MO SCBWI Conference (Pssst...It includes Steve Mooser and Lin Oliver!)

Yesterday, I attended the MO-SCBWI conference, and I am so glad I did.  It was such a treat to hear from Steve Mooser and Lin Oliver, that I nearly came to tears...several times...really.  But more on that later.

The day started with Steve and Lin's list of Ten Most Important Things to remember as a children's writer (but really the list included twelve...it was hard to edit).  It was basically a list of quotes from great children's authors.  You know, the quotes that you will go home and paste all over your office, to keep you going when you've lost your way.  Lin's favorite: "Come up with a character you love, think about what she wants most in the world and decide what's keeping her from it" -- Paula Danziger.

Namrata Tripathi of Atheneum Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) spoke next.  For PB writers, she's looking for young, bold picture books and has a special interest in a book with a "classic, but fresh" feel.  She pointed us to one of her latest, Lulu and the Brontosaurus, by Judith Viorst (of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day), as an example of that type of book.

Bree Ogden of Martin Literary Management in Seattle also spoke.  She gave some great advice on how to be savvy in the current marketplace.  Put yourself out there in a blog (phew!), even posting some stories, and remember that an experienced agent or publisher makes a decision on a submission from the first couple lines of a cover letter.  So do your research and know what a particular agent or editor is looking for.

A common suggestion from Bree and Namrata was to take the relationship with an editor and/or agent seriously.  Treat it like a commitment.  Feel confident that you are compatible by asking them the right questions.  Of course, for first-time authors, this will be a hard challenge.  If you're like me, you're salivating, just waiting for that offer, and it will be tempting to grab the first thing that comes your way.  But hopefully stronger minds will prevail, and we'll all take the time to ask questions before we take the plunge.

I attended the two Masters sessions this year.  Jody Feldman gave a brilliant workshop on creating worlds within books.  I found the writing exercises particularly helpful.  Steve and Lin gave a workshop on diaglogue.  What a hoot.  They had us all writing on the spot and spilling our bare souls before each other. 

Which brings me to...the tears.  Steve and Lin closed the event with a look at children's writing, past, present, and future.  They talked about the founding of SCBWI, liking it to "a tribe" of like-minded people all working for the same goal.  In fact, when they held their first conference, they sent 10 letters to the best children's authors of the time (Judy Blume, Dr. Seuss, E.B. White, etc.), asking them if they could come speak to their small band.  All but one or two (with good reasons) said they would come, taking the time to respond in handwritten letters (insert tears here).  Steve and Lin also bouyed the nerves of all writers present when they talked about the future.  Yes, technology is changing the publishing industry, but it is not destroying our need for fiction.  In fact, technology will play a role in proliferating story, and authors may even see greater return for content in the brave new world.

Well, sorry for my longest post ever (I didn't even tell you about my lunchtime chat with Lin or my critique with Bree), but I hope you found it worth the read.  Good luck to all of you in the tribe!

Inspiration

A lot of people have been writing about inspiration lately, considering the monumental tasks before us this month (NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo).

I get my inspiration first and foremost from my kids.  I think if you write for children, and you don't have any of your own, you at least need to borrrow some for awhile.  Hang out at the library (as long as you don't have long hair and tattoos), volunteer at your local school (see exception previously), or observe children at the playground or park (okay, if you do have long hair and tattoos, you're going to have to borrow some young relatives).

I also get inspiration from my own childhood.  In fact, my one published story to date (well, its under contract, but I consider it published for my ego's sake!), was based on some childhood memories of raising geese.  Take the time to do a journal of your childhood.  I basically took each year of school and wrote everything I could remember about those years in a diary.  When I'm at a loss for ideas, I shuffle through the pages and find some funny tidbit just waiting to be fleshed out.

Like most writers, I think the most important element of inspiration is openness.  Just be open at all times to what's going on around you and the potential it holds for a story.  I've gottten some ideas from unlikely places: National Geographic articles, posters of animals in the school hallway, conversations overheard at a restaurant, you name it!

Finally, don't forget your own imagination.  Dream up your own characters.  Think of something you've never seen in a children's book.  Ask the "what if" questions.  (Like, what if I got off my blog page and actually started working on my story!!!)

Okay, I get the hint.  Get at it!

PiBoIdMo Kickoff

Today is the first officia day of PiBoId Mo 2010.  Check out http://www.taralazar.wordpress.com/ for details and to get involved.  You have until November 7 to sign in, so hurry, hurry.  Great prizes and fun are all part of the deal, so long as you come up with 30 ideas in 30 days.  And to those doing both PiBoIdMo and NaNoWriMo, my hats are off to you!

Off to think!

A Doodle for My Noodle

I spend one morning a week mentoring a student at a local elementary school.  One of the perks of the program is the exclusive use of the "mentoring cabinet" -- a cubbard filled with all sorts of goodies and games to use with your mentee.  Today, we ran across a doodle book by Nikalas Catlow, Do You Doodle?  It's filled with all sorts of half-drawn pictures, and you're invited to fill in the rest with your own doodles.

What I didn't expect to feel as we flipped through the pages was the familiar (although sometimes hard-to-come-by) writer's "spark."  We flashed by a page of a boy looking into an empty cave.  The caption read, "What's in the cave?"  Another page showed a boy holding x-ray film over himself, and you're asked to draw his skeleton.  All sorts of images popped into my mind as we thumbed through the pages, as well as the phrase my family hears over and over: "Now, wouldn't that make a good picture book?"

As PiBoIdMo draws near, I've been wondering how I can feed that creative fire, to keep me stoked for ideas during the month to come.  I want to engage fully in the spirit of the challenge as well and come up with 30 brand-spankin'-new, hot-off-the-press ideas (not revisited versions of ideas sitting on the back burner and thereby stuck to the bottom of the pot!).  So like a kid with candy money in my pocket, I ran to the bookstore today and picked up a copy of Do You Doodle?  For my noodle, of course!  The real challenge will be not opening it until November 1st.

And who said picture books are too easy?

I picked up The Odious Ogre at the library yesterday.  Who could resist such a title?  It's about an--you guessed it--odious ogre who wreaks havoc on the locals and is so horrible that he doesn't really need to try anymore.  Villagers practically roll over and insert themselves into his mouth.  It's not until he meets a kind young mistress that he becomes befuddled and loses all his ogrely confidence. 

I comment on this book, because it is an excellent example of a picture book that uses challenging language.  (Frankly, I could have used a dictionary myself as I wandered through the pages).  In light of the NYT article on the death of the picture book, I thought it appropriate to bring this book to your attention.  Picture books are not always for the extremely young set.  This book would be perfect for the older reader, who will undoubtedly soak up the advanced vocabulary like a sponge.  It's a fun read.  Pick it up!

An Award

Thanks to my good friend Sharon for bestowing the Versatile Blogger award. 

I'm new to this brave new world of blogging, so forgive me if I don't get everything sorted out just right.  But if you're wandering how to blog and do it right, visit Sharon and get an education.  She's quite the blog diva.

Seven things about myself, per the award rules:
1.  I have the smallest toenails on the planet.
2.  I'm from North Carolina originally, so I really, really, miss the ocean out here in the Midwest.
3.  I have never broken a bone, but my daughter just broke two at once.  She is such an overachiever.
4.  I am married to a minister, but don't hold it against me.
5.  My favorite children's book is Knuffle Bunny (although growing up it was Amelia Bedelia).
6.  I once saw Sherman Helmsley in a grocery store parking lot.
7.  I am really nervous about this whole writing venture thingy-dingy.

As requested, I will dutifully pass this award to a few friends that I have met recently and have their own blogs:

Susan Uhlig (a.k.a. Ford), who gives great advice to aspiring writers.
Shannon Moore, who reviews new books in the children's market.
Lindsay Miller Weiss, who gets paid to blog (!) and is an aspiring children's author.
Michelle Brown, who is an awesome new critique friend and fellow writer.
Tara Lazar, who I just met in the blog world and is the founder of PiBoIdMo.  What a find!

Thanks again Sharon for getting me involved with the writers' blogosphere!

PiBoIdMo 2010

No, it's not how to say hello in a foreign language, it's the Picture Book Idea Month, and it's going to start soon.  Head over to http://www.taralazar.wordpress.com/ for details.  And dust off those thinking caps!