Category: Conferences (Page 4 of 8)

Looking Back on the 2013 New England SCBWI Conference

April 21, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

As I gear up for the 2015 New England SCBWI conference (#NESCBWI15), I thought I’d share some highlights from the last one I attended (I missed the 2014 conference due to being very pregnant!). And in the next couple of weeks, look for my gems from this year’s conference. Enjoy!

The 2013 New England SCBWI conference was amazing (of course it was…these conference are always amazing)! Caught up with old friends, including the very talented Kimberly Sabatini and Jodi Moore, and met some new ones. Left feeling inspired and exhausted, and I’m still brimming with creative juices.

One of the highlights for me was seeing my book covers up on the screen in the ballroom during the downtime/announcements/mealtime in the ballroom!

I’ve collected a few conference gems that resonated with me. A quick note about why I use italics instead of quotation marks…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 without further ado, here they are:

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)

Personally, I feel like I stretched myself not only as a writer but as a person. I jumped headlong into any writing activities that came up in the workshops I attended, even braving to share some of my raw work in front of others. I dared to act out an emotion for others to write about (and I have terrible stage fright when it comes to acting anything). I drove to the train station by myself in a city I’d never been to and picked up another author. So all in all, a fantastic weekend!

Fairy Tale One-Liners

March 24, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

I’ve been reading a lot about fairy tales and myths as I put together my workshop for my (sold-out!!!) New England SCBWI conference workshop “Something Borrowed, Something New: Mining Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales to Write Fantasy.”

As I read and study different versions of fairy tales, it’s interesting to note that they can sometimes have gaping plot holes. Even as a kid, I can remember on occasion thinking, “Why didn’t they just do [fill in simple solution here that for some reason was overlooked]?”

My brain, in all its infinite wisdom, starting taking this to a whole new level (perhaps my constant state of sleep deprivation contributed to this as well) where I’ve been thinking of all these ways that fairy tale problems could be easily solved. So here’s my list of fairy tale one-liners:

CINDERELLA:

Child protective services is called in, dear-old step-momma is arrested for child neglect and abuse, step-sisters are sent to foster care, and Cinderella becomes an emancipated minor who happily lives off her father’s life insurance policy.

SLEEPING BEAUTY:

Merryweather–the fairy who gives Aurora her gift after Maleficent casts her spell–gifts steel-tipped fingers to Aurora, who is already betrothed to Prince Phillip, her true love, so they live happily ever after without all that drama.

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA:

The prince’s mother is a gracious host and lets the rain-soaked princess sleep in a Temperpedic, so the princess gets such a good night’s sleep that she’s in an awesome mood and the prince can’t help but fall in love with her.

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD:

The grandmother sends Little Red Riding Hood some bus money, so Red doesn’t have to travel through the dark, scary woods all by herself, never meets the wolf, and has a nice lunch with grandma.

RAPUNZEL:

Instead of eating the witch’s rapunzel plant and having to give her daughter to the witch, Rapunzel’s mom sends her husband out in the middle of the night for pickles and ice cream, ya know, like a normal pregnant woman.

Kidding aside, I love fairy tales and myths, and feel so lucky that I get to read them for actual work. What are your favorite fairy tales, folklore, and myths? What ways would you twist them into one-liners?

Remembering When I Used to Attend Conferences

August 1, 2014 / Katie L. Carroll

The kidlit writing world is abuzz with the goings on at the annual SCBWI conference in L.A. this weekend, and alas I’m once again not there. Instead of having sour grapes about it, I’m remembering the last time I went to the L.A. conference and all the great wisdom I gained while there. So I went into my archives and found a post from way back in 2010, which I’m reposting now.

Enjoy these great nuggets from some great writers!

M.T. Anderson:

Books take us away from home, so we can actually see our home.

Literature restores a sense of unknown to what we already know.

Understanding the past is just as much about forging ahead to the future.

Gordon Korman:

What do you use more as an adult? Your sense of humor or your ability to recognize foreshadowing.

Kids are more subtle than you think they are. It’s not that stuff is going over their heads; it’s just the stuff we think is important, they don’t care about.

Kids are not an exotic subspecies. When we are writing for kids, we are writing for ourselves.

E.B. Lewis:

We spend so much time scratching to get some wealth that we miss out true wealth: our children.

Sometimes we don’t scratch deep enough to find the true value of our kids. It’s more valuable than gold. We scratch them too deep sometimes and destroy our children.

As artists, we need to fill ourselves up to flowing and give it all back.

Rachel Vail:

Trick to being a good listener is to actually listen.

Spying is key to being a writer. Put on your headphones in a public place, but don’t really listen to music.

How can two people in same conversation have such different experiences of what happens?

When I get stuck, I make some tea and force myself to remember.

Gail Carson Levine:

When you make a list, no idea is stupid.

The magic and joy of being a writer is learning about yourself in your writing.

Carolyn Mackler:

By standing out, you put yourself out there for a fall.

Be proud of what you wish for and stand by it, even if it’s harder than you expected.

Gennifer Choldenko:

Human beings need stories; we always have and we always will.

Harness the energy of your dreams.

Give yourself the right to take risks; you’re not making real risks if you haven’t risked and failed.

Paul Fleischman:

Research should be like slip; it should be there but never show.

Laughter gives you a sense of control.

There’s now way around but through–that’s the writing life.

New England SCBWI 2013 Conference Gems

May 10, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

One of the highlights for me was seeing my book covers up on the screen in the ballroom during the downtime/announcements/mealtime in the ballroom!

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)

Highlights from SCBWI Conferences

May 2, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Tomorrow I’m off to the New England SCBWI conference! YAY! It’s my first conference in over a year, so I’m very much looking forward to it…but it is also my first weekend away from The Boy, so it’ll be hard to leave. We’ll both be fine, though. (That’s what I keep telling myself anyway!)

I’ve been going to SCBWI conferences for quite a few years now and have gathered a plethora of great tips. I’ll certainly be sharing my favorite nuggets about this conference, but in the meantime, here are some highlights from past conferences I’ve attended.

Take the time and make the space for your writing dreams. ~Laurie Halse Anderson
A vital aspect to nurturing talent is to accept and validate your need to create. Honor, cherish, and celebrate it. ~Laurie Halse Anderson
There are no secure boxes. Do whatever you want to do, and do it wildly, purely, uncensored, even regrettable. Do it as hard as you can. ~Donna Jo Napoli
Never give up because you might be on the one yard line, and you just don’t know it. ~Donna Gephart
Books take us away from home, so we can actually see our home. ~M.T. Anderson
Human beings need stories; we always have and we always will. ~Gennifer Choldenko
As artists, we need to fill ourselves up to flowing and give it all back. ~E.B. Lewis
In a roller-coaster ride you know exactly where you’re going, end up where you began, and you can a buy a ticket to go on again and have almost the same exact experience; it’s thrilling, but it’s not a journey. A journey takes you where you’ve never been before; it’s pretty scary and the dangers are real. ~Sandy Asher
All stories are based in truth somewhere. Pay attention to those stories and write them down. ~Judy Schachner
Use your very guts to spill out your very best. ~Susan Patron

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. With the likes of Nova Ren Suma, Kate Messner, Sharon Creech, and many other authors, agents, and editors presenting at the conference, I know I will have an awesome weekend.