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A few things I learned:
- When submitting attachments (and only when requested, of course), make sure they are .doc and not .docx.
- Do what works for you.
- Stay true to your vision.
- Set clear goals and write them down, even the ones that seem unattainable.
- Celebrate every success, but especially the small ones like finishing a manuscript, getting your 10th rejection letter, writing for a solid hour this week.
- The main character can be the antagonist, while it's the protagonist who actually does the changing.
- To sell a lot of picture books, your book must do at least one of these three things really well (more is better):
- deal with a subject that speaks to the child
- use rich language to create special moments
- create genuine characters
- Word count doesn't really matter.
- Idea notebooks are important.
- It's always about the craft, the actual writing. Keep practicing.
- Even in the first 200 words, be grounded in time and place, get to the conflict early on, hint at what's at stake for your character, save all the details for later, and use good language without being too descriptive.
- And of course READ, READ, READ. WRITE, WRITE, WRITE. REVISE, REVISE, REVISE.
Looking forward to the final workshop with Cynthea Liu and the Closing Keynote with Dan Yaccarino tomorrow morning. It feels good to be recharged.
Today's QUESTION: What do you do to get recharged? Yearly, monthly, weekly, even daily?
My annual SCBWI conference is a definite must! Not sure about the rest of the year, anybody have any great ideas?
Keep on keepin' on...
Love that list of what your picture book must do well! I'm intrigued by what you said about the main character being the antagonist as long as the protagonist is the one that changes. Can you elaborate on that, or do you have any examples?
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that you had another great conference experience!
All of these have an antagonist MC and do not change. They "make" the protagonist change. Curious George, The Cat in the Hat, Swimmy, Madeline, Harry the Dirty Dog, and Amelia Bedelia. Very interesting, indeed. The red-eye WAS a lot of fun. I think I'll continue to do it each year. One of these years, I'd like to do one of the intensives.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE our local SCBWI conferences. I always learn so much. Yours sounds like a good one. Thanks for sharing so much. Enjoy the rest of your time there.
ReplyDeleteGret take home points, Christie!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are having a great time. And learning so much. Thanks for sharing a few of the things you've learned.
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was a great conference. Nothing like a conference or event to give you a push to organize, edit, create, and reread all those piles of stories.
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