Sunday, April 11, 2010

Peter Brown Keynote #scbwiwwa

Realities of Being an Author/Illustrator was the ORIGINAL title of Peter's talk, but in case we aren't all author/illustrators, he decided to change the talk to QUESTIONS (NOT ANSWERS.)

Peter has always been a question asker. He thinks we might be able to find answers to how to advance our own careers in children's books by asking the right questions first -- Peter provides us with the questions.

What am I good at?
Besides video games and climbing trees, Peter found he was good at art and storytelling. Peter shows us a painting he made in art school that still haunts him to this day. It was SO AWFUL and SO EVIL, he decided he needed to use his skills for good. He came up with a plan to make better art.

See the earlier blog post of his breakout session to find ways to develop a new, more appealing style. Later on in life he's used this same approach for his writing.

What are my goals?
Some of Peter's goals are to be a successful illustrator and to have a balanced interesting life.

What's my ideal routine?
For Peter some of his ideal routine includes:
Working hard, but not too hard
Full of art and culture
Lots of reading
Active social life
Sports and exercise
Dinner with The Colbert Report

If Peter follows a routine with these elements, he's not only going to be happy, he'll be moving towards his career goals.

And there are more questions to ask yourself -- but my laptop power is about to run out -- so you need to come to the conference!

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