Category: Conferences (Page 3 of 8)

Heading Out To #LA18SCBWI: Conference Gems Round-Up

July 31, 2018 / Katie L. Carroll

I head out for the 2018 SCBWI conference in L.A. in two days! I’ve been super nervous about leaving The Gentleman for four nights (it’s the youngest I’m ever leaving any of the babies for a conference), so I haven’t really had any nervousness left in me for anything else. But as it’s crept closer, I find I’m getting those little butterflies of excitement/nerves about the actual conference.

I was taking a look back all the gems of wisdom and inspiration I have accumulated on the Observation Desk from previous conferences and thought it would be fun to link to those here. (Wow! Look at that, they go all the way back ten years ago! And look at how many conferences I’ve been to.) Here they are:

SCBWI L.A. 2008 Conference Gems: Part 1

SCBWI L.A. 2008 Conference Gems: Part 2

SCBWI L.A. 2008 Conference Gems: Part 3

SCBWI Eastern PA 2010 Conference Wrap Up

Nuggets of Writing Wisdom from SCBWI L.A. 2010 Conference

SCBWI Poconos Conference 2011

SCBWI Poconos Retreat 2012

New England SCBWI 2013 Conference Gems

Thoughts on the New England SCBWI 2015 Conference

New England SCBWI 2015 Conference Gems of Wisdom

New England SCBWI 2016 Conference Words of Wisdom for Writing and Life

New England SCBWI 2016 Conference Words of Wisdom for Writing and Life

May 11, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

Sneaking in some writing time before the conference started. #amwriting #selfie

A week and a half later and I feel like I’m still catching up after the New England SCBWI Conference. I’m a little behind on my novel writing goals and I have a few deadlines for other projects creeping up, but the momentum of the writing conference usually keeps me going and focused on my writing goals for months.

One of my favorite things about writing conferences is catching up with old writing friends and meeting new ones. My roommate and I stayed up way too late chatting about writing and family and stuff. I almost literally bumped into a friend I met–well it has to be ten years ago now–at one of the many Poconos conferences I attended, and it was awesome to catch up with her. I squeezed in some writing time on Friday before my first workshop, I gathered with both old and new friends for dinner Saturday night, and I happened to wake up early and couldn’t fall back to sleep on Sunday morning, so I went for a run at the hotel fitness center. It all went by too fast, and I was so exhausted by the time I got home Sunday evening.

To keep the inspiration fresh I like to go through my notes from the conference (something I’ve been meaning to do with past conferences as well). So here are just a few of the words of wisdom I came across during the weekend (note that I don’t use quotation marks because these aren’t necessarily direct quotes, though I do my best to keep them as close as possible to what the speakers actually said and the sentiments are accurate):

Marketing is about choices. Choosing to do the things you enjoy and the things you do well. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The most powerful marketing tool is to write a helluva book. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt
People are grateful on the inside, but it’s important to be thankful on the outside. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt
This that matter the most in your marketing are also what matter the most in writing: what is uniquely yours and your book, things you care about, and economy & quality. ~Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Kids need to see and identify the characters of book in themselves. ~Zaneta Jung (Assistant Editor, Sterling Publishing)
I prefer the term quality assurance [instead of gatekeeper]. As much as I love art and I love authors and I love books, I think of the quote in Ratatouille from the food critic, “I don’t like food; I LOVE it. If I don’t love it, I don’t swallow.” ~ (Editorial Director, Jolly Fish Press)

If you aren’t working on and submitting at least seven things a year, then what the hell are you doing? ~Jane Yolen
Never neglect and forget your heart books. These are the books the rest of us need to read. ~Jane Yolen
Where does the character story start? Start on the day that’s different. ~Wendy Mass
We totally get a do-over when we wake up every morning. ~Wendy Mass
If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we keep getting what we’ve already got. ~Wendy Mass

How did we all end up in this room together? All these details of your journey of how you go there, that’s your best asset as a writer. ~Patrick Carman
When you collaborate, don’t think “What am I going to get out of this?” but think “How can I help make this person’s dream come true?” Collaborating is bigger than networking. ~Patrick Carman
Intuition and inspiration can only happen in the moment. ~Kathleen Rushall (Agent, Andrea Brown Literary Agency)
Your dream agent is the one who adores the hell out of your work. ~Jess Keating
Unused creativity is not benign. If it’s not being put to use or being fulfilled, it leads to anxiety. (I failed to mark in my notes whether it was Kathleen Rushall or Jess Keating, who presented this workshop together.)
Do a $50 job likes it’s a $500 job, and then you’ll start getting $500 jobs. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
I’m being invited into a kid’s imagination and that is a privilege and a hallowed space to occupy. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
I had my sketch book, and I was bored. And that is a wonderful thing to do. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Your best achievement is just around the corner. ~Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Dialogue is not about translating real-life situations; it’s about giving your best impression of it. ~Linda Camacho (Agent, Prospect Agency)
It is so easy to get lost in your own world. You’re falling in love, and that’s great, but sometimes you have to rein it in. ~Linda Camacho (Agent, Prospect Agency)
Likeability is boring to strive for. It’s okay for characters to have positive characteristics, but they should make mistakes. You want them to be imperfect; it makes them “human.” ~Rebecca Podos (Agent, Rees Literary Agency)
Writing books you are passionate about makes it easy for kids to fall in love with your books. ~Colby Sharp
Graphic novels are complex forms of texts, and no kid should ever be stopped from reading that. ~Susannah Richards
Being a mommy doesn’t mean you can’t be a real artist. ~Amitha Knight

New England SCBWI Past Conference Gems

April 20, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

Whenever I’m preparing to head off to a writing conference, I always find it fun and inspirational to look back on past conferences. I’m in kind of a discouraged state of mind about my writing. I’m waiting on one thing, I pulled another out of publication, and I have no major projects scheduled to be published right now. I’m trying not to focus on all the negatives in my writing career and instead plug away at my WIP, but I’ve got to admit I’ve been feeling a little low.

But I’m off to the 2016 New England SCBWI conference a week from Friday. I’m heading up early to get in some writing time before the conference starts that afternoon, and then I’ll be attending workshops, keynotes, and panels all weekend. And catching up with old writing buddies and hopefully meeting some new ones. Anyone else attending? Make sure to say “hi” if our paths cross. To keep us all inspired here are my conference gems from 2013 and 2015 NESCBWI conferences.

From 2013:

We should meet the world with all our senses. ~Jeannine Atkins
What’s outside in the setting can reflect what’s going on in the inside of a character, but it can also be in contrast to what’s being felt. ~Jeannine Atkins
How do we access that which we are trying to recreate when we’re sitting at our desks or computers? Sometimes we need a sensory kick in the pants. ~Dawn Metcalf
We work with art and it can evoke an objective response. ~Ruben Pfeffer
It was as if someone else’s words had opened up a whole host of words in me. ~Sharon Creech
As writers we want company; we need company. You come along too, please. ~Sharon Creech
Revision is finding and strengthening the heart of a story, and revision is messier than people want it to be. ~Kate Messner
Maybe I had to stop trying to prove to people I was good enough and just had to do the work I was passionate about. ~Grace Lin
Every story has a message, whether or not the writer was aware of it or intended it. ~Chris Eboch
I come to one little detail that sort of wakes up my mind and then start amassing details like constellations. ~Jeannine Atkins
Writers are somewhat schizophrenic; we hear voices in our heads; we listen instead of conversing. ~Padma Venkatraman
Go down the rabbit hole. ~Greg Fishbone

From 2015 (Wow! There are a lot here, but well worth the read.):

If I like something, I will Internet stalk you. ~Carter Hasegawa
Don’t be crazy on the interwebs. ~Jill Corcoran
Things take a long time because they take a long time. ~Jennifer Laughran
Often what I don’t think I’m looking for is what I fall in love with. ~Alison Weiss
I was led to believe that social media was key to making you great. There are things that can work, but it has to be what works for you. ~Carter Hasegawa
You are my tribe. ~Jane Yolen
Books make the world a little smaller for people to reach out to each other. ~Jane Yolen
Protect yourself so that there’s room to create. ~Carter Hasegawa
Taking a chance, isn’t that what all of us do when we send out a manuscript? ~Stephen Mooser
Taste–the one word to leave this conference with. ~Dan Santat
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit…” Ira Glass quote referenced by Dan Santat (See the full quote on Goodreads.)
Don’t be biased or censor yourself in what you like and read and how you form your taste. ~Dan Santat
Be aware of your tastes and interests. This is your voice. Your voice is you writing on a piece of paper uncensored. ~Dan Santat
Trust yourself; know that you have something inside of you. Trust that what you have to say has value. ~Dan Santat
The hardest part of finding your style is trusting your own instincts. ~Dan Santat
My skin needs to be thin because I don’t want to protect myself from feeling things. ~Deborah Freedman
I’m just a guy who writes poetry. I’m just a dude. This is not happening (on winning the Newbery). ~Kwame Alexander
You never expect to win, but somewhere in the deep crevices of your mind, you’re always hopeful. ~Kwame Alexander
The answer is always yes! If I say yes and walk through the door, I will figure it out. ~Kwame Alexander
I believe we have to get the nos out of the way to get our yes. ~Kwame Alexander
Everyone has a story. It’s the reason why everyone acts the way they do. I saw my world differently and I was different (after reading THE CHOCOLATE WAR by Robert Cormier). ~Jo Knowles
The more I read, the bigger my world became. ~Jo Knowles
Even if I was afraid to use my voice out loud that didn’t mean I didn’t have one. ~Jo Knowles
Kids understand love…hate and discrimination are what they learn from adults. ~Jo Knowles
The moment we open a book and start reading, we change. ~Jo Knowles
Your book does not belong in a box. Allow yourselves to find the truth and tell it. Open the box and tear down the sides. ~Jo Knowles
People think diversity is a fad and that’s really offensive. I’ll still be brown tomorrow. ~Justina Ireland
Authenticity is hard. Once a book is with a reader, it may not feel authentic to them. Make something that is authentic to you and make it universal. Make things that feel real. ~Grace Lin
Build from an emotional core and that is what is authentic. ~Dhonielle Clayton
Even in a family that is entirely Hispanic, each one of them is different. You still have a lot of work to do to make it real, even if you have a diverse background. ~Cindy L. Rodriguez
Every kid wants to be the hero. ~Sona Charaipotra
Be brutal with your work, but kind to yourself. ~Katie L. Carroll
Write with your heart and soul, but revise with your head. ~Katie L. Carroll
There’s no silver bullet to making your manuscript better. You have to put in the hard work. ~Katie L. Carroll
Go beyond the Cinderella story when searching for inspiration. Think and read outside your comfort zone, and find what resonates with you by mining your own mind and heart. ~Katie L. Carroll

New England SCBWI 2015 Conference Gems of Wisdom

May 5, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

20150425_131300 As promised, I have the New England SCBWI 2015 Conference gems of wisdom and terrible pictures (seriously, I think the only decent picture I took all weekend is this one with the view from my hotel room). First, though, a reminder that the handout for my “Something Borrowed, Something New: Mining Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales to Write Fantasy” workshop is available for download as a PDF here: Something-Borrowed-Workshop-Handout.pdf.

And now for the gems of wisdom. I always note that I use italics instead of quotation marks because these are not necessarily direct quotes. Some may be close to what the speaker actually said and others are my own rewording/interpretation as I scrambled to take notes during the speeches and presentations. So here they are!

Agent/Editor Panel: Slushpile Duds to Superstar Clients with Jennifer Laughran, Jill Corcoran, Carter Hasegawa, and Alison Weiss:

If I like something, I will Internet stalk you. ~Carter Hasegawa
Don’t be crazy on the interwebs. ~Jill Corcoran
Things take a long time because they take a long time. ~Jennifer Laughran
Often what I don’t think I’m looking for is what I fall in love with. ~Alison Weiss
I was led to believe that social media was key to making you great. There are things that can work, but it has to be what works for you. ~Carter Hasegawa
Protect yourself so that there’s room to create. ~Carter Hasegawa

Opening Ceremonies featuring Stephen Mooser and Jane Yolen:

20150424_192320

Taking a chance, isn’t that what all of us do when we send out a manuscript? ~Stephen Mooser
You are my tribe. ~Jane Yolen
Books make the world a little smaller for people to reach out to each other. ~Jane Yolen

Keynote with Dan Santat:

Taste–the one word to leave this conference with. ~Dan Santat
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit…” Ira Glass quote referenced by Dan Santat (See the full quote on Goodreads.)
Don’t be biased or censor yourself in what you like and read and how you form your taste. ~Dan Santat
Be aware of your tastes and interests. This is your voice. Your voice is you writing on a piece of paper uncensored. ~Dan Santat
Trust yourself; know that you have something inside of you. Trust that what you have to say has value. ~Dan Santat
The hardest part of finding your style is trusting your own instincts. ~Dan Santat

Crystal Kite Award Ceremony with 2014 Winner Deborah Freedman:

My skin needs to be thin because I don’t want to protect myself from feeling things. ~Deborah Freedman

Special Guest Speaker Kwame Alexander 2015 Newbery Award Winner:

I’m just a guy who writes poetry. I’m just a dude. This is not happening (on winning the Newbery). ~Kwame Alexander
You never expect to win, but somewhere in the deep crevices of your mind, you’re always hopeful. ~Kwame Alexander
The answer is always yes! If I say yes and walk through the door, I will figure it out. ~Kwame Alexander
I believe we have to get the nos out of the way to get our yes. ~Kwame Alexander

Keynote with Jo Knowles – Be True:

Everyone has a story. It’s the reason why everyone acts the way they do. I saw my world differently and I was different (after reading THE CHOCOLATE WAR by Robert Cormier). ~Jo Knowles
The more I read, the bigger my world became. ~Jo Knowles
Even if I was afraid to use my voice out loud that didn’t mean I didn’t have one. ~Jo Knowles
Kids understand love…hate and discrimination are what they learn from adults. ~Jo Knowles
The moment we open a book and start reading, we change. ~Jo Knowles
Your book does not belong in a box. Allow yourselves to find the truth and tell it. Open the box and tear down the sides. ~Jo Knowles

Diversity Panel: Authors & Illustrators Agree – We Need Diverse Books, with Mike Jung, Grace Lin, Justina Ireland, Dhonielle Clayton, Sona Charaipotra, and Cindy L. Rodriguez:

20150425_201148 copy

People think diversity is a fad and that’s really offensive. I’ll still be brown tomorrow. ~Justina Ireland
Authenticity is hard. Once a book is with a reader, it may not feel authentic to them. Make something that is authentic to you and make it universal. Make things that feel real. ~Grace Lin
Build from an emotional core and that is what is authentic. ~Dhonielle Clayton
Even in a family that is entirely Hispanic, each one of them is different. You still have a lot of work to do to make it real, even if you have a diverse background. ~Cindy L. Rodriguez
Every kid wants to be the hero. ~Sona Charaipotra

And here are a few from my workshops that made the Interwebs (!):

Be brutal with your work, but kind to yourself. ~Katie L. Carroll
Write with your heart and soul, but revise with your head. ~Katie L. Carroll
There’s no silver bullet to making your manuscript better. You have to put in the hard work. ~Katie L. Carroll
Go beyond the Cinderella story when searching for inspiration. Think and read outside your comfort zone, and find what resonates with you by mining your own mind and heart. ~Katie L. Carroll

That was only two days’ worth of conferencing as I wasn’t able to attend the final day on Sunday. Imagine how long that post would have been if I had gone all three days! Seriously, I can’t overstate how much I needed that weekend. I spend so much time being a mom and squeezing in the writer part of myself that it felt so amazing to be fully immersed in the writing part of my life for a couple of days.

And to have people come up to me and thank me and say they enjoyed my workshops, it really meant a lot. I came to the conference feeling like a no-name, small-press author, and I came out of it feeling like I had actually contributed something to a creative community that means so much to me. Now to finish that WIP…and count the days until next year’s conference!

Thoughts on the New England SCBWI 2015 Conference

April 29, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

First of all a big thank you to all the wonderful coordinators, volunteers, faculty, and attendees who made #NESCBWI15 (the New England SCBWI 2015 conference) unforgettable! A special thank you to my workshop attendees for spending an hour or two of your life with me. So many wonderful moments!

For those of you who took my “Something Borrowed, Something New: Mining Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales to Write Fantasy” workshop, here is the Workshop Handout ready for download as a PDF. Anyone who didn’t take the workshop is welcome to check it out as well. It has a ton of great quotes from fantasy writers about their inspirations.

I’m still recovering from all the excitement. Unlike many writers, I’m not an introvert, but conferences are so mentally demanding, it still takes a lot out of me. It was my first big conference on faculty, and even though I only attended two of the three days, it was a whirlwind, and I’ve been exhausted ever since. And also chomping at the bit to get back into my WIP.

The thing about being a faculty member is that when people talk to you, they expect you to have intelligent, thoughtful things to say. It adds a whole new layer of responsibility, one I was happy to take up, but also a little (a lot!) nervous about. I had lots of wonderful writers come up to me after my workshops and thank me, so at least I can say I didn’t fall flat on my face. (Though really, who is going to come up to you and be like, “Your workshop sucked!) I’m sure I had plenty of not so intelligent words came out of my mouth as well, but overall I’d say it was a successful endeavor.

My biggest fish out of water moment came when I walked into the faculty dinner on Friday night, came up to a partially full table, and asked if there was an open seat. There was, and boy was I lucky for it! Turns out the table was full of agents and editors and one lowly author (me!). The conversations were varied (everything from the mundane topic of camping to the more scandalous one of incest books) and it was great fun to observe the more relaxed side of publishing professionals.

My favorite moments were definitely talking to other creative people. Whether we only had a moment or two to chat (which was the case with many people I talked to because my schedule was so jam-packed) or a more in depth conversation, I was just wowed by the sincerity and dedication of everyone I encountered. The weekend devoted solely to being immersed in the writerly world has done wonders for my own literary soul.

I have lots of great gems of wisdom from the conference (even a few of my own!) and some terrible pictures that I’ll be sharing next week. In the meantime, I’ll be catching up on sleep and writing, writing, writing.