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March 19, 2025

Making the most of mentorship opportunities

Award-winning picture book author, Sandhya Parappukkaran, shares her advice on making the most of mentorship opportunities.

Mentorships are a brilliant pathway to publishing. To have an accomplished individual with industry expertise sharing their wisdom, and helping you grow as a writer is pure gold.

I didn’t know I needed a mentorship until I received the ASA/CA 20-hour Award Mentorship for my story Amma’s Sari. When I first started writing picture book stories, I had learned all the basics, knew all the key words such as pacing, emotion, tension, blue page, climax and had a sense of excitement as I made my stories fit into that mould. The first drafts of Amma’s Sari were heartening, immensely personal and funny too.

I decided to apply for the ASA/CA Mentorship Award after hearing my friend, Inda Ahmad Zahri talk about her experience of receiving a highly commended ASA Award Mentorship. She is now an accomplished author/illustrator of multiple picture books. Talking to other people about their mentorship experiences was hugely beneficial to obtain a sense of how I should approach the experience. 

Often I get asked about the application process, and whether to submit your best story. As for the application, follow the instructions to the letter and, yes, send in your best story; this should also be the one you feel you need help with. In the Amma’s Sari manuscript, the middle didn’t feel satisfying to me, if anything it felt clunky. The story is about a girl, Shreya who wanted her Amma (mother) to wear anything but a sari when they went out. In the initial drafts, Amma boldly wore her sari but also let herself be cajoled into a shopping trip by her daughter, browsing the racks for something else to wear. I couldn’t see it then, but Amma’s personality fluctuated between being strong and weak. Shreya came across as impudent, which wasn’t my intention, and I didn’t know how to fix these character flaws. Over the course of my mentorship, I delved deeper into character development and many other important aspects of picture book writing. My first piece of advice: have a clear idea of what you want to achieve during your mentorship. This will be a starting point to fine tuning your manuscript and elevate it to a submittable standard. 

A key element of a successful mentorship is trust. My second piece of advice would be to trust your mentor with your story. Sharing a story you’ve written for any critique is a brave thing to do. You are often so close to the story and hold it tight like a baby. Trusting your mentor will help open your mind to insights they have to offer.

My story was personal, wrought with emotion that I had experienced, and it was difficult for me to untangle the essence from within those emotions. Initially I had worried whether my mentor would understand why I was writing this story, which stemmed from events in my childhood. I was fortunate to be paired with Sue deGennaro, award-winning picture book author and illustrator. My worries were all put to rest after the first phone call from Sue and I knew straight away that she not only understood but held my experience with respect and compassion. In subsequent phone calls we discussed much about story writing methods and about the themes in my story. Sue shared her wisdom and processes – it was a privilege to have those conversations which enabled me to dig deeper into my characters’ motivations and helped build a stronger story.

My next piece of advice is all about using the time well. Over the course of my mentorship, I found that 20 hours is actually a lot of time – time spent with your mentor analysing your characters, discussing the finer points of your story and the time your mentor uses to read and critique. Set out a timetable for yourself. I invested a hefty amount of time doing writing tasks Sue had set for me, getting to know my characters extremely well by writing pages and pages on them and revisiting the plot and turning point of the story. My mentorship happened during Covid, and I wasn’t working at the time so I could throw myself wholly into it. Sue and I talked about pacing and foreshadowing, buzz words which I knew but didn’t quite know how to execute. You can learn a lot about picture book writing by studying picture books, but nothing beats having an expert – someone who cares about your story and wants you to succeed and write your best manuscript – right there to guide you. 

Sue’s insights made me think about my story from different perspectives. Let your mentor’s feedback sink in. Give your mind enough time to process the fresh perspectives on offer before you decide on how to respond to the feedback. One thing I’ve learned about picture book creation is how important time is, like wine aging into a flavoursome concoction – time is essential to the development of a dynamic story. 

My final suggestion is to be open to  demolishing parts of your story and rebuilding it, if needed. Once enlightened with wisdom from my mentor I could see where my story was unrealistic and vague. After applying the character analysis and writing tips I had gleaned from my mentor, I was able to write my best story. 

Amma’s Sari was published in 2022 and went on to be long- and shortlisted for awards. Since then, I have published two more picture books, one of which won a literary award. 

Mentorships are golden opportunities – seek them out,be prepared to learn new processes and wholly embrace the experience. 

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