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After Kathleen Duey's inspirational farewell keynote address, conference goers enjoyed the Farewell & Autography Party where they were able to meet and greet the authors and get their autographs! Fresh lemonade, pretzels, and candy treats were provided for everyone as they headed out the door and back to their homes.
It was clear that close friendships had blossomed between conference goers over the past four days and that everyone - from aspiring newbie writers to published veteran authors - were inspired to rush home and WRITE WRITE WRITE.
The room was full of camaraderie and everyone enjoyed the celebration at the farewell shindig. Tonight, the faculty will meet for a final celebratory wrap-up party.
The entire SCBWI TEAM BLOG - Alice Pope, Jolie Stekly, Jaime Temairik, Lee Wind, Paula Yoo, and Suzanne Young - would like to thank SCBWI for giving us this opportunity to share the highlights of the 2009 national conference with everyone. We had a blast attending all these panels - our one regret was that we wish YOU were there! :) If you would like to find out more about SCBWI and join as a member, please go here for more info: http://scbwi.org
Remember, we are an interactive forum, so please comment away on our blogs. We look forward to the dialogue between SCBWI members about this year's conference.
Posted by SCBWI TEAM BLOG
10 Comments on Farewell and Autograph Party, last added: 8/12/2009
Alice Pope, Jolie Stekly, Jaime Temairik, Lee Wind, Paula Yoo, and Suzanne Young - You've done a great service for those of us who couldn't be there. Thanks for all your excellent blogging.
Hi from New Zealand, I've been following the SCBWI team blog the whole weekend and you guys did an amazing job...I laughed, I teared up, I was inspired...I was jealous...I am in awe... In 37 days the National Children's Writers and Illustrators conference begins here for New Zealand. It is our first conference in 16 years and My team and I have been planning it for 18 months...I can't thank you enough for the inspiration you have been for me and my team and the wider community of writers and illustrtors in this country.
Kia Kaha..ake ake ake... Be strong for ever and ever.
Maureen Convenor Spinning Gold Conference NZ Childrens writers and Illustrators.
I'm still on a high from all the wonderful workshops and speeches I heard at the SCBWI conference. This was my second time around and it was as enjoyable as the first. Learned so much about the writing process. Thanks.
Hi. Wow. Thank everyone for the kind comments. We really appreciate it. I've also noticed some comment dialogue going on in the other blogs as well - yay! If you would like to keep up with SCBWI post-conference information, please follow twitter.com/scbwi as well as our individual blogs listed below:
Alice Pope: http://cwim.blogspot.com/ Paula Yoo: http://paulayoo.com Lee Wind: http://www.leewind.org/ Jolie Stekly: http://cuppajolie.blogspot.com/ Suzanne Young: http://www.suzanne-young.blogspot.com/ Jaime Temairik: http://www.cocoastomp.blogspot.com/
We've all started posting post-con photos and wrap-up blogs at our sites. I myself have posted some blogs and photo galleries today and will continue to post some wrap-up conference blogs throughout this week. We also all blog regularly re: SCBWI events as well as blogs on the craft of writing for children/teens and industry/publishing advice, so keep in touch with SCBWI TEAM BLOG throughout the year!
Kathleen's workshop was great. I just typed up my scribble scrabble notes from the conference from her class, and I'm still amazed. Can't wait until next year!
The give-and-take of SCBWI is epic, and it has grown. It's gone from a family to more like a small village. It's given us a place to send all the people to ask us how they can publish. Membership in SCBWI makes editors know you're serious about writing. You can make connections.
POSTED BY ALICE POPE
3 Comments on Kathleen Duey--Transmutation: Books That Matter, last added: 8/19/2009
I'm very grateful to be a part of this "small village". Thank you, Kathleen, for helping me avoid post-conference depression by providing us with your road map.
Kathleen is telling us that the first thing she does after a conference is write down her conversations.
Next, she goes over and annotates her notes--you'll never remember more about this than you will in the next two days.
Then she goes through her business card. When she accepts then she writes a note on them saying why she took them. If you haven't, go home and write notes on them.
Contact everyone you took a card from. Send a thank-you to editors and agents who took the time to talk to you.
She asks, how many of us are not on Facebook. To everyone who raised their hands, she says: "Shame on you."
Kathleen is talking about the marvels of Twitter, that people were tweeting on the streets of Iran after the election. That there are writers chats on Twitter. And that she's writing a Twitter novel.
0 Comments on Kathleen Duey--Transmutation: Books That Matter as of 8/10/2009 6:27:00 PM
Yes, success comes from being a member of SCBWI and attending conference. Check out this interview from the conference with Ann Leal, author of ALSO KNOWN AS HARPER, and Jill S. Alexander, author of THE SWEETHEART OF PROSPER COUNTY.
8 Comments on Books Come from Being at SCBWI Conferences: An Interview with Two Success Stories, last added: 8/13/2009
Great job, team blog! I think Jolie's left should be a door prize on the first day of every conference. (Maybe a golden chair with a leopard print cushion.)
Kelly Sonnack, agent with Andrea Brown Literary is offers 15 tips in this session. Here are a few:
Beware of lessons and morals. (“And Gator never misbehaved again.” “I guess veggie shakes are so bad after all.”) If you want to incorporate one, it has to be almost invisible and fun to learn.
Avoid writing to trends and copying bestsellers. This does not mean you can’t write a vampire book, but you have to realize that the bar is higher for you.
Don’t let an adult solve the problem or come to the rescue. (And of course, she says, every children’s book needs to have a problem or conflict the character must overcome.)
Don’t list character spec (“Gregory had sturdy broad shoulders, handsome hazel eyes and short thick reddish hair. He was a good-looking 18-year-old.”)
Avoid stereotypical teen dialogue (“Oh my gawd, could my life be any more embarrassing? I mean come on. That was so over, like two years ago.”) and overdone teen angst (Arguments, rolling eyes, sighing, dialogue like: “You don’t understand me.”).
POSTED BY ALICE POPE
0 Comments on Kelly Sonnack: How to Avoid Childish Mistakes When Writing for Children as of 8/10/2009 6:27:00 PM
Steven urged the packed room to stop looking at their Amazon rankings.
Steven believes (and he says this is the Californian coming out in him) that the more you're out there putting good things into the world the more good things will come back to you.
In the children's book world, a great example of this is bookstore visits/author tours. It may not seem a success at the time and it is true they are lots of hard work, but the point of a tour or store visit isn't always immediate sales. Steven believes the power of a book tour is not quantifiable and hopes authors and illustrators will make the effort to be nice to everyone they meet on a tour. Because you never know, the dorky kid behind the counter may turn into tomorrow's power agent.
He asked everyone in the room to please read DEAR GENIUS if they haven't already.
Steven shared a few anecdotes -- Nikki McClure and Cynthia Rylant's book ALL IN A DAY was rejected by quite a few places and one complaint was that it looked like 'something they'd sell at Whole Foods,' and Steven wondered what on earth was wrong with having a book that appeals to people with as much disposable income as Whole Foods shoppers?
Steven mentioned that client Chris Rylander, who was in the room, had sent Steven a novel for adults (a no no) BUT Chris had also included the funniest query letter Steven had ever read. Steven let Chris know that he had no idea why he sent the adult book, but if Chris ever wrote anything for kids as funny as that query letter he'd be interested.
Someone then asked what happens to your manuscript after it has been requested by Steven and Steven said it is sent to a machine/room a lot like this:
POSTED BY JAIME TEMAIRIK
1 Comments on Steven Malk - What to Expect When You're Expecting: An Agent's Guide from Query Letter to Published Book, last added: 8/11/2009
If you've ever been to Red Lobster, I wrote the menu. Crispy Golden Fries? That's me.
(laughter)
Hey, a menu is a story: beginning, middle, and end.
Lisa said that she was working on a book, sure that the main character was 11. She morphed into being 12. And ultimately, telling the story that needed to be told, the character ended up being 17, and the book was a YA.
Arthur's advice to Lisa back then (and now):
Just write the story it needs to be.
Arthur:
In all the genres, the difficulty is letting go of the anxiety of what you percieve to be the rules of the form.
Lisa chimed in on that - she had a character who was a run-away, and her first instinct was that the character would swear a lot - the percieved rules of the form. But then she realized that her character DIDN'T swear a lot.
Linda Sue:
I want to write a story, and the best story I absolutely can. When she wrote "A Single Shard," she thought it would be an adult book.
When I write my novels, I don't know where it's going to be shelved when it's out.
And they shared so much more great advice and insight!
0 Comments on Crossover Writing: Linda Sue Park, Lisa Yee, and Arthur A. Levine, part 2 as of 8/10/2009 6:28:00 PM
Sara Davies is an agent with Greenhouse Literary. They see 150 per week.
Sarah is a lover a language. “When I discovered language it gave me the path for my whole life.”
She mentions that publishers make 90% of their revenues form 10% of their books, there is great dependence on those 10%.
There are certain common denominators for a great story, certain ingredients.
1. An inspired concept 2. Larger than life characters 3. A high-stake story 4. A deeply felt theme 5. A vivid setting
Oh, no…she’s forgotten. There’s a number 6.
VOICE!
Davies says writing is a craft. It’s like cooking or playing the violin. Then she poses the question, “Would get up and play a huge venue when you’ve just learned A and C?”
“I think it takes a long time to master this craft. But I say persevere.”
I love that analogy - "would you play in front of an audience when you only know A and C?" Thank you for the encouragement to continually work on craft!
A great exercise, even if your book is NOT written in 1st person, is to re-write your pitch in first person - try having your character speaking the pitch of their own story.
You can learn alot from this about character and voice! (This doesn't mean you should pitch a 3rd person book in 1st person!)
0 Comments on Bonnie Bader: Pitch-A-Thon HOT TIP! as of 8/10/2009 2:58:00 PM
You know you have to be able to pitch your book. To agents. To editors.
Your agent pitches your book to editors.
Your editor pitches your book to their colleagues, to get them all excited about reading and working on your book.
And once your book is published, to sell your book it is pitched to readers!
So, how the heck DO you pitch your book?
Bonnie Bader, Editor-in-Chief of Grosset & Dunlap and Price Stern Sloan (Penguin Young Readers) offered an incredible hands-on, interactive opportunity to work on your pitch.
In 6 sessions of 10 particpants each, Bonnie helped attendees learn HOW to pitch their projects!
Here's a great Bonnie quote from today's session:
"Create a Log Line. You should be able to boil down your premise and the hook of your book in less than three sentences."
Here's how it worked: Each writer presented their pitch, and then Bonnie did a critique.
compliments: What worked well about the pitch.
constructive suggestions: Seeking clarity, helping shape the pitch, fine-tuning. Wanting more tone and voice.
And then Bonnie opened it up to discussion, and all the other pitch-ees shared their insights.
And after that Bonnie shared an encouraging appraisal.
The session's only half through, and I've already learned so much!
By now, Bonny knew more than her premise (the what happens); she knew her theme (the why it happens).
She revised her ending, had been through five or six big revisions, and she brought her manuscript to her critique group. She showed us a list of a dozen bullet points outlining what her critique group thought what was wrong with her manuscript.
At that point she went back for the fine tuning, line by line, punching up that language and the conflict, cutting, thinking in terms of images, making sure she's using vivid verbs, and always being willing to "kill her darlings."
1 Comments on Bonny Becker: Be Wise, Revise--Endings, last added: 8/11/2009
Well, for those of you not lucky enough to be in the room with Ann Whitford Paul right now, I have a small consolation prize at the bottom of this post.
One of Ann's rules for a strong beginning: Let the reader know right away what the tone of your story is - sad, silly, scary, serious, etc. Imagine reading a story that has a happy title and starts off sounding cheerful and finding out a few pages in that the characters beloved PET dies!
Ann then provides examples of differently toned stories.
A good example of a sad story done well: THE TENTH GOOD THING ABOUT BARNEY by Judith Viorst (and the fantastic illustrations of Erik Blevgad).
First page text:
My cat Barney died last Friday.
I was very sad.
I cried, and I didn't watch television.
I cried and I didn't eat my chicken or even the chocolate pudding.
I went to bed and I cried.
The first line of the story sets up the tone. The two first lines are 'telling' lines, yes, says Ann, but then we go on to be 'shown' how sad the main character is in the next three lines. We also get a little taste of humor with the line about chocolate pudding. A very strong start to a wonderful picture book.
Ann gives other examples of strong story beginnings. She tells the audience about her 'W's (one of which is 'Wow') and Ann provides the workshoppers with some, pardon my French, freaking awesome handouts.
Would you like to find the WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN WANT and WOW of your story?
Lucky you, Ann has a great new book out:
Read about it here and here and check out the book trailer below.
POSTED BY JAIME TEMAIRIK
0 Comments on Ann Paul - Starting Strong as of 8/10/2009 2:58:00 PM
Bonny continues through her manuscript, realizing there's something wrong with the middle. She again realizes her middle is too far from the core action of her premise.
A couple of rules from Bonny:
Pay attention to that tiny voice that tells you something is wrong.
Look to condense, compress, distill. Eliminate the good for the great.
POSTED BY ALICE POPE
1 Comments on Bonny Becker: Be Wise, Revise--Middles, last added: 8/10/2009
The first things picture book writers need is a premise, she says.
Then she gets into her first draft of the story. She's reading an early draft of a Bear and Mouse story in which she had problems with the middle. When that happens, Bonny says, you probably have a problem with the beginning.
In the draft she's reading she realized that her story started too far back from the premise.
Bonny quotes Ursula Le Guin:
"In revision, as a rough rule, if the beginning can be cut, cut it."
She revisited and tweaked her premise, and went back and revised her beginning, starting closer to the action of the story.
POSTED BY ALICE POPE
0 Comments on Bonny Becker: Be Wise, Revise--Beginnings as of 8/10/2009 2:58:00 PM
Write your story knowing you're going to revise it many many times. This is something Bonny didn't know when she started out as a writer, but now that's her mindset going into her projects. Jane Yolen told her says she does up to 40 revisions on a picture book she's writing.
POSTED BY ALICE POPE
0 Comments on Bonny Becker: Be Wise, Revise as of 8/10/2009 2:58:00 PM
A reminder of Ingrid's story: her first book published, SAVVY, went on the NYT Bestseller list, ALA and Hornbook say it is one of the ten best books of the year, Newbery Honor!, etc.
"The last writers's workshop/conference I went to was 8 or 9 years ago at BYU."
Tim Wynne-Jones and Eve Bunting were at that conference and Ingrid was too shy to share her manuscript even though Tim wanted to see more. She was very shy. She says she is still shy and just asked us if we wouldn't all mind turning around for the rest of her presentation. :)
Ingrid's keynote will be in story form! She's calling it 'Ingrid Unedited' and asks us not to hold it against her.
1 Comments on Ingrid Law - Writing Magic: From the Head to the Heart, last added: 8/13/2009
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Alice Pope, Jolie Stekly, Jaime Temairik, Lee Wind, Paula Yoo, and Suzanne Young - You've done a great service for those of us who couldn't be there. Thanks for all your excellent blogging.
*clap clap clap clap*
Thank you!!
Thank you, SCBWI Team Blog!!!
Hi from New Zealand,
I've been following the SCBWI team blog the whole weekend and you guys did an amazing job...I laughed, I teared up, I was inspired...I was jealous...I am in awe...
In 37 days the National Children's Writers and Illustrators conference begins here for New Zealand. It is our first conference in 16 years and My team and I have been planning it for 18 months...I can't thank you enough for the inspiration you have been for me and my team and the wider community of writers and illustrtors in this country.
Kia Kaha..ake ake ake...
Be strong for ever and ever.
Maureen
Convenor
Spinning Gold Conference NZ Childrens writers and Illustrators.
Thank you to the SCBWI Conference Blogging Tag Team and your in-depth and personal reporting from the scene.
You made us feel as if we were a part of the moment.
You connected us to our colleagues in Los Angeles.
And isn't that the goal of every writer: to make us feel the story we're reading?
Great work, great thanks, and great gratitude for letting us eavesdrop on the party. {}
-Pamela Ross
New York
Thank you so much for doing this! I've enjoyed all the blog posts and tweets!
Thanks for a GREAT week Team Blog!
Thank you so much! Your sharing took some of the pain out of not being there. Hurray for all of you!
I'm still on a high from all the wonderful workshops and speeches I heard at the SCBWI conference. This was my second time around and it was as enjoyable as the first. Learned so much about the writing process. Thanks.
Hi. Wow. Thank everyone for the kind comments. We really appreciate it. I've also noticed some comment dialogue going on in the other blogs as well - yay! If you would like to keep up with SCBWI post-conference information, please follow twitter.com/scbwi as well as our individual blogs listed below:
Alice Pope: http://cwim.blogspot.com/
Paula Yoo: http://paulayoo.com
Lee Wind: http://www.leewind.org/
Jolie Stekly: http://cuppajolie.blogspot.com/
Suzanne Young: http://www.suzanne-young.blogspot.com/
Jaime Temairik: http://www.cocoastomp.blogspot.com/
We've all started posting post-con photos and wrap-up blogs at our sites. I myself have posted some blogs and photo galleries today and will continue to post some wrap-up conference blogs throughout this week. We also all blog regularly re: SCBWI events as well as blogs on the craft of writing for children/teens and industry/publishing advice, so keep in touch with SCBWI TEAM BLOG throughout the year!
Best,
Paula Yoo
http://paulayoo.com