IN THE SHOES OF... Natascha Biebow

What's life like in someone else's shoes, or bunny slippers? This month, Feature Editor Françoise Price invites author Natascha Biebow to tell us about her day.

Natascha and her dog Luna at the laptop

6:45am

Weekday mornings start early, making breakfast for my son. My dog Luna and I share tea and toast – well, just toast for her! I check my WhatsApp for any family messages, and briefly look at my emails. After a quick tidy, we set off for the park.

8am

I love starting the day with a walk! It gives me time to ponder the day’s tasks and daydream about projects. Today, I’m trying to find different ‘ways in’ to a new non-fiction picture book about elephants so that it will connect with kids. I do a lot of writing in my head like this, because most days I’m focussed on my editing business, which pays the bills, and I tend to write in chunks when I’ve got time.

The park with Luna

10am

Time for coffee and breakfast! This is one of the highlights of my day (especially if it’s sunny, and Luna and I can sit in the sun spot in the living room) because it’s another moment of thinking time before getting busy with work, volunteering and family. It’s a good time to review ideas in my notebook.

10:30am

Time to get to my desk. My partner and I share the office space – a shed at the bottom of the garden. Today, I am coaching one of my two AllStories mentees. I love storyshaping because it’s creative and collaborative, and very varied! Working with other authors also helps me to hone my critical thinking about my own writing.

To prepare, I think about my mentee’s story and look at my bookshelf to choose our mentor texts. This is one of my most comforting routines – I love how the books ‘speak’ to me.

My shelf of book friends

11am

I hop on Skype and we connect. My mentee is developing an artwork style, so we look at some examples of how illustrators create appealing children using bold colours and pencil line. I share some tips on how to age down the main character.

Next, we read the manuscript aloud. Since our last session, the author has done a big re-write. With these changes, various elements have unravelled. So we swap ideas about how to strengthen the story arc, bring out the character’s motivation and discuss adding recurring phrases to create a pattern.

I share some mentor texts to show my mentee how this might work in their story. Internalising how other authors use craft elements skilfully is a great way to get unstuck and level up your craft!

1pm

Lunch is usually a sandwich and salad, fruit and importantly, a piece of dark chocolate for that afternoon boost. Luna gets some tidbits too! 

My weakness is dark Lindt chocolate

 

I answer emails while I munch. On any given day, I will answer enquiries from new clients about a Detailed Editorial Review or coaching & mentoring with Blue Elephant Storyshaping, correspondence with the Five Quills team about ongoing projects, give feedback to authors on whose work I am offering editorial expertise, or field requests from teachers and librarians for virtual school visits for The Crayon Man. As Co-Chair of SCBWI British Isles, every day I check in on the global forum, answer queries regarding forthcoming events and provide support for the large volunteer team.

 

The office shed

2pm

Time to get stuck in to the next project. Today, I am line editing and reviewing a couple of stories. I often see recurring mistakes, such as rhyme driving the story rather than vice-versa, episodic plots where there isn’t enough tension or a clear climactic turning point, or underdeveloped character motivation. My goal is to empower authors to level-up their craft and acquire tools to apply to their work by using examples from mentor texts. I also do market research to see what other picture books are already published on similar themes, which helps both them and my own writing. 

I’ve read something yesterday in National Geographic that’s sparked my curiosity so I spend about half an hour first checking if 1) anyone else has done a picture book about it (they haven’t), and 2) doing preliminary research to see if it could be a viable non-fiction topic (maybe). 

[Picture credit: www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine]

3:30pm

I feed Luna, make a quick to-go tea and snack and hop in the car to pick up my son from school. While I wait, I check in on Instagram and the Publishers’ Weekly Children’s Bookshelf round-up to see what’s new. On the way home, we enjoy a rewarding few moments of time together, catching up on our days and the latest tennis news (my son loves tennis!).

4:30pm

An exciting email lands in my in-box. I’ve been selected to participate in the GLL Literary Foundation programme that will provide authors with training and opportunities to connect with local libraries and communities. I am a regular library go-er and have got to know my local librarians.

6pm

We eat dinner early and enjoy some time to catch up on our days. It’s also Luna’s playtime! Playing with the dog makes us all laugh and helps me tap into the innate playfulness in young children. It is such an important part of being a creative writer. 

 

6:45-9pm

I am teaching my Cook Up a Picture Book Course, so I need to set up lighting in the shed and grab my mentor texts.

Teaching the course

It’s our 5th session so the course participants and I have got to know each other a bit. Tonight we have a lively discussion about what to do when you are ‘just’ an author and can’t add the illustrations. How can you create a read-aloud text that stands on its own and allows space for the pictures? Should you add lots of illustration notes? I suggest that it’s about the author’s choices and creating those vivid scenes so that the reader (child, parent, editor) can clearly envision the story; the illustrator will add even more depth and layers.

 

9:30pm

Now there’s time to check in on family and chill out. Today, I listen to Mac Barnett’s humorous speech and reading as he is made the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.  I am always looking for ways to keep promoting my book, so I ponder connecting with the librarian to perhaps collaborate on something for National Crayon Day. 

Bedtime for Luna!

Luna has tucked herself up in her crate. I finish each day with my book. Reading helps me feel calm and centred. Today’s library pick is latest Dales Detective mystery, Date with Justice by Julia Chapman. I admire the author’s characterisation and world-building.

 

Cover of Date With Justice, by Julia Chapman

10:30pm

As I fall asleep, I very often work through writing problems in my head. Tomorrow will be a completely same and different day!

*Header image by Tita Berredo and Ell Rose. 

*All other images courtesy of Natascha Beibow.

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Natascha Biebow MBE is an experienced children's book editor, coach and mentor and founder of Blue Elephant Storyshaping. She loves to help authors and illustrators at all levels to shape their stories and fine-tune their work pre-submission. She is the author of the award-winning nonfiction picture book The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons.

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Françoise Price is a Feature Editor for Words & Pictures magazine.

 

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Ell Rose is Illustration Features Editor of Words & Pictures. Contact them at illustrators@britishscbwi.org

Tita Berredo is the Illustrator Coordinator of SCBWI British Isles and Art Director of Words & Pictures. Contact her at illuscoordinator@britishscbwi.org