Our last day. You could tell from the mood at breakfast that everyone was reluctant to see our week together end. Addresses were exchanged, words of encouragement reiterated, and plans for attending other conferences, or returning to this one next year or soon after were discussed. And hovering on the fringes, thoughts and worries over travel plans for home at the end of the day.
Our mood soon brightened with our first session of the day: a rollicking romp through the vacuous vagaries of writing for the educational market. Our presenter: Susan Blackaby. I wish I’d jotted down the five or six subtitles she used for the parts of her talk. She seemed so quiet and unassuming during meals and at other times no one could have suspected the sharp, dry wit lurking behind that facade. She gave some highly “educational†information for those brave enough to tackle this market, or even just beginning readers/transitional chapter books for imprints at publishing houses like Scholastic or Harper Collins. I’m now in the possession of several very useful handouts from her presentation: readability formulas and charts, sight word lists, phonics scope and sequence charts, and a great “Writing for Reading†checklist. Thank you, Susan.
Author’s Note: As you might guess, all these handouts have come in handy more than once while working on revisions to my chapter book for young readers.
Susan B. was followed by Susan R. who shared some more insights into nonfiction writing. Today’s session focused on using fiction techniques such as dialogue, action, and quotes (real ones) to make your nonfiction characterizations come alive. Susan’s experiences in writing nonfiction are fascinating to listen to. Considering the amount of travel, interviewing, and just plan digging for information she does during her research of a subject, it’s no wonder the accolades and awards she has garnered. Her biographies on Degas and Andy Warhol particularly piqued my interest. Adding these to my list, I can see I have stacks and stacks of reading ahead of me.
In his second presentation of the week, David Gifaldi amused and informed us with his presentation on “Unblocking the Flow: When a Writer Doesn’t/Can’t/Won’t Write.†You guessed it, a session on that most dreaded of curses: writer’s block. The best way to give you a feel for his talk is to share some of the notes I jotted down.
- fears and doubts are like cockroaches hiding in the dark corners waiting to come out and plague you
- writing isn’t hard; sitting down to write is hard
- one great fear is admitting we are writers
- quoting Jane Yolen: “If I envision an eagle but only end up with a butterfly, that’s okay. Butterflies are beautiful, too.â€
- suggestions: show up, sit down and write; use rituals that lead into writing; think of writing as your job, imagine calling boss (yourself) to make excuse for missing work again
- write to please yourself, satisfy your need to create
- quoting Ray Bradbury in “The Zen of Writingâ€: “You feed your muse by running after loves.†loves are the things you care about, think are fun, are interested in, or excite you
His talk must have worked. During the last five or ten minutes of it, I got an inspiration on how to fix one of my manuscripts. My apologies for tuning David out, but later, when I showed the idea to Ann Paul, who had told me what she felt was lacking in the original, she thought my idea had possibilities. Only revision, time and a few rejections will tell.
After lunch, critique groups met for one last time. A couple of people had some further revision ideas to run past the rest of us. As I said before, amazing how far we have all come this week. Then for fun, another gal and I read our nursery rhymes in dialogue for the group. I did an encore of my Jack and Jill piece; she did a hilarious version of Wee Willie Winkie threatened with arrest for indecent exposure and voyeurism. Judging by the laughter, I’d say the group enjoyed both of these light-hearted pieces.
Thinking about my week spent with this group of fellow writers, I realized I really lucked out on being part of a very honest yet supportive critique group. Even our staff leader remarked on how well we worked together, were all so open to constructive criticism, and sincerely seemed to care about each other succeeding with their work. I think we all appreciated hearing that. I know for a fact that wasn’t the case in all the critique groups. I’m going to miss getting this kind of feedback on my work. Will have to seriously look into finding a critique group close to home or at least a critique buddy to exchange stories with. Maybe through the local colleges or regional SCBWI . I’d better get cracking on joining the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Don’t know why I didn’t do that years ago. They are a great source of information on all things relating to writing for children.
The final session of the day was given by Linda Zuckerman, conference director. She regaled us with tales of the several year struggle of “Sally,†her writing persona, to find her way and succeed as a writer. It seems Sally’s writing world is separated by a huge chasm of difference from that of “Linda,†the editor. And surprisingly, it’s a world where her former life as “Linda†had little influence. Persevering despite the perils of identity confusion and a growing stack of rejections, “Sally†did eventually succeed.
However, remember how slow we were told the publishing world moves? Linda/Sally left the editing profession in late 1999, sold her picture book manuscript about two and a half years later, and a middle grade reader sometime after that. We were able to buy “advance†copies of her picture book at the conference; it wasn’t actually being officially released until this Fall. Her middle grade reader will be released Fall ‘07. To further illustrate this point, Linda had the rest of the conference staff tell how long it took each of them to “break in.†Times ranged from 15 and 10 years down to about 5 years, which seemed to be the average. Guess there is time yet to find my little piece of the children’s book world.
During the breaks today, I managed to get most of the books I’d bought and lugged around all day autographed. Some additional time for this had been set aside after Linda’s talk so I was able to get those last couple of autographs then. I had two inscribed for Daughter Dear; the rest, selfishly, to myself. What nice, personalized remembrances to have and pass down to those grandkids I hope to have someday.
Then it was time to thank and say goodbye to all the staff and several of the attendees I’d gotten to know this week, head back to the dorm, haul all my stuff out to the car and get it packed for the trip home. A few, last, reluctant good-byes (especially to my week-long mealtime, break time, anytime we needed to talk or encourage each other time buddy, LM) and it was time to get on the road. Not that I was crazy about heading off into 5:00pm Portland traffic, but with that long drive ahead, I didn’t want to still be driving at midnight or later either. Some of the good karma from the conference must have still been around, because for once, traffic flowed almost effortlessly and even politely on the sections of Hwy 26, Interstate 205, and Interstate 84 I needed to traverse. I got home about 10:00pm, tired but thoroughly jazzed about my experiences these past few days, and ready to put what I learned to work. I’d say that meant my week, and money, was more than well spent. Now the question is: Can I save up enough $$ to go again next year?
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