Strange that I enjoy drawing with pencils now. I've always been a pen and ink sort. Lately, I find it hurts my hand to really grip and control the felt tip markers I use, while drawing with pencils seems so much looser and freer. In any case, I am grateful to be able to bring Puddle and his friends to life.
One of the best things I've ever done to improve my writing is to use the Text to Speech function built into MS-Word. I'm still using Word 2010, but this feature is also available on Word 2013 and 2016. Here is a great little YouTube tutorial by Britec09 demonstrating just how easy it is to add and use this feature to Word.
Using Text to Speech allows you to instantly hear your grammar and spelling mistakes, extra words, left over plurals, run on sentences and left over fragments. It also lets you hear if your story is flowing or floundering. Great, great stuff! Using the function for editing has saved my bacon so many times, it's not even funny. I'll edit and edit, and tweak and tweak, and be so sure that This Time my story is Perfect. When I have the simplest robot read my story aloud, I find mistake after mistake.
So, at least for crappy editors like me, Text to Speech is a Godsend. I highly recommend you try it.
Well, I've started the drawings for my newest Puddle the Pig story. I decided to start with the easy stuff. So, here is a drawing of Rascal. He tries to lead Puddle on a shortcut through a brier patch. Poor Puddle's skin gets chewed up like a peach pit on a red ant pile.
So, my next question is color, or black and white? Since there is nothing to print in an eBook, and electrons are cheap, I'm leaning toward color, but black and white is classic for kid's read aloud story books. What do you think?
PS
Yes, that's Ranbone the Raven peaking into the frame lower right.
PPS
Notice the single prickly thistle sticking up over the rock. Visual foreshadwing.
Rodney Robbins here. I just finished editing "When Pigs Run." It's another Story from the Five Acre Farm. This time, all poor Puddle has missed breakfast and all he wants is a bit of something to eat. It just doesn't go well for him. He get's led into a brier patch, he almost drowns in a swamp, he gets left behind by a poodle and more. Will he ever find Farmer Wilson and get something to eat? We'll see.
This great read aloud story will be the first illustrated Puddle the Pig story. I've scared myself half to death worrying about making good illustrations. No more! I'm just doing to have fun and get them done! Here is the type of thing I have in mind. More soon.
