#SCBWI-WWA14: Franny Billingsley breakout session

National Book Award nominee Franny Billingsley (2011's Chime) urges writers to put the characters (and therefore your readers) into as concrete a world as possible. Put your reader somewhere they want to be, she says. Into your book, which is akin to a pleasant dream-state. How to keep your readers there? Deploy concrete, sensory details. And these aren't vague, dreamy details; they're vivid. Like a really clear continuously shot movie. No fallback words like "beautiful." Or "bad." Perhaps her most pertinent nugget? "Gather your senses, keep your senses alert."

Now go back to sleep, perchance to dream....

#SCBWI-WWA2014: Breakout session, Claudia Gabel

Claudia awaits her introduction.

Executive editor at Katherine Tegen Books, Claudia Gabel, talked about First Pages in Reverse. Claudia is not only an editor, but she's also an author (the In or Out series, Romeo and Juliet and Vampires, co-writer of Elusion).

(Dang, the talent is just dripping off the walls in here this weekend!)

In looking at what makes a good first page, we can examine our writing with multiple perspectives.

Comparing first pages, the first drafts versus the revised ones, it was apparent which was the more effective path for a writer to take. Claudia focused on the immediacy of a scene, the proximity of the reader to the character(s) experiencing the emotion in a moment, and the promise of forward momentum. The stakes are higher when the opening moment is fraught with tension, even danger. She showed us that the invitation to turn that first page and enter the realm of the novel was so much more clear to the reader when that initial moment works well.

Consider this when thinking about your own first pages: action vs inaction, character's voice vs description, forward vs stagnant.


Now get out there and make your own first pages sing! 

CONFERENCE 2013: Colleen AF Venable- Villains: Why It’s Good to be Bad

Colleen AF Venable is an author and designer. Colleen AF Venable has an incredible knack of showing some extremely scary villains to her audience. She (with scary and hilarious slides) talked through film and literary villains, such as Voldemort, King Leck, Darth Vader, a number of Disney villains, and even a rabbit.

We talked through the different types of villains from Pure Powerful Evil villains to the Reader as the villain (with some WONDERFUL examples!). We looked at two different villains: King Leck (from Kristin Cashore's GRACELING series) and the Rabbit (I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen)

A question that was asked was: How do you write a great villain? Here is one from Colleen tip to use: Think of what the average person would do in a situation. Make your character do anything but that.

Check out more about Colleen, and her work at her fabulous website

CONFERENCE 2013: Abigail Samoun- Tools for Every Plot Mechanic (Part 1 & 2)

Abigail Samoun's breakout sessions were dealing with tools for every plot mechanic. She gave us advice, insight and practical tools to use for story plots. In our second session she had four volunteers share their homework and we had a great session listening to the process. 

Since we can't give away all of Abigail's amazing tools we'll share one of her tools that is substantial to a plot. Ask these questions about your story and plot.

Creating Tension 

Tool #1- Be your hero’s worst enemy

-How can you be mean to your characters?

-Be especially mean to your most likable characters.

-Use the Dial of Misery (turn up the volume of misery that affects your character)- how can it get worse?

You can find our more information about Abigail on the Red Fox Literary blog. 

CONFERENCE 2013: Robin LaFevers, Pace Yourself: Tools & Tips for Pacing Your Story

We had a wonderful session with Author Robin LaFevers. It was chock full of invaluable information on pace for your story. According to Robin:

Pace is all about momentum. Getting the reader to turn the page as quickly as possible. We are creating a compulsion through pace for our reader to turn the page.

There were so many great pace tips and tools that Robin gave. One major tip and tool for pace is conflict. Stories need to have conflict. Conflict equals tension (which drives the pacing of a story). 

Here's a question regarding conflict that Robin asked us to consider:

Is the Conflict Big Enough?
-Look at the conflict and the growth protagonist needs to overcome it.

-Is it Big Enough to sustain an entire book?

-Does it truly challenge your character?

-Will readers care?

You can find our more information on Robin, and her work, on her website. 

CONFERENCE 2013: Mac Barnett- Very Practical Lessons from Very Good PBs

Mac Barnett spoke to an over-flowing room of conference attendees on taking very practical lessons from very good picture books. Mac read several picture books and then went through why they worked and what we can learn from them.

He made it very clear that picture books are a form and not a genre. They are a visual way of telling a story. 

Part of his job as a writer (and our jobs as storytellers) is to read. To be aware of current stories, while also learning from classics and those books we grew up with as children.

Here's a snippet of one of the lessons learned from a very good PB:

THE THREE ROBBERS by Tommy Ungerer

Building in PAGE TURNS (one of the most important things). It's the way you get movement, suspense, move time, reverse, set up expectation, can totally reverse course of story, everything can change, can set up a joke in text (follow with illustration as punch line).

Other PB books we discussed:

IT'S USEFUL TO HAVE A DUCK by Isol (Groundwood Books)

HENRY'S AWFUL MISTAKE by Robert Quackenbush

THE BRAVEST KNIGHT by Mercer Mayer

Questions to ask yourself as you read, write and create:

Always be thinking- How these books get made and how do they get used?

What's the relationship between text and image? (This is the most important thing about picture books and why they work).

Always have to be thinking about the form.

art by Dana Sullivan

Jesse Joshua Watson: Writing For Change #SCBWIWWA

Reported by Rebekah Jensen

Sketch by Dana Sullivan

Author and Illustrator Jesse Joshua Watson shared about Writing for Change in his breakout session. He gave us some ideas on how to use books as tools for change as he shared how he used his book HOPE FOR HAITI to help after the earthquake in Haiti.

Here are some notes from that session:

HOPE FOR HAITI came out 9 months to the day after the earthquake in. It was born from inspiration- he wanted to do something about the situation. He found the idea for the book from looking at a photograph of a Haitian child playing soccer in the midst of a tent city/mass grave.

"Look at things like a kid (and not a grownup), because kids have the magic ability to rise up out of horrible situations and be resilient."

What can I do to help in times of need/crisis as an illustrator/author?

"All I have is "A pen and a paintbrush" when the world needs me."

There is truth in the saying "the pen is mightier than the sword". The movement of ideas changes things more than anything else throughout history.

Books are one of the remaining permanent things, and can continue to share things long after the coverage of an event takes place (media changes their focus from one event to another so quickly, but books endure).

What connections can I make with the resources that I have?

You have to get actively involved, be persistent, and ASK!

We Give Books through Penguin & The Pearson Foundation is a way for kids to connect with other kids to help and make change. We Give Books allows children to read a book online for free & then that book is donated to the children (you can choose from several organizations).

You can find out more about Jesse, and his work, on his website (he also has a links page with some resources for finding ways to help make change).

5 Ways to Make Your Character Sparkle, with Kevin Emerson #SCBWIWWA

Reported by Liz Mills

Kevin Emerson has published six novels for middle-grade readers: CARLOS IS GONNA GET IT (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008) and the Oliver Nocturne series (Scholastic, 2008-2009). His next novels, THE FELLOWSHIP FOR ALIEN DETECTION for middle-grade readers and book #1 in the Atlanteans trilogy for young-adult readers, will be published by HarperCollins in 2012. Kevin is also the singer/songwriter for Seattle band Central Services and their kids' music project, The Board of Education.

How do you make your characters unique? Make them pop off the page and into readers' hearts? Kevin gave us some helpful tools using wit, personal anecdotes, and his own work. Here's a quick peek :

Create relatable situations for your characters, drawing on your own experiences.

Push your characters into difficult situations, scenarios in which perhaps the character suddenly takes control after feeling powerless for so long.

Have your main and secondary characters interact and provide insight into their personalities through dialogue and sensory descriptions.

Language, descriptive sentences, setting, and dialogue all play a part in making your characters sparkle!

Collaborative Marketing: Strength in Numbers with Rosanne Parry #SCBWIWWA

Reported by Liz Mills

Rosanne Parry is the author of the picture book DADDY’S HOME and the middle-grade novels HEART OF A SHEPHERD and SECOND FIDDLE. She lives in Portland, OR, and writes in a treehouse in her backyard.

In a straight-talking presentation peppered with heartwarming anecdotes and personal experiences, Rosanne took us through the steps to creating a collaborative marketing plan for our books or future books. While it is a reality that large publishers do not have deep promotional pockets for all their authors, there are ways to collaborate with each other as authors to celebrate the writing and reading community, establish a presence in that community, and hopefully sell books along the way. These partnerships can even focus on one aspect of your book, as in the event Rosanne did for SECOND FIDDLE, in which young musicians came and played pieces related to her book and provided a wonderful evening of entertainment in support of a good cause.

Rosanne focused her talk on two core ideas: tips on things everyone can do according to their book’s genre, and what authors should keep in mind as they brainstorm an appropriate marketing plan. Using the rubric Local, Level, Topic, and Clan, she encouraged us to read widely in our genre and get to know our fellows, so that we can partner with them effectively and meaningfully. I know I’ll be working on my marketing plan over the next few weeks, looking for creative ways to collaborate with and contribute to my community, helping to nurture a love of reading.

Lionel Bender: Visiting Book Fairs & Exhibitions #SCBWIWWA

Lionel Bender, who's on our Editorial and Art Director Faculty spoke about visiting book fairs and exhibitions.

A valuable event because:

You can see huge number of publishers (all at one place).

Publishers will display what they are about to publish (new products).

You can get key information for submitting knowing the new products.

Only place you stand a good chance to meet publisher, art director, etc.

You can get key information that you can't get any where else, and you can learn each publisher's strength, what they're looking for, and what they want from you.

Book fairs are like speed dating because you can get numbers and names as quickly as possible, make new contacts, and even might fall in love (with a publisher).

Maximize the opportunities while you are there:

Take notebook with you (write down ideas)

If you can take a camera...do! Ask before you take a picture.

Exchange ideas with colleagues

Can see what foreign publishers are doing with different subjects