Another Picture Book Idea Month Has Come and Gone. Sigh.

Well, it's December 3, and that means November is no more. I've never done NaNoWriMo, but I do enjoy a good PiBoIdMo — the Picture Book Idea Month (aka November) that comes around every year now, thanks to founder Tara Lazar.

This was my third time participating, and I tallied my ideas on Sunday: 38 with 4 series in the mix. Not bad! I did come up with more in both 2011 and 2012, but still . . . 38 is not bad at all. It's good, even.

As I've already shared elsewhere, I announced my magic number to my husband with an enthusiastic "I win!" (note: anyone who makes it to 30 ideas wins this game, as well we all should) — and his immediate response was "Are you going to write them?" Of course he truly meant that in the most positive, encouraging way. But I admit to thinking (and then telling others, and now you) that I could have used a quick minute to enjoy my victory before launching an action plan for turning my little seeds into full-blown story gardens. Or something like that.

In any case, I will do this again next year and, I hope, every year — regardless of how long the event itself lives in the kidlit writers' community. It's such a fun challenge, and the benefits are tangible. The exercise is a great way to make yourself focus on idea generation, and I find that it also helps me come up with story ideas for different levels/audiences, as well as ideas for spicing up whatever I happen to be writing at the moment. Creativity begets creativity, and work begets work, and that's just the way things are.

How about it — did you do PiBoIdMo this year, too? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments!