

Just a girl and her space lizard.

Your Picture book process: Do the words come first or the images or both?
I think the image comes first. I'm an illustrator first. I still look behind me when anyone looks in my direction and says the word “author. I usually start with some character sketches so I know who I'll be writing about. I feel like I can hear their voices a lot better when I know what they look like. Then I go to the manuscript. I try to get that to a really finished place before I start a dummy. Otherwise it's an endless cycle of revision. Once I feel the manuscript is done-ish, I start the dummy. It's sort of freeing-- like drawing someone else's script. I don't have to worry about word changes or plot revisions. When it's all drawn, I can go back in and edit. I tend to be able to edit out a lot of words once I see the pictures. Not sure if you can tell but, like me, my manuscripts are...um…wordy.

Hopefully a bit self-explanitory - except for the dog.  What's he doing?

Who are your creative influences? address either your illustration or writing or both influences.

My take on Nanny Piggens.

So many. I taught myself to draw by copying comic strips like Jim Davis’s Garfield and Charles Shultz’s Peanuts. Like I said, I'm a tremendous comic book nerd so artists like John Byrne, Alan Davis and Art Adams had a huge influence on me. And in the kidlit world, first and foremost, I love love love Maurice Sendak. The way he drew kids was a revelation to me. My other real kidlit love is Lisbeth Zwerger. One of my set design professors turned me on to her long ago. Her take on things is always so different than anything I would have ever chosen… And, of course, super-beautiful.

See more of my work or get to know me better at:

my website: www.jasonkirschner.com

Facebook: JasonKirschnerStudio

Twitter: @jason_kirschner

represented by Rachel Orr at Prospect Agency www.prospectagency.com