Erin Dealey

Hi Friends,

I’m so honored to be a part of #kidlitzombieweek! Partly because I know firsthand what it’s like to dig up an old manuscript. Believe me, with 20+ picture books and more on the way, I’ve buried my share of projects and I’m sure there will be others. (Cue the bugle player: “Taps”)

Sometimes you re-read a manuscript and realize those rejections were right. Sometimes you wonder what absolute genius wrote it!  (Short answer: You.) Most of the time, you end up somewhere in the middle. You know there’s a diamond in there. But how do we find it?

Go back to kindergarten.  

Remember the joy of playing with clay? We got lumps of clay and rolled them into snakes (or pretended they were zombie guts!) and sometimes coiled them into cups or vases. Sometimes we smushed whatever we had created and started over. I’m willing to bet it didn’t matter that you didn’t know what you were doing. It was just fun.

Sometimes we adults lose sight of the fun in creating. We just want that agent. That book deal. That YES.

But a potter doesn’t just throw one messy lump of clay on a wheel and call it art. Right? The same thing goes for a manuscript. Sometimes we need to smush it down and start over and over. And over. But NOT because what we’ve created is wrong. It’s actually OK to not know what we’re doing. It’s part of the process.

There’s a reason we call it Language ART.

You know that zombie manuscript you dug up? Approach it like an artist. Find a sketchbook (If you’re like me there are abandoned sketch books or blank books hiding in your house.) I prefer blank pages to lined paper. Write your story out longhand, just as an artist starts with pencil sketches. Format it like a poem—even if it doesn’t rhyme. Doodle in the margins. Write the entire story in a circle. PLAY with the words.

Here is a page from DEAR EARTH…From Your Friends in Room 5 (Illus. Luisa Uribe/ Harper Collins.) Language ART is messy.

Sometimes you have to pull everything apart.

My next book, SQUIRREL DRAWS BIG FEELINGS (Beaming Books/ Illus. Luciana Navarro Powell / Coming Spring 2026–> Look for a cover reveal next month!) began in 2020 as a manuscript about a quarantined Bear, inspired by the fabulous chalk art Luciana created on sidewalks in Bellingham WA during the pandemic.

But even with Lu’s amazing illustrations, editors didn’t think COVID was going to last long enough to warrant a picture book. Also, I couldn’t help noticing there were already a lot of bear books. >sigh<  We tucked it away.

I pulled the manuscript out again as we emerged from our homes, and it seemed that everyone was a lot more cautious. Worried. Anxious. From Kinders to adults, we seemed to have lost our social and emotional skills. What if chalk art could help Bear cope?

WAIT JUST A SECOND. There we go with the bears again. What to do?

I smushed up my story. I pulled everything apart and got messy. At first I made Playground the main character. But then Squirrel showed up and couldn’t sit still. What if chalk art calmed him down? And what if Porcupine felt the pricklies? And –that thing about three— what if their friend bear had ROARful days? Now we were on to something.  

This week we’ve been asking you to rethink and reSEE, and suggesting ways to revive your manuscript zombies. I’m asking you to get messy. Dig in. Computers are wonderful tools but sloppy copies and revisions are a real and necessary part of making language ART. Early drafts and rejected manuscripts are NEVER wrong. They are the clay.

What will you make today?

Say it with me friends:

Writing is a Language ART.

Now go and play with those words.

*****

BONUS video: In case you need proof of ALL my zombies….

Did we mention a #Giveaway #kidlitzombieweek prize?

I’m offering a Winner’s Choice prize of either a pb critique or an AMA zoom, so be sure to hop back over to the main site or to Process (probably rules or the FAQ) to see how to enter and PRIZES..

Also check out all the other posts from awesome authors AND find US on BlueSky at @kidlitzombieweek.

PS Huge thanks to Kaitlyn Sanchez and Team Zombie!