Fully integrated words and pictures

As an author, illustrator and photographer who also designs the layout of her books (I have a degree in visual communication and my major project was in book design), I feel that makes my books somewhat unique.

Most authors write their manuscripts and then their words get handed over to someone else to put them on the page, integrating them with illustrations and photographs, either supplied by the author or commissioned for the purpose. When I write my books, I write on the page. I don’t use a word processor then take the words into my page layout program (I use QuarkXpress, which makes me a dinosaur – the industry standard is now InDesign). I write on the actual pages in Quark.

I have developed a style which generally has 3 columns of text. The instructions go from left to right across the columns, then move to down to subsequent rows. For the page size I use, 3 columns means I have well-sized diagrams for each step, with a column width that’s not too narrow or too wide. Narrow columns mean more word breaks which interrupts the flow of reading. Wide ones can mean you tire before reaching the end of the line.

I sometimes write first, then create the diagrams to match the text, and sometimes I do it the other way around. When I fill a page, I move on to the next. Once the instructions for the entire stitch (including repeats, and other important things like how to handle corners or turns) are done, then I edit.

If the steps *just* go onto the next page, I try to edit to fit it all on the previous page. The words in my steps are usually so highly edited that it may as well be poetry: every word counts! I may make the diagrams shorter to fit more rows in. Maybe two steps can be collapsed into one without reducing clarity. I try to make the quantity of words for all steps in the row about the same as that makes the best use of the page’s space.

My unique process means the words and images are fully integrated, leading to a more pleasurable reading experience and greater understanding.