"The hardest part is developing the idea, and that can take years"
About this Quote
Eric Carle’s line quietly rebukes the way we romanticize creativity as a lightning strike. He’s not talking about the cute part of making a children’s book: the tissue-paper collage, the vibrant palettes, the caterpillar munching through the page. He’s pointing to the slow, often invisible labor that comes before any of that can exist: the hunt for the one idea sturdy enough to carry meaning and simple enough to feel inevitable.
The phrasing matters. “Hardest part” reframes effort away from execution, where outsiders tend to fixate, and toward conception, where doubt, discard, and repetition live. “Developing” implies growth rather than invention; an idea isn’t born perfect, it’s cultivated, tested, pruned. The kicker is “can take years,” a blunt timeline that clashes with the culture of quick output and constant novelty. Carle’s work, famously economical on the surface, is built on that long gestation: a picture book that looks effortless is often the result of ruthless distillation.
There’s also a quiet defense of children’s literature embedded here. Carle insists that making something for young readers isn’t easier because it’s shorter. It’s harder because it must be clear without being thin, playful without being disposable. The subtext is permission: if you’re stuck, you’re not failing. You’re doing the part that actually matters.
The phrasing matters. “Hardest part” reframes effort away from execution, where outsiders tend to fixate, and toward conception, where doubt, discard, and repetition live. “Developing” implies growth rather than invention; an idea isn’t born perfect, it’s cultivated, tested, pruned. The kicker is “can take years,” a blunt timeline that clashes with the culture of quick output and constant novelty. Carle’s work, famously economical on the surface, is built on that long gestation: a picture book that looks effortless is often the result of ruthless distillation.
There’s also a quiet defense of children’s literature embedded here. Carle insists that making something for young readers isn’t easier because it’s shorter. It’s harder because it must be clear without being thin, playful without being disposable. The subtext is permission: if you’re stuck, you’re not failing. You’re doing the part that actually matters.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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