Creating a Chapbook: Initial Ideas.

Today in creative media module we were introduced to the new project of the second term. We were asked to create a chapbook with our own writing. It can be poetry or prose and it has to have a theme, can include pictures or illustrations and can not be longer than 40 pages. 

Chapbook was a form of a printed street literature, up to 40 pages, usually folded to a small size. "Chapbooks are small paper-covered booklets, usually printed on a single sheet or portion of a sheet, folded into books of 8, 12, 16 and 24 pages, often illustrated with crude woodcuts." (National Library of Scotland).

 People were exchanging them on the street in Europe and America between 17th and 19th century. It was usually a book of children's stories or fairy tales, available for anyone. Easy to find, even for a poor as it was produced with a very limited budget, costed about a penny or two. They were popular among lower and middle-class children. 

Picture source

As I was trying to look for inspiration for my own chapbook I looked at different examples over the internet (like Adventures of Robinson Crusoe below). I had couple ideas, first idea was a book with poems - however when I started thinking of a form of the poems, looking in to different types and authors of poetry, I doubted in my talent, I was never good with poetry. 

My second idea was to create a chapbook that could be a tribute to one of my favourite bands, my idea was to translate the lyrics to English and include their album covers, however I wasn't sure if translating someone's work could be counted as an original idea - my idea behind it was to have it as a proof of my translating skills for my future education and maybe for future work in translation.   

My third idea was to write a children chapbook, with short stories, including some illustrations. I decided to stick to this idea due to the fact that many original, first chapbooks were particularly for children. I am planning to create a character that resembles my daughter, and create this chapbook as a present for her. is to write short stories, including some illustrations. I am planning to create a character that resembles my daughter, and create this chapbook as a present for her. My idea of a chapbook is a prose for children. Inspired by original chapbooks and by my daughter, who is 8 years old and very creative. My daughter likes dragons and animals. 

I thought of writing three stories. The title of whole chapbook I came up with is: The egg, the scales and the tail. It includes the titles of all three stories. Each story will have one child as a main character and they will be connected. 

picture source

Title: The egg, the scales and the tail. 

First story: The egg. The main character will be inspired by my daughter and the story will have a fantastical elements, like dragon and a magical world. 

Second story: The scales. The main character will be inspired by my nephew, who is my godson and a very special, autistic boy, crazy about dinosaurs. I am planning to use the text I drafted at the yesterday's lesson as an introduction to the story. 

Third story: The tail. The main character will be inspired by my niece. The story will by about a little brave girl rescuing a wild animal. 

Stories will be connected by element of a child moving to the world of imagination and dreams, also the characters know each other in some way and are connected in a real life. 

References:

National Library of Scotland (nn) Chapbooks. Available at: https://www.nls.uk/collections/rare-books/collections/chapbooks/ (Accessed: 05/02/2024).

McGills Library (nn) Chapbook collections. Rare books and special collections. Available at: https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/chapbooks/fullrecord.php?ID=7194 (Accessed: 06/02/2024)