It’s a small world at Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Fall Conference

The conference has a very homey, small world feel. The fact you’re jammed into a church assembly hall doesn’t detract from the warm, friendly atmosphere. Everyone is so friendly, like we all came from the same hometown. You could strike up a conversation with anyone – a fellow aspiring author or illustrator, an agent or even a famous writer. The organizers go out of their way to assure you are as comfortable as possible, like you are an invited houseguest.

But for me it was a small world in many other ways.

I met the local chair for SBWI. A new position, our area has finally gotten enough members to warrant a chairperson. Turns out I had met her before at the school where I teach. I am her daughter’s art teacher. Small world.

Ran into my old friend Caroline who lives just 45 minutes down the road from me. I have known her for twenty plus years but we seldom see each other. I had been expecting to see her there. Only recently had we discovered we both were writing for children. Small world.

Caroline introduced me to one of her critique group members. Christa is a scratchboard artist and lives in my hometown of Williamsburg. I mentioned to her I was about to do some scratchboard art with my fifth graders. I asked her if she might be interested in coming to do a workshop for us. Small world.

As a volunteer for the book signing committee I was assigned to help Patricia R. Giff. This Newberry Honor Award author is one of the most personable people I have ever met. We had barely gotten started when I explained to her that I had never done anything like this before. She assured me I was doing fine. After switching seats, turns out she is left-handed, we got into a groove. It wasn’t long before she said to me, “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?” Each and every person who came up to the table got her undivided attention. She took her time and made you feel like she was ready to sit down and have tea with you. A wonderful experience, one I’m not likely to forget. Again, it left me feeling like it was a small world.

By the end of the conference I felt like part of a community who shared aspirations, triumphs and low points. I highly recommend this conference for the feeling of camaraderie, the injection of inspiration and for the great contacts you make.

I never expected that the children’s writing community would have such a small world feel.

I love it when this happens

Yes, I will get down to working on NaNo soon. It's been a busy week, and though I haven't written as much as I should, I have written, which is good. Yay, me!

So, I picked up a YA book at the library this week. I'd read the author's previous book- a retelling of a fairy tale I adore- and hadn't been entirely pleased with it. She had re-imagined it beautifully, bringing out so many wonderful aspects of the story. She added a culture and history and way cool stuff. (Note my precise language, there.)

But the tone was wonky- to me, at least. The dialog seemed modern, the cadence of the narration choppy.

I was not happy.

Now, don't get me wrong. I never threw the book down and wondered why it got published when I here I was with a fairy tale novel that was half re-written, with it's own blotchy tone, and a still-to-be-resolved plot line... hey, wait.... I mean, brilliant book of my own.

I was disappointed, though. Her re-imagining had captured me, and I was peeved that the tone (in my opinion) didn't serve that re-imagining.

But her new book? The book about another one of my favorite fairy tales? Lovely! It read like a fairy tale. A few rough patches, but still great.

I was so jazzed for her. Can't wait to read the next one.

Now since I'm hijacking the blog to write about improving authors (when I should share conference notes- just remembered that), please join me. I'd rather not feel alone and self conscious. Are there any authors that you've seen grow? Or any that- like Athena springing fully grown from Zeus' head- seem marvelous from the very begining?

I'd love to know.

Tension Headache Rx

Presentation at the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Fall Conference

Getting up a 4:30 in the morning on the weekend for me is akin to jumping into cold water. You don’t much like it at first but you can acclimate. I did that this past weekend in order to attend the SCBWI conference in the D.C. area for the day. Well worth it! Inspirational speakers, excellent presenters and panel discussions one right after another. Here is a sampling of one of the presentations.

Linda Pratt, a literary agent with Sheldon Fogelman, spoke about tension in children’s literature. She informed us that current market conditions prescribe tension. Her recommendations were individualized for picture books and novels.

Trying to implicitly teach is the biggest pitfall an author can make with a picture book. The learning must be disguised as fun. Not having a beginning, middle and end, especially if there is not something at stake, is another pitfall. Her prescription for adding tension was two-fold. One, less text is more. The illustrations and text should NOT be able to stand-alone. Second, master the art of the page-turner. This can highlight the tension.

She also pointed out a few pitfalls in novels concerning tension. Don’t overprotect your characters. Look for opportunities for them to get hurt, either physically or emotionally. Another is not to confuse action with tension. Driving down the road is not tension. She added that the reader must be emotionally invested in the characters to feel tension. Her recommendations for creating more tension are: chart your character arcs and embrace character flaws. On the first point, you want to be sure each of your characters changes over the course of the novel. If he or she doesn’t change, play the “what if” game. Throw out different scenarios and see what comes of it. As far as character flaws go she suggests that you give them flaws you personally don’t like. Make a list of things you like and dislike about your characters.

What I found made a lot of sense was to not overprotect your characters. It makes sense that a little pain would create tension. The idea of giving flaws to your characters seems like it would add conflict to your story too.

More is Less

Since Sarah started it, I'm happy to continue the discussion about REVISION. (Somehow, it merits all caps.)

I am deep into revisions right now and it seems the more I write, the more I cut. And the characters and story get stronger the more I carve away from them. The funny thing is, whenever I cut entire pages or multiple paragraphs from a chapter, replacing them with one or two sentences, the Slushies always comment about how they like that I've included MORE description or explaination or history in this version of the chapter.

I look back at the earlier version and find that yes, indeed, I have taken three paragraphs and reduced them to one sentence, and lo and behold, my critiquers tell me I've added something.

What that tells me is that I've clarified. I've eliminated what doesn't need to be there and reduced the important stuff to its very essence. It tells me that my writing is getting better.

Good, because I don't know how many more revisions I can do. This is tough stuff.

The scenes we leave out

I figure it's time for a break from all things NaNoWriMo (Especially since I'm behind in my word count- don't worry, I'll catch up.)

Since NaNoWriMo is all about just getting words on the page, I'm going discuss

drum roll please

Revision!

A very specific form of revision, actually.

Several months ago, I wrote a great scene for my WIP. It established aspects of my MC's character I hadn't ironed out, introduced us to people in her past, and solidified the life she had before the story begins.

Great scene. I love writing it. I loved reading it. So did the Slushies.

But the consensus was that it didn't need to go at the beginning of the story, because it's not really part of the story. It was also too big to be a flashback, and too involved to be split into tiny flashbacks.

It took me a while to realize that I shouldn't do anything with it.

And not in the this-is-gorgeous-and-insightful-prose-and-no-unhallowed-hands-shall-cut-it-from-this-manuscript sense. Nothing, as in the-readers-will-never-see-it sense.

Here's why: it wasn't part of my story. It set the stage for the story.

So why didn't I sob silently as I cut this really cool bit from my MS?

Because it will be in everything I write. It will show up because I know it. And because I know it, the reader will, too. That scene shaped the way I viewed my story; it informs the way I'm crafting it.

A professor of mine once told me that everything we cut from a MS haunts it. The weight and sense and soul of what we cut lingers in our work, even if it isn't visible on the page.

It doesn't mean readers won't feel the effects of my special scene. It just means it that a reader won't be able to turn to such-and-such page to find it.

How about you? Any really good parts that you've cut, that you realized you needed more than your readers? I can't be the only one.

Meanwhile, I have some serious catching up to do with NaNo...