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Last week, I had the honor of serving on the staff of Ohio’s Buckeye Book Camp as an instructor. We had a fantastic week with kids ranging from grades 4 through 8 as they discovered their authentic voices as storytellers.
I’ve gone to many, many writing conferences, including a few writing camps as a kid. But this one was unique in that it added another component to the process: art.
One of our staff members was a comic and graphic novel author, and he taught the kids how words and pictures can work together to create a multimedia experience for readers.
They had a great time, and their work was original and powerful. But I must admit: if I had been signed up for this camp as a kid, I would have been more than a little nervous.
When I was in sixth grade, a teacher told me I was bad at art. Before this, I loved to draw. I made a picture book for my relatives every Christmas, which I illustrated and wrote. In kindergarten, I even got punished for drawing my own picture instead of coloring the one she passed out as an assignment.
But when that teacher told me my art wasn’t good, I stopped liking it. So if I’d gone to a camp where part of the week was drawing, it would have given me a lot of anxiety.
Here’s the thing, though. I did go to that camp—albeit as an adult and a staff member. But I also sat in on a few of the illustration workshops…and I found that as the week went on, I started drawing. I also had a surprising amount of fun with it.
By the end of the week, I had even amassed a small portfolio of animal doodles.
That experience taught me some things about the value of drawing for writers. You don’t have to be a kid’s author or a picture book creator. You don’t even have to be great at it. But when you draw, you open up a whole area of your brain, making working with words much easier.
Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about regarding how drawing benefits writers.
Sparking Creativity
One of the most significant benefits of drawing is its ability to spark creativity and help overcome writer’s block. When words fail to come, picking up a pencil and sketching can open new pathways in your mind. Visualizing your ideas can lead to fresh perspectives and innovative solutions that you might not have considered otherwise. The act of drawing engages different parts of your brain, which can help you break free from linear thought patterns that may be stifling your writing.
For instance, if you’re struggling to develop a scene in your story, try drawing the setting. As you sketch, consider the environment’s details—what the buildings look like, how the light falls, the weather, and any notable landmarks. This process can help you visualize the scene more clearly and may inspire new ideas for how your characters interact within it. Similarly, drawing your characters can reveal aspects of their personalities or histories you hadn’t considered before.
Developing Patience and Focus
Drawing requires a significant amount of patience and focus, much like writing. When you sit down to draw, you often enter a state of flow where time seems to slip away, and you become fully immersed in the task. This focused attention is similar to what you experience when you’re deeply engaged in writing. By practicing drawing, you can cultivate greater patience and concentration, which are invaluable when working on long writing projects or tackling complex narratives.
If you’re working on a novel and feeling overwhelmed by the project’s scope, taking breaks to draw can help you manage your stress and refocus your mind. Drawing something related to your story—a map of your fictional world, a character sketch, or an important object—can help you stay connected to your work in a different way. This can make the writing process feel more manageable and less daunting.
Visual Storytelling
Storytelling isn’t confined to words alone. Comics and graphic novels demonstrate how powerful visual storytelling can be. By practicing drawing, you can experiment with visual narratives and learn to convey emotions, actions, and stories through images. This can enrich your writing by helping you think about pacing, scene composition, and how to show rather than tell.
Consider how visual storytelling principles apply to writing. For instance, when you draw a sequence of events, you naturally think about the pacing and how each moment leads to the next. This can help you structure your written scenes more effectively.
Additionally, visual storytelling emphasizes showing rather than telling—using images to convey emotions and actions. Applying this principle to your writing can make your prose more dynamic and engaging.
Boosting Confidence
Many writers struggle with self-doubt and fear of imperfection. Drawing, especially if you’re not a trained artist, can teach you to embrace imperfection and find joy in the creative process. Drawing without worrying about the outcome teaches you to take risks and experiment. This mindset can carry over to your writing, encouraging you to be bolder and more adventurous with your words.
Think about the last time you faced a blank page. The pressure to create something perfect can be paralyzing. But when you approach drawing with a playful attitude, focusing on the process rather than the result, you free yourself from these constraints.
This practice can help you adopt a similar attitude toward writing. Instead of worrying about whether your first draft is good enough, you can focus on getting your ideas down and refining them later. This can make the writing process more enjoyable and less stressful.
Building a Multidisciplinary Approach
Creativity thrives on diversity and the cross-pollination of ideas. When you incorporate drawing into your routine, you build a multidisciplinary approach to your creative work. This blend of skills can lead to innovative ideas and unexpected connections, making your writing more dynamic and original.
For example, many famous writers have used drawing as part of their creative process. J.R.R. Tolkien famously illustrated maps and scenes from Middle-earth, which helped him develop his stories' rich, detailed world.
By exploring different creative disciplines, you can enrich your understanding of your work and approach your writing from new angles. This can lead to breakthroughs and insights you might not achieve through writing alone.
If you are writing children’s books and especially picture books, you’ll do this by design. But this can be a great exercise even if you write purely prose. Nobody has to see the drawings besides you, just like nobody has to see any other brainstorming work you do behind the scenes. The only goal is to help you explore your story from a different viewpoint.
Engaging Different Learning Styles
People have different learning styles—some are visual, others more auditory or kinesthetic. Incorporating drawing into your writing practice can help you engage different learning styles and make the creative process more inclusive and effective.
For example, drawing can help you organize your thoughts and ideas more clearly if you're a visual learner. For kinesthetic learners, the physical act of drawing can help solidify concepts and inspire new ideas.
Consider using drawing as a brainstorming tool. Instead of writing a traditional outline, try sketching a mind map of your story’s plot, characters, and themes. This can help you see the connections between the story’s elements and spark new ideas.
You might also create visual timelines or storyboards to plan your scenes, which can help you visualize the flow of your narrative and ensure that each part of your story contributes to the whole.
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