Inspiration Isn’t Enough
Hello, PB Rising Stars fam and happy August! It’s hard to believe that it’s mid-August already!
Before we get into the INSPIRATIONAL post today, if you missed last month’s post by Virginia House Bergquist about how it’s never too late to follow your dreams, you can catch up HERE.
Now, depending on where you’re reading from, you may have already sent kiddos back to school, or gone back yourself. We’re half and half around here. Kailei’s kiddos just recently went back, but Ebony’s little guy still hasn’t returned. But in general, most will be back within the next few weeks… and as school is getting back into session, we thought this blog post was especially timely.
We don’t know about you, but for us, it can be tricky to balance creating books with family/home life.
Not to mention a “regular” 9:00-5:00 job, community responsibilities, exercise, drinking enough water… all the things!
When do you get those writing moments in between it all? And how do you create when life is so demanding, and you just aren’t feeling it?
Well… we know one thing for sure.
Shamar Knight-Justice has some real gems of wisdom to share with us today.
Because real talk: SO many times, you won’t feel like creating books, be that writing, illustrating, or both. And it’s easy to talk yourself out of it if you aren’t feeling motivated or inspired. But if you are serious about making it in this industry, it’s important to realize that often,
inspiration isn’t enough!
Because if you are always waiting for that inspiration to hit, you may never get your book done.
Now, join us in a warm welcome to the incredible Shamar Knight-Justice:
Inspiration Isn't Enough
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Inspiration Isn't Enough ||
Written by Shamar Knight-Justice
NYT Bestselling Illustrator and 2023 PB Rising Stars Mentor
“The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say ‘I’m the type of person who wants this.’ It’s something very different to say ‘I’m the type of person who is this.”
Y’all. It’s hard being creative.
It’s even harder being creative day after day after day.
That action of consistently putting something down on paper, whether that be words or pencil marks, and then revealing that thing to the world takes an unreal level of courage.
Being a creative requires signing up for a lifetime of vulnerability.
It’s brutal.
But what makes it so challenging?
Everything else.
That load of laundry hanging out in the dryer that you need to fold.
The work project you’re preparing to present in two weeks.
Your toddler going through a sleep regression and needing to be held an extra hour in order to fall asleep.
Life makes creating hard.
Being an adult, at times, can feel in direct conflict with your ability to imagine.
Sometimes our desire to dream feels at war with our daily responsibilities.
And even when these things are out of the way, what happens if you don’t feel inspired?
How do you overcome a blank page?
How do you continue to create more, when you just created something?
Habits.
A “habit” is defined as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.”
A habit is what will sustain your art when life is lifin’. Our creative dreams live and die by the quality of our systems. Merely having the passion to create isn’t enough to do it long-term. Being creative time after time takes an intense level of discipline.
Yes, the successful writers and artists you see do have a remarkable level of talent and skill, but that ability was built over time with relentless and unflinching daily practice.
So, now you might be thinking, “Okay Shamar, what next then?” These are my three pieces of advice.
Create your 1-year artist vision. Dream big here. In your most ideal world where do you feel most free and experience the most joy, what does that look like? How do you feel? What are you doing each day? Who do you impact? How has your life evolved a year from now?
Get granular - write your daily habits. Based on your vision, backwards plan, and write down what that will require of you daily. What commitments do you have to make to yourself? Is it a daily word count goal? Is it an hour of uninterrupted time sketching each day? What time of day does it happen? What skills are you committed to developing? I have both an artist statement and a family vision. Both of these continue to keep me grounded in my “why.”
Create your system of accountability. Who in your community will check up on your progress? Where do you hold time to reflect on your progress? How do you declutter your mind? Something that works well for me is scheduling a weekly meeting with myself. It lives on my Google Calendar each Sunday at 8:00 PM. I have an agenda that I follow each time. I use that meeting with myself to organize my priorities, identify times during the upcoming week when I can engage in deep work, build time for logistical things like responding to emails and cleaning my office, and reflect on the previous week’s progress.
Inspiration is a beautiful thing that we must continue to chase as artists, but it will never be enough to lead us to longevity.
I challenge all of us to dream audaciously, get clear on where and whom we want to be, and approach building habits with unwavering resolve.
About Shamar Knight-Justice
Shamar Knight-Justice is currently the Principal of Ethos Classical, an elementary school focused on the intersection of joy, rigor, and the humanity of its students. He has been an educator for over ten years, and is inspired daily by the stories and imaginations of his students. His artwork focuses on mixed media, and unique textures and patterns. In his work, he uses different mediums to build interest in his characters, and add complexity to their personalities. He intentionally highlights Black and Brown children in his work because he believes that the fullness of their identities should be displayed, and are often overlooked in picture books. His second published book, BIG TUNE, received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. His third published book, REPEAT AFTER ME, made it on the New York Times Best-Sellers List. Shamar was also the Grand Prize portfolio showcase winner of SCBWI’s 2022 winter conference, and an inaugural recipient of their OMA award. Since publication, he has been commissioned for work by American Greetings, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and Heinemann Publishing.
Inspiration Isn't Enough
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Inspiration Isn't Enough ||
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WOW, Shamar.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
It’s hard to know how to even wrap this up because all we have to say is YES to everything you said.
Readers, we hope you will re-read and really take in this incredible and actionable advice from Shamar. BE vulnerable. And remember those powerful words,
“Our creative dreams live and die by the quality of our systems. Merely having the passion to create isn’t enough to do it long-term. Being creative time after time takes an intense level of discipline.”
So… what will YOU do today to create a system? How can you improve your own discipline to create, even when you aren’t feeling it? How will you act on Shamar’s 3 incredible pieces of advice?? Tell us in the comments below and encourage each other to get out there and create!
Thank you, Shamar. We are truly grateful and know this message is going to not only resonate with so many of our readers but inspire them to make the changes necessary to become more serious creators.
And now, it’s about that time to update you all on what Ebony and Kailei have been up to!
We truly appreciate each and every one of you! Ebony and Kailei are creators FIRST so the fact that you support them, their businesses, and books is HUGE and helps them keep this community going!
OKAY, YALL!!
Ebony’s full merch collection is dropping this fall which means, SHE NEEDS YOU!
Ebony is looking for 5-10 people who want to be gifted her merch FOR FREE in exchange for an honest review on the design/quality AND for posting it/spreading the word to your followers and audience.
Want to be on Ebony’s Street Team?
This summer, Ebony Lynn Mudd dropped a limited merch collection called “MY ART IS THE PRIZE”. You may have seen some of your favorite kidlit friends supporting!
If you want to match Ebony, Kailei, and everyone who has snagged their shirt or hoodie already, you can purchase here OR you can be a part of Ebony’s brand-new MERCH STREET TEAM!
Ebony’s Street Team will get FREE merch (no purchase required), test our new designs before ANYONE ELSE, and get virtual one-on-one time with Ebony! It doesn’t get any better!!! And with 10+ new designs coming for fall, you should RUN, DON’T WALK! Ebony’s Street Team applications are open NOW-September 7th!
AND THERE’S MORE TO GET EXCITED ABOUT…
Kailei Pew is hosting her webinar, How To Stand Out In The Query Trenches TOMORROW, August 15th at 8:00 PM Eastern Time!!
AND, there are still about 15 spots left for FREE query critiques with preorder of THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED.
But hurry, because today is the LAST CHANCE to get in on this offer!!!
Preorder THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED and upload proof of purchase for your ticket to the webinar PLUS a free query critique.
If your queries aren’t getting bites, if your pitches are falling flat, if you have no idea how to work in a comp title, Kailei is your girl! She knows how to help and can truly make those query letters stand out in the trenches.
And now…
***GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY***
One of the coolest giveaways EVER!!!
Because…SURPRISE!!!
This month, TWO of you will be winners!!
WINNER #1!
You will win a signed copy (signed by Shamar!) of BIG TUNE: RISE OF THE DANCEHALL PRINCE written by Alliah L. Agostini, illustrated by Shamar Knight-Justice!
WINNER #2!
You will win a signed copy (signed by Shamar!) of the NYT Bestselling book, REPEAT AFTER ME: BIG THINGS TO SAY EVERY DAY written by Jazmyn Simon and Dulé Hill, illustrated by Shamar-Knight Justice!
AND because Shamar is SOOOO generous…
BOTH winners will also go home with THIS large print from BIG TUNE!
To enter:
Subscribe to Shamar Knight-Justice’s newsletter by scrolling to the bottom of his website.
Comment on this blog post below letting us know how you liked this topic AND confirming that you’ve done all of the steps above (you must be subscribed to all FOUR newsletters to be entered…or just let us know if you were already subscribed to all four!)
For Bonus entries:
Follow Shamar, Kailei, and Ebony on Instagram (one bonus entry per follow.)
Like, Retweet, and comment on THIS tweet (one bonus entry per item.)
Thank you, friends, and good luck! Winner will be announced on Twitter and via our newsletter on September 4th.
ABOUT PB RISING STARS
The #PBRisingStars Mentorship program started with a tweet, a huge response from the KidLit community, and two authors with book deals looking for ways to pull other picture book creators up the turbulent publishing ladder.
This program pairs agented picture book creators that are knowledgeable about querying, agent calls, author-agent relationships, being on submission, book deals, and contract language, with the next generation of children’s book authors and illustrators for an immersive, custom-made mentorship experience that is more than just a critique.