Oh my gosh—what a jam packed day! We started at 7:30am with our “dorm gang†(a motley group of twelve) and all the staff, including those who weren’t staying on campus, getting acquainted at breakfast and pretty much went the whole day until a “Meet the Staff†get-together in the dorm courtyard at 8:00pm this evening. Some folks may have found a bit of free time, but with “homework†assignments and critique meetings, some of us barely found time enough for potty breaks.
8:45am found sixty eager, wantabee writers and illustrators poised for action in the auditorium of the psychology building. Linda Zuckerman, conference director, welcomed us to the conference and gave a brief orientation talk which included all those unavoidable, last minute changes in schedules, critique groups, and meeting locations. She then introduced Steve Geck, executive editor at Green Willow Books.
Steve opened with his personal journey from bookseller to executive editor, gave a brief overview of Green Willow’s history, and then dove into an editor’s eye view on the publishing process that takes a manuscript from submission, into acquisitions, and on to an actual book sitting on a shelf at the local bookstore. He used one of his favorite, recent success stories, Katherine Hannigan’s “Ida B,†as an example.
Author’s note: I have since read this engaging chapter book and would highly recommend it to anyone with children ages 7 to 11 or to anyone with a love of good children’s literature. While some may consider it an sentimental, rather old-fashioned tale, I found it to be an intimate and sensitive portrayal of a young girl faced with what in her eyes is the total disruption of her life when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Ida B does eventually come to terms with her changed life, but the twists and turns of her journey had me laughing one moment, all teary-eyed the next, only to end up beaming with pride a moment later. A copy of this book is going on my inspiration shelf.
Breakout sessions with more than one topic to choose from, in this case: nuts and bolts for beginning writers or plot development for advanced writers, always make me wish I could be in several places at once. However, with no magical watch ala Hermione Granger, and since I have attended N&B at other writing workshops, I opted for the plot session. That also gave me a chance to learn a bit more about author David Gifaldi who would be doing my private critique. (We actually met briefly during an earlier break: he saw my name tag, recognized me as the author of one of the four manuscripts he was critiquing, and introduced himself. Unfortunately, he got called away before we could say much more than “hello.â€) I have to admit, when I saw he planned to read his presentation, my first thought was: Please don’t let me fall asleep if this gets too dry and boring. The room wasn’t big enough to hid someone dozing off.
Turned out my worries were groundless. The only thing dry about this talk was David’s sense of humor. The man has one of those dry wits sharp enough to put a ginsu knife to shame. Fortunately, I controlled my laughter enough to pick up some good pointers, especially about the types of questions to keep in mind in order to drive your plot forward. Who exactly is your character? What is it that this character needs/lacks? What action, growth, development will fulfill/overcome that need/lack?
Lunch was mass confusion. There are at least two or three other conferences on campus and all have lunch included as part of their packet. That put a multitude of people (about 300?) trying to get through the food service area not only at the same time, but within the same amount of time. You’d think someone would have thought to stagger lunch times a bit. Oh well, no one starved or was too late getting back to the conference—at least not that I heard. Food was surprisingly good; cafeteria food has obviously made strides since my days of standing in a lunch line.
After lunch, Susan Goldman Rubin talked about writing non-fiction for young children. Biographies in this genre are her specialty. She’s written several I will have to look through out on the bookseller’s table. (I know that’s where I will be blowing $$$ this week.) Non-fiction is a very interesting market niche, especially as she and the authors she used as examples approach it. The key seemed to be finding something in the subject’s own childhood to which readers can easily relate. For example, Einstein fought with his sister, his teacher’s thought he was mentally slow, and he didn’t like sports. Andy Warhol ate the same sandwich and soup lunch everyday—Campbell’s soup, of course. You eliminate things with only adult appeal. You can mention Frida Kahlo being sick and seriously injured as a child, but need not go into the gruesome details. You take readers up to the time of Cesar Chavez’s first success with organizing migrant workers, but you leave the violence and imprisonment in later years to “Author Notes†at the end of the book.
As I said, a very interesting genre. And somewhat formidable considering the time and research involved in such projects. Judging by her enthusiasm for her topic, I’d say none of this bothers Susan at all.
Author’s Note: Susan may come in a petite package, but what a dynamic person. And so much fun to talk with during meals and while heron watching on Canyon Bridge. I can still hear her cozy, distinctive voice when I read notes and handouts from her sessions.
After Susan’s presentation, we broke into our assigned critique groups of seven to nine attendees and one staff person. Critique group is going to be a challenging part of this conference. We made it through three manuscript samples today (up to 12 pages allowed) in the an hour and a half allotted. Interestingly enough, though maybe not surprising considering a different person wrote each one, each manuscript had it’s own unique problems and positives. Actually, I should put that the other way around. All had good, fresh story ideas that have as much chance as anyone else’s of going all the way with a little editing and revision. Seeing this variety of positives and problems, though, will hone all our self-editing skills. Another interesting side effect of this critiquing session was that although it means more competition in the long run, I somehow found it satisfying working with a group of fellow writers as serious about what they are doing, and as willing to learn and grow as I am. A bonding experience? You bet!
My beginning chapter book manuscript wasn’t one of those covered in critique group, but I did end up facing a critique on it today. I was approached between sessions by a fellow attendee who is commuting to the conference. She asked if I’d be willing to switch my afternoon staff critique with her evening one. Good sport that I am, I said sure, consciously ignoring the butterflies in my stomach who cranked up their flight patterns at this news. This scheduled my appointment right after dinner. And, wouldn’t you know it, guess who happened to sit next to me at that very meal.
Actually, David did his best to put me at ease and I have to admit, it worked. We had a very positive session; he’s very easy to talk to. He gave me lots of good, useful feedback; pointing out some problems I had suspected and a few I hadn’t. My butterflies soared with delight when he concluded by telling me my writing was clear and well paced. I had a fine idea with a likable character, so rewrite the opening, work on the other things we talked about, and go for it. What an ego boost!!
Leave a Reply