My own experiences or friends' experiences and observations have made for some pretty good material in my self-esteem books while my "left-of-center" thinking and "what-if" scenarios often play out in my quirky, creative pieces. I also have two young children, which helps a lot. They make comments that have provided lots of material, including two books that are finished and are currently being considered by publishing houses: But, if you take the focus off yourself and look around, you can find material everywhere!
See 1 answer from Lorna Gutierrez…. Lorna Gutierrez Average rating: Lorna Gutierrez Goodreads Author ,. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Lorna Gutierrez is now friends with Joan. Aug 10, Lorna Gutierrez rated a book it was amazing. Dec 20, Jun 28, Let Me Tell You Why Funny poems to help increase your child's self-esteem and confidence. Lorna Gutierrez wants to read. Jun 14, Search for a book to add a reference. We take abuse seriously in our discussion boards.
I am humbled and grateful. Wow look at all these Storystorm winners! Happy to say I also filled the notebook with 30 ideas. Thanks for an inspiring month of creativity! Congratulations to everyone who participated and embraced this chance to explore their imaginations! Thanks again, Tara, for the Storystorm opportunity!
I do solemnly swear that I read, and learned, and imagined every single day for 30 days ideas for my writing for kids. Thank you Tara and all the bloggers who shared so earnestly and freely. You make the world a marvelous place for us all. Thank you Tara and guest bloggers. It really DOES get easier every year to get more and better ideas. Practice, practice, practice — all year long! So much great motivation and inspiration! Looking forward to good, hard work and new manuscripts!
This was my best Storystorm idea-generating year yet. A big thank you to Tara and all the great contributors for helping us keep the creative fires stoked. Because no matter what life throws at us, we should make up characters, and give them a place to live and a story to share! This is such a great way to start the year. Now, to keep the momentum going…….. Thanks for a great start to ! I may even have one good one in the bunch. Thank you for the motivation. My notebook is full of lists, sketches, and graphs.
February 1, at 2: It helped me get back into my creative mind after the chaos of Christmas, plus I found the tips, reflections, exercises, and suggestions in the various posts to be really encouraging. What a great way to start ! Lots of wonderful guest speakers and lots of encouragement. Thanks Tara for all you do. Last year I got ideas out of it…. Thanks for another solid year Tara. Only downside is we have to wait another full year to do this again.
What an incredible service you provide for all of us! Thank you, Tara, and everyone else!
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I will not go out without my last comment. I may not win a prize, but I will finish. My comment for comment I usually find my inspiration through listening to music, in the middle of a TV program, or a family situation. Thank you for inspiring us and for your post. Tara Thank you for this opportunity. It was a great opportunity to challenge myself and learn a great deal and for allowing me to finish. I generated more ideas than I ever have. I have finished with over 30 breathtaking ideas!!
Well, some more than others. Thanks for the inspiration! Another successful campaign here. This is always such a rewarding challenge! Now time to write.
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Everything was super helpful. Thanks for a good brainstorming sessions!! Thank you, Tara, for this helpful challenge. I completed the challenge and have 65 nuggets.
I did it and have a couple extras from a busy crazy month. Thanks for all the inspirational people who shared their thoughts. Thank you for a month of inspiration to kick off the new year! This was so much fun! Thank you for holding the challenge — off to write! I have enjoyed every second of Storystorm. February 1, at 3: Thank you, Tara, this is truly an outstanding way to kick off the year.
I am so grateful. I started late, but managed to hang in there. AND, started writing a ms for one of the ideas already. Thank you so much Tara for organizing Storystorm and for finding such inspirational guests to write blog post everyday. Tara, What a great month with fabulous posts. I do have 31 ideas. Thank you so much for organizing Storystorm. I have 31new ideas.
All because I made sure to write every one of them down. Some of the posts brought up some fun past memories that triggered some story ideas as well. It was a fabulous month of creativity. So excited to have taken part in my first Storystorm! I have added 37 new ideas to my list this month.
Done, such an amazing and inspiring experience. Now to work on those five elevator pitches… Best way to start the year. Thank you so much Tara! I generated over 30 ideas in less than the whole month. Thanks, Tara, for organizing this opportunity. All the best to everyone in pushing your ideas beyond the idea stage.
Thanks for the inspiration and all the hard work, Tara! And thanks to all your wonderful guest posters too! What a great way to kick off a new year. Delighted with my haul of story skeletons. Now to flesh them out and give them legs. I hope I can maintain this practice all year long. It will be much harder without all the inspiration of the fantastic daily posts. Thank you so much for a great month!
It was, as usual, an incredibly valuable experience. February 1, at 4: It was so freeing to write down bad ideas and still have them count toward our goal! I kicked my inner critic to the curb during this exercise and it was FUN! Thank you so much Tara and inspiring authors! Thank you for organizing this! The daily posts have been great, and it has felt so great to fill my notebook with 31 and counting ideas!
A record number this year — Thank you, Tara, for another inspiring, productive, and enjoyable month. Look forward to it every year!! This was such a fun and productive exercise to do. Shaye Wardrop 37 ideas! Thank you sooo much, Tara! So grateful to you! I loved every post and loved carving out a little idea storming each day. I managed to just meet the 31 day goal and have a few keepers, I think! Thank you for all the work that you do to make this happen for us!
Deep thanks to you, Tara. Way more than 30 new ideas fill my notebooks and my computer files now. And with all the inspiration the contributors gave, the ideas keep coming. LOVED this challenge and found it very rewarding. This was such a productive and encouraging 30 days! Thank you, Tara and all of those who contributed to helping us all grow as writers. Thank you Tara, and all of your contributors. This is a real gift to the KidLit community. And there you have it. But they are mine and I am excited! What an incredible month of inspiring posts.
Thanks for all your work in putting this together. February 1, at 5: Thank you, Tara, for all you do to support your fellow writer friends. Thank you so much, Tara! StoryStorm is such a great way to start the year. These ideas will keep me writing for months, and all the great blog posts will keep me generating new ideas all year.. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. I mean, that I have completed storystorm with 31 ideas. I completed Storystorm and came up with not just 30 ideas but sketches as well which I hope to continue building on.
Thank you, Tara, and to all who contributed to Storystorm And some renewed inspiration for some old ideas too! Tara-Thanks so much for all of the hard work that goes into making Storystorm such a success! Thank you, Tara, so much for another amazing and inspiring experience! Your challenge is exactly what I needed to put that pencil back in my hand and start imagining the world a better place…one picture book idea at a time! Thanks for giving me the mission of sitting down to brainstorm every day.
Some are ugly but some are exciting. One resulting manuscript already got a request! February 1, at 6: Thank you for helping get me 30 ideas with all the fantastic posts. Thanks, Tara and all the guest bloggers, for a month of fun! Very happy to start shifting from rough idea to rough draft.
Thank you for all the inspiration along the way! M Lapointe Malchik imartytweet. I did it, Tara! Energized by all of the generous posts. I now have new picture book ideas to work on for Whoopee, I have 33! So much fun and great practice. Thank you for Storystorm Tara! Thank you for another wonderful Storystorm, Tara!!!
Thank you so much for all that you and all of the contributors do! Thank you so much for running this Tara. I got 30 ideas in 31 days and 5 of them are ready to be written up straight away. I have 52 ideas! Thank you Tara, and happy writing Storystormers!!! Thanks, Tara-I think this was my best time yet, despite the fact that I struggled to keep up. Got so many done 33! I solemnly swear that I am up to no good — er, I mean, that I have successfully filled another StoryStorm notebook with more than 30 ideas.
And have turned one into a manuscript already. And have another I want to get working on soon. So glad I participated — got the idea factory up and running. What an amazing adventure! Thanks, Tara, and thanks to all who posted. You are truly an inspiration!!! Storystorm inspires a year-long quest to guide our firefly ideas to a landing on our pages. Thanks for your inspiration, Tara!
Thank you Tara Lazar for this month of inspiration and great posts. February 1, at 7: I did it and am using the ideas on 12 X Thank you and all the writers for their encouragement and motivational posts. Yes, I did it! Apart from the gleaning of ideas, Storystorm is great for sharing tips and strategies for creativity, training the imagination to persist, day after day; training the writer to stay focused and never,ever, to give up! Butterfly Kisses and Silly Wishes.
Cant believe I did it again this year! I am really excited about the last idea i came up with! Thank you for this challenge. I hope a book can emerge out of these ideas. The real test is picking which idea to develop. Yes- I did it! Thank you for the inspiration to open my eyes to everything around me. Storystorm is a giant lesson in being mindful of all the stories ideas just waiting to be written down. High-fives from a pit bull? And special thanks to you, Tara, for creating it!
I exceeded my goal and look forward to working on the most compelling ones!! Thanks Tara for another great year! And thanks to all the amazing authors who posted such inspiring content. Thank you so much for creating that safe, inspirational space each day. I felt like a winner every day! February 1, at 8: I struggled to keep up! But I squeaked by at the end with a lucky tally of Thank you so much for keeping this event going strong, Tara! Some days were easier than others, for sure.
Thank you, Tara, for igniting my creativity to start Thank you so much for this structure! With gratitude, Faith Kazmi. I completed the month with over 30 ideas. Now the hard part begins…! I actually managed 31 ideas, despite caring for my sick mom and working full-time. Thank you so much for all the inspiration and keeping me connected a little bit every day to my writing life which is otherwise on hold!
Yet again, thanks so much Tara, another year of ideas to play with and a reminder to revisit some of the past years ones, I tend to forget as the year moves on. My favourite one as it turns out is the one I wrote yesterday on Day 31! A month of practice and then WOW!
Let the hard work begin. Thank you, Tara, for helping me build a creative habit. You are amazing, and so is the community you have built. I missed last years Storystorm but so glad I was able to participate this year. Their advice helped tremendously. Thank you Tara for this opportunity and best of luck to everyone! Thank you, Tara, for your generosity. I am thankful for the opportunity to participate, learn, and grown as a writer during Storystorm.
Honesty is the best policy. But I have some glorious story ideas. Thanks Tara and hugs. At the outset, I thought this was going to be a difficult task. In fact, I am now in the habit of spending a little time, not necessarily every day but certainly every week, to get story ideas down on paper. Thanks for hosting this game, Tara.
Angela Isaacs — I got 37! Thank you so much for making this month of ideas possible. When I registered, I accidentally did so twice: I am so proud to announce that I did it!! I love how energizing and inspiring this group is! Thank you, Tara, for this beautiful beginning of ! Sending good wishes to you and the wonderful guest bloggers. Many thanks to Tara and all the authors and artists who posted! This has been a wonderful, inspiring month that resulted in 30 ideas. Many of them are bad, but I am now in the mindset of looking for ideas and I think that is the best take-away.
Thanks so much for your time and efforts with this project! It has been such a source of inspiration and information! Thanks again for hosting the challenge, Tara! Thank you, Tara, this was a great way to start the year. This was my first StoryStorm and I was so very, very glad I was able to participate. Thanks to StoryStorm, I can tell that my idea muscle is stronger than ever. Thank you, Tara, for giving us this perfect workout with which to start the year off right!
Jennifer Polan jenniepolan gmail. I had to sign the storystorm contract under that name. For some reason it made me use my WordPress account. My email is laurel. Sorry if this messes you up. Anyway thank you again. It was a very inspiring and productive month! Thank you Tara and all who participated by either writing posts or commenting on the posts. I have 30 new ideas to work with. It is a great way to start the year! The first time in many years Thanks, Tara. This is a great way to start each year. Fabulous posts each day.
What a great way to start out the year! And NOW my mind is churning. I loved hearing the practical advice and realities of writing and feel much more comfortable growing into this pursuit. Thank you for another year of wonderful resources! My last ten ideas came like a whirlwind…I can even think of more! Many thanks for all the articles to read from accomplished authors and illustrators.
My first time for Storystorm. And hopefully so will be some ideas! Thank you so much for the fun start to ! This is my second year Storming and they came easier this year? More than 30 and even two today! Thank you for making my mind twirl!!! It worked… Now on to the Editing!!!!
February 2, at Yay I did it! Thank you SO much for this! It has been so amazing to learn from so many different people. What an amazing community KidLit has!! Thank you, Tara, this was amazing! Awesome way to start off ! Captured my 31st idea just in time. Thank you for the daily reminders, tips, and for fostering a wonderful community for growing ideas. A few are already fully drafted, and one is polished!
Book awards: Bank Street CBC Best Children's Book of the Year
I did 30 decent ideas. I also came up with 30 terrible ideas that should never be books ever. Ended with 40 story ideas. Much less stressful this year and I enjoyed letting my mind do its thing…in a good way. Thanks, again, Tara for all the fun and inspiration! Storystorm rocks and you do too! Hooray, I made it! Thanks so much, Tara, for putting together this challenge. I look forward to it every year! February 2, at 1: More than 30 ideas and a few story arcs written up to flesh them out! Thank you so much for doing this Tara!
The posts have been great, the prizes and giveaways great…and the Grand Prizes!!!! Thank you, Tara, for another inspiring year! Got my ideas ready for the long road of writing and revising! I completed 30, but since I was stuck for about 17 days, that feels good! Thanks again Tara and everyone who contributed to this years StoryStorm! Sharon Nix Jones—I have more than 31 ideas. Some days were quite productive. Thank you, Tara, for a reason to spend time being creative. I got to put off some pesky chores now and then. Now back to those chores!
Thanks for the inspiration, Tara! I have over 30 ideas, one of which has already blossomed into a draft. I appreciate all the time you put into hosting this challenge. February 2, at 2: Great exercise to help me write my ideas down. My brain seems to be constantly be on the look out for things that would make interesting stories. I found one is a random FB post today. I honestly did not think it was possible for me to come up with this many ideas in a month.
Songs and Poems: Farm Animals
Some days i had multiple and some days none. What a great experience, cant wait for next year. Thank you so much!!! February 2, at 3: Thanks again Tara and contributors for a fabulous Storystorm. Love starting the year with this. Thanks for an inspiring month, Tara and all the bloggers. February 2, at 4: As a first-time Storystormer, I am grateful for a productive start to the year.
Thank you so much for providing this resource, Tara! February 2, at 5: And thank you, Tara and family. February 2, at 6: I learnt lots about how weird my imagination is. During Storystorm, I generated nearly 40 ideas and wrote one manuscript. I cannot wait to get started on the rest! Tara, you get a huge virtual hug!
Many thanks for this fantastic experience, Meli Glickman. February 2, at 7: I ended with 43 ideas. And thank you to everyone who posted and shared your wisdom. February 2, at 8: It was touch and go there for a little while early on, but I made it! Thanks as always, Tara and team! February 2, at 9: Thank you for this. It was my first time participating and I found that once I got started, the ideas kept coming.
I ended up with 32 ideas. Now all I have to do ha, ha is to get writing! I did it with a few last-minute additions! Thank you, everyone, for a fantastic month. Inspiration truly does come from everywhere. Thanks Tara for another great year of Storystorm. Did I do it? It was my first for Storystorm. And the best part, I used 3 of the ideas and wrote 1st drafts this month! Thank You, Tara Lazar! I solemnly swear that I kicked myself in the pants several times during the month and ended up with 35 ideas. As always, a great month. Thank you, Tara, for all that you do on behalf of other writers!
Thank you Tara and the whole community for this inspirational month. I actually finished something already this year. And I solemnly swear that I shall write a picture book! Thank you so much for everything. This has been so much fun and a wonderful way to start off my year. Big takeaway is that stories are all around us. You just need to be open to them. Great start to a story-writing year!
Thank you Tara for supporting all of us with StoryStorm , and thank you to all the guest artists for your wonderful insights… My cup overfloweth…or runethover…or spilithforeth? Thank you so much Tara and everyone who posted. Now comes the hard part! Thanks, Tara for another great Storystorm month! Thank you so much for creating a space and framework for such an inspiring and motivating kick off to the new creative year!
Again, thank you so much! I got sick shortly after it began and I feel far behind. It even made my hands hurt. I only managed to come up with one idea, and that was yesterday. I can always go through the posts and come up with more ideas throughout the year. Thanks for hosting it, Tara!
Thanks so much, Tara, for doing this! It is so helpful, encouraging, inspirational—and more! What a great way to start a new writing year! Deborah Thank you for so many inspiring ideas! Got lots of good ideas—some non-fiction, some fiction—49 all together! Now to winnow out the good from the ridiculous! Thank you Tara and all the amazing authors and illustrators for their insight. Cheers to a great year of writing!! I am so glad I was able to particpate.
I hope to continue in this good habit of idea generation and creative workflow. It took some hair pulling and snail nudging, but I, LeeAnn Rizzuti, have my 30 ideas thanks to Storystorm. I solemnly swear I ended up with 30 ideas. I posted comments often too. So where is my name? This was a great way to start the new year. Thank you, Tara and all of the contributors who motivated this ideation throughout the month! February 3, at Wahoo—what a fantastic month. I ended up with 61 shiny new ideas. Thank you so much for the inspiration, Tara. Thank you for all you do to inspire stories through Storystorm!
February 3, at 1: Thank you, Tara, for organizing another exciting Storystorm month. Amazing group of guest posts from the kidlit world. We have such a generous, wise, talented, funny, caring community—always ready to cheer each other on! What an inspiring story storm idea month. Thank you Tara and all the guest for their time and thoughts…what an awesome writing community! Blessed to be a part of it: February 3, at 6: Thanks so much, Tara, for a great month of inspirational posts, and 32 new ideas!
Plus 2 Post-Storystorm ideas, too! I solemnly swear I am up to no…wait…wrong challenge. Thirty ideas done, now for the writing fun! A wonderful month fills with inspiration and more than 30 ideas to work over Thank you ALL for your time and support. Thank you so much for hosting StoryStorm ! My first time to participate and I came up with 31 PB ideas, both fiction and non-fiction. Thank you to all of your wonderful blog contributors; they were inspiring! Thanks to all the authors and illustrators who donated their time and effort to inspire us!
I got more than 30 ideas, even if lots of them are awful. A few might be keepers! February 3, at 2: Thanks for the inspiration Tara! And thanks to all the participating bloggers! February 3, at 3: Now onto the actual writing! Thanks for an inspirational month! February 3, at 4: Tara, thank you again for doing this it was sooo, worth it. Not only do I have some great ideas but the wisdom and insight from all of these wonderful people was amazing. Dayne Sislen, Children's Book Illustrator.
Yes, I got my 30 ideas. I must say I like some of them more than others. Now I must get busy creating. February 3, at 5: Thank you for this forum for inspiration, ideas, and learning. It is a blessing to be part of this community! I have over thirty ideas and have thought long and hard about some existing ones.
Have a great ! Well, this is the third time I have finished the challenge successfully. Imagine, I actually came up with 36 ideas, the most yet! Thanks, Tara, for Stormstorm ! February 3, at 7: This is the BEST possible way to start the new year. Thanks Tara and everyone who posted! February 3, at 8: February 3, at 9: Thank you to everyone for this inspiring Storystorm month! I have my 30 ideas and am ready to get to work! This was a very encouraging experience, thanks for hosting Storystorm, and hoping to make the most of my 45 ideas! It was a great month thanks to you, Tara!
February 4, at Thank you Tara for a wonderful month of inspiration. I managed to squeeze in 5 more ideas on the very last day. I really thought I had missed out but I recounted and found I made it. I have more than 30 ideas! I was amazed to discover I was inspired with eight ideas on Day 6!
Happy writing to all. More than 30 ideas in 31 days. And, I noticed a trend…I like to develop science and history topics, particularly unique animals or people. I learned so much this month. February 4, at 1: February 4, at 3: February 4, at 8: February 4, at 9: February 4, at 2: I, Juliana Jones, do solemnly swear that I came up with 38 ideas for Story Storm and had too much fun along the way.
You have 2 email addresses for me, fyi— I registered with a different one this year, but you sent me the daily emails to the old one. February 4, at 4: I almost forgot to sign the pledge, and some of my ideas are real stinkers, but I did it! Thank you for hosting this month of inspiration!!! February 4, at 5: February 4, at 6: I have faithfully written 32 storystorm ideas, some of which were inspired by your guests.
February 4, at 7: Almost forgot to post, working hard on my picture book: February 5, at February 5, at 1: Thank you for the wonderful experience, Tara. Also, a big thank you to the authors and agents who shared bits of their journey. I have 30 new ideas, all this while working on a book in a different adults genre. Setting some time aside everyday for this exercise worked as a stimulant! February 5, at 3: Looks like I waited too late to sign the pledge for prize winning, but I did make it with 32 shiny ideas!
Thanks for a wonderful month, Tara! I just have to tell the rest of the world that I kept the challenge! And congrats to everyone else out there too— and big thanks to Tara! February 5, at 4: Ben Eastaugh and Chris Sternal-Johnson. It may have been a little bit crazy, but here you are.
Put your right hand on a picture book and repeat after me: As a children's book author and mother of two, I'm pushing a stroller along the path to publication. I collect shiny doodads on the journey and share them here. You've found a kidlit treasure box. Join 10, other followers. Tara's Books Who's Tara? Everything is Better in Twos Giveaway: Recommended by my local Indie , of course! I'm still a child myself. Not only am I a winner, but I believe I have some winning ideas. Thanks everyone for the inspiration! I did it, 31 for 31 in January. Thanks for another great year, Tara. A great month of ideas.
Thank you to all! Thank you for being so inspiring, Tara! Thank you for your time and organizing so many wonderful writers to inspire us. Thanks for another fantastic month. Thirty ideas, some good and some not mentionable. Energising and fun — what an inspirational thing to share, thank you. Such a wonderful challenge that will help me with write stories all year long! Thanks again for another successful Storystorm, Tara! Thanks for this much needed kick on the pants, Tara! Managed 40 ideas this year. Thanks for the support. Thanks for another great year, Tara! I have over 30! Thanks for all the hard work that this effort took!
Thank you so much for running this. Signed up as Beth Saxton. Such a great habit to help us see ideas everywhere. Thanks for a great Storystorm! This was my first time doing it and it was so much fun. Loved reading all the blog posts this month! Great posts, great inspiration, great in every way. I completed it this year — thank you, Tara! I did it … 31 new ideas!