FREAKY, FUNKY FISH written by Debra Shumaker
If you’re a nonfiction writer, have you ever considered writing in rhyme? If you’re a rhymer, have you thought about dabbling in STEAM topics? Sometimes it helps to change up the direction of your story.
But how?
I’m excited that Debra Shumaker was willing to share her revision journey for her very fun upcoming book FREAKY, FUNKY FISH, with illustrations by Claire Powell from Running Press Kids.
As for a little bit more about Debra: she grew up with eight sisters on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and when she’s not reading or writing she’s cooking, watching Jeopardy, taking photos, gardening, and enjoying the outdoors.
She’s also the fabulous co-host of #PBPitch, a Twitter pitch party for picture books.
If you’ve never participated...you should! Learn more about this great event here.
And now onto the fun part: the interview!
Hi Debra, thank you so much for sharing your revision journey! So first off...what is the story behind your story? What sparked your story concept?
For several years, I had focused my energy on writing nonfiction picture book biographies. I loved writing about unknown history. But in the spring of 2018, after a phone call with my agent, I felt the need to change my focus.
I had a few close calls with my biographies, but never a contract. Since I loved science, too, I started studying dozens of science/nature picture books.
After reading rhyming books about bugs, squirrels, water, leaves, etc. I thought I’d give a rhyming book a try again. (I’d written rhyme when I first started writing, but they seemed a harder sell than picture book biographies!) I remembered a fiction picture book I had written years earlier called NOT A GOLDFISH—a humorous take on a goldfish who imagined being other animals—and remembered that there were many strange fish out there.
Aha! Idea born.
How long did it take from idea to book?
Three years from the first draft in May 2018 to publication May 4th, 2021.
What was your revision timeline?
May 2018: Wrote first draft of FANTASTIC FISH during NaPiBoWriWeek (National Picture Book Writing Week - a challenge hosted by Paula You where you attempt to write a rough draft for a picture book every day for a week.)
Most of May and June: researched, wrote, revised, researched, wrote, worked to find enough odd fish features that rhyme with each other.
July 2018: Sent version #4 to two critique groups
August 2018: More revisions, sent version #7 to two other critique groups, now retitled to FREAKY FISH
September 4, 2018: Sent version #10 to my agent
October 2018: Agent asked for a few revisions on ending and suggested the title FREAKY, FUNKY FISH which I loved and helped nail the ending.
October 31, 2018: Agent sent pitch to 6 editors
November 2, 2018: Allison Cohen from Running Press Kids asked for manuscript
November: Sent to a few more editors by agent. Total of 7 editors requested to read.
December 5, 2018: Allison emails she’s taking it to acquisitions later in the month.
December 18, 2018: Acquisitions team loved it, needs to crunch numbers
January 15, 2019: OFFER! Agent emails remaining editors with story to inform of offer. All decline.
January 17, 2019. Offer accepted.
April 2019: Contract signed
April - May 2019: Text is good, two rounds of minor edits/clarifications done in back matter. Expert reviewed.
October 2019: Illustrator on board
November 7, 2019: Announcement on PW
February 2020: Saw first sketches and color cover.
March - August: Review of three rounds of sketches
September 18, 2020: F&Gs arrive
September 25, 2020: Cover Reveal
May 4, 2021: Publication!
What was the hardest part of revising?
Figuring out how to both open and close the story. I knew all along I wanted the body to consist of rhyming couplets about interesting facts about fish. Finding rhymes that worked was hard but fun—like solving a puzzle. But how to open and close the story eluded me for several versions of revisions.
The closing was especially difficult and I had two different versions for it even when I sent it to my agent. She helped me solidify both the ending and the title!
Did you have an ‘ah-ha!’ moment with your manuscript during the revision process? If so, what triggered it?
Thankfully some critique members helped me with the title. Changing the title from “Fantastic Fish” to “Freaky Fish” helped narrow down my focus to highlight odd ways that fish look or act, not just interesting facts.
Then adding “Funky” to the title solidified the “fun” factor even more.
What advice do you have for other writers? Are there any resources you would recommend to help with the revision process?
If you don’t have a critique group, find one! Every story I have ever written has only improved because of my critique groups. They help catch grammar errors, brainstorm ways to overcome issues in storyline, and support you every step of this long, difficult process of writing books.
I am immensely grateful for all of my critique groups.
I completely agree! I am grateful for every single critique partner and group that have been eagle eyes on my stories.
And now, here is one of the snippets of an early draft of this fun rhyming book with some additional thoughts from Debra...
It was challenging to find rhymes that made sense and to get the meter right. For example, as soon as I read about a fish with a transparent head, I knew I wanted to use that fact. I listed as many rhyming words as I could find and “dead” was one of them. Thankfully I discovered that some fish pretend to be dead.
So my first draft stated:
One fish plays dead.
One fish has a transparent head.
And how the final words of her story took shape...
I decided that my meter would be a stress on every other syllable, with two lines of four stressed beats. In the example above, my first line was too short and in the second line, “transparent” was throwing off the meter.
After more research, a thesaurus, and revisions, the spread in the book reads:
Some fish dance and some play dead.
One fish sports a see-through head.
It’s amazing how much of a difference some revision and additional finesse can make to two lines of text!
You can purchase FREAKY FUNKY FISH right now and get this gem on your shelves! Find it on Bookshop.org or Debra’s favorite indie store, Scrawl Books.
If you haven’t followed Debra already...what are you waiting for? Connect with Debra on Twitter (@ShumakerDebra) on Instagram (@DebrakShumaker) and be sure to check out her website for the latest updates on her story.
Thank you so much, Debra!