Making THE ARGUERS (a ten year journey)

on tricky endings, hope, arguments without end, and gappers

I have a new picture book that came out this week.

The Arguers is a modern parable/fairy tale about conflict and disagreement, excess and entanglement. But the story of making The Arguers— that is actually a story about endings.

The first draft was called A Great Talent, and is from 2015—the year I signed with my agent and found a home for my first picture book (The Book of Mistakes).

However, The Arguers is different from my other books in that the ending to the story wasn’t completely sorted when my editor acquired the project. Or rather, it had an ending that I liked. But it was a cautionary ending. And it was, perhaps, a little depressing for a picture book. And so my editor, art director, and agent (all smart people) were wondering if I might find another (more hopeful) way to end the story.

Eventually, I realized they might be right.

Over the next ten years, I wrote and/or illustrated nine more books. After each project I would revisit The Arguers. But each time the ending fell flat. I couldn’t find my way toward anything that felt both satisfying and honest. Let alone hopeful.

Fortunately, the ending to The Book of Mistakes also gave me a lot of trouble. So I was in familiar territory. I knew how essential discomfort is to creative work. (You can read more about the process of finding an ending for The Book of Mistakes here.)¹

And so, I muddled along.

So many versions (twenty six printed dummies).

Which means—I made a lot of book dummies.

There are twenty six versions with different endings that I’ve printed out, even more if you count the digital drafts. One version has a lost stuffed animal, another a snow globe. There is a field of flowers, and an ice cream truck. There are long scarves and flowers and birds. To put it in perspective, for The Book of Mistakes I made fourteen dummies. And I thought that was a lot.

Then, a couple years ago, in the midst of this creative uncertainty, and eight years after writing the first draft of The Arguers, I had a this conversation with George Saunders over on his Substack.

It started with a question about The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip, his 2000 picture book collaboration with illustrator Lane Smith and designer Molly Leach².

That beautiful orange type and transparent vellum cover are Molly’s design work.

Gappers is the book that made me realize, with certainty, that I wanted to make picture books. It is beautiful and strange. It is a fable, or a fairy tale, of sorts. It is often ridiculous, and yet it always feels true.

In Gappers (like all the best picture books) the words, pictures, and design combine to create something more powerful than any of them could have created alone.

Lane’s oil paintings in this book are exquisite. He builds up a succession of thin layers of paint, working from light to dark. Between layers, he sprays the art with an acrylic varnish. When the water-based varnish hits the wet oil, it causes a reaction and the paint beads up and dries instantly. Sometimes he also sands the paint down and then repeats the process. Or he uses burnished scotch tape to lift off some of the layers of paint. Later he goes in and paints the details (with a Windsor Newton series 7 number 3 brush.) These layers build slowly to create the gorgeous textures and colors (and compositions) that he’s known for.

As an aside— I recently learned that Capable’s father in Gappers is a caricature of George Saunders.

Capable on the left, and her father on the right (ordering the sun to stay up.)

“Work harder. Actually no, don’t work harder work smarter. Be more efficient than you’ve ever been before. In fact, be more efficient than is physically possible. I know that’s what I’d do.”

I can totally see this.

George Saunders and his wife, Paula Saunders (who is also a novelist), in 1986.

In fact, now that I know, I can’t believe I didn’t notice this on my own (thank you Lane, for the inside scoop.)

Even the endpapers of Gappers are perfect. Look at that orange asterisk (which is basically a gapper) as the period after “THE END.” (!!)

So… Gappers was my introduction to George, Lane, and Molly— three of my favorite book makers.³ And George was my introduction to Substack. Specifically, his Story Club— which showcases Saunders-as-teacher at his finest, delving deeply into storytelling and the creative process.⁴

To this day, Story Club is my favorite thing on Substack. Even when I’m busy and in deadline mode (like now—final art for my next picture book is due in two weeks) I make time to read the Q&A’s where he responds to reader questions about the creative process. For writers and creatives who don’t know about it—it’s a gem.

And so, as I continued to struggle with my own story, I reached out to George via Story Club. I was curious about the making of The Gappers of Frip, about the ending in particular, about hope and darkness and writing for young people:

Office Hours

After George answered my questions he asked me a few in return. At the time (as you can see in my responses) I was in the final stages of figuring out an ending for Arguers.

The day after our conversation, when I sat down to write I was still stuck. But I felt a little less alone. I’d been reminded that the questions I was asking (about hope, discomfort, and tidy endings) were worthwhile. I was reminded that other writers have been down this path before, and that asking hard or uncomfortable questions can be a way forward.

And so I went back to work.

Coco helping with sketches for The Arguers

Early sketches for the first spread “The first argument was over a brush and a comb… and which would be better for taking a tangle out of the king’s beard.”

Another early sketch for the first spread of The Arguers

Final art for that first spread.

And that first argument as it appears in the final book.

Eventually, I found my way toward an ending. It’s not entirely hopeful. But also, it’s not without hope.

To me this feels honest. And this feeling of honesty, in turn, fills me with… hope.

Since working on The Arguers, I’ve realized how much I like making books about uncomfortable subjects: mistakes, loneliness, cruelty, heartache, misunderstanding, arguing. I also like making books about beautiful things. But what I love most is making books⁵ that allow the beautiful and the uncomfortable to live together on the page—like they do in life.

This, to me, is the beauty of The Gappers of Frip. It’s what gave me shivers the first time I read it… to see something true and dark and uncomfortable expressed in a beautiful way. With humor, which is a form of grace.

The Romo boys arguing…

And now, ten years since I wrote that first draft about an argument over brushes and combs, and twenty five years since I discovered The Gappers of Frip⁶ and started to dream of making picture books, The Arguers is out in the world!

It’s a full circle moment.

The best kind.

hand painted bookmarks and The Arguers

What about you— do you have a favorite picture book that doesn’t have a hopeful ending? I’m thinking of Dr. Seuss’ Butter Battle Book. Anything else? (I’d argue that Jon Klassen’s first two hat books are hopeful— in that they are stories of justice, of hope fulfilled.)

What books have inspired you the most on your writing or illustration journey?

Comment below and I’ll pick two readers at random to send a signed copy of The Arguers, along with one of the handmade bookmarks pictured above.

Also—

If you enjoy process pictures you can also follow me over on Instagram. But if you want to know when a book is coming out and other studio updates, this Substack is the best place.

Thanks for reading!

1. For many years The Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog run by Julie Danielson was the treasure trove for illustrators and writers— a photo heavy mix of process pictures and conversations with creators of of picture books. While the blog is no longer active, it is archived and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about illustration and picture books.

2. To learn more about Molly, read Design Matters or this interview on The Horn Book Inc. website. Or watch this video about Molly on YouTube.

3. I talk about the experience of reading Gappers for the first time on the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog from 2017 where I discuss making The Book of Mistakes.

4. I found Story Club in a roundabout way through this animated short and later this book.

5. Maria Popova, creator of The Marginalian (one of my very favorite newsletters) has written about this here.

6. at Grassroots Bookstore in Corvallis, OR.