2013 MN SCBWI Conference Tidbits

Quinette Cook, Regional Advisor, and Jessica Freeburg, Assistant Regional Advisor, of MN SCBWI

Thanks to the conference organizers: MN SCBWI Regional Advisor Quinette Cook and Assistant Regional Advisor Jessica Freeburg.

It’s been 16 days since the 2013 Minnesota Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)  conference and my tiny brain is still smoking from over-stimulation.

 

Tidbits of wisdom:

  • William Alexander, keynote speaker and author of Goblin Secrets, reminded,”It’s not about you … It’s the story … How well do you serve the story?” Alexander  immersed himself in storytelling as an actor before he became an author. He started out romantically letting the story unfold,  but he discovered that method to be “wildly inefficient” because he would often have to change his beginning to match his new ending. Now he uses outlines, thinking of them as loose travel itineraries with a beginning and an end–and a few crazy side trips.
  • Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary, showered us with snippets of reality.
    Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary "Art is a terrible way to make a living."

    Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary “Art is a terrible way to make a living.”

    “Art is a terrible way to make a living … Name your favorite book and your best friend will hate that book. Art is subjective. People are going to hate what you do.” He advised us to reach into our souls and slap it on the page. For him to represent a book, it needs to scream, “This is a must have.”
    “Research to find the right agent,” he implored,  comparing the relationship to a marriage, because the agent will 1. mess with your babies; 2. control the purse strings; and 3. get into your legal matters.

     

  • Dan Yaccarino, keynote speaker and author/illustrator of Doug Unplugged, Oswald, The Backyardigans, and Willa’s Wild Life, first ripped marketing labels off of packaging to study and draw. Because of his astounding achievement rate, it was tempting to discount Mr. Yaccarino as a freak of nature who wouldn’t understand the plight of the struggling artist. But he won our approval when he disclosed that for every one success there are 12 failures. He says he owes his victories to organization, determination, and persistence. He urged artists to give themselves permission to do the work that makes them happy. “Be brave!
  • Nathan Gassman, art director for Capstone Press, advised illustrators to “think professionally … Seek consistency in your art, branding yourselves so that we (art directors) know we can go to you with a certain style. He recommended Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman and Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelo as examples where art and word mesh well. He warns that bunnies are cliché unless you turn the character upside down. Gassman’s non-cliché bunny reference: one haunted by mutant carrots (Creepy Carrots written by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown ).
  • I wasn’t able to attend Minnesota illustrator Jennifer Bell‘s presentation, but we can learn more about her on her official website. She has Illustrated over a dozen children’s books, including, My Pen Pal, Santa and Little Dog, Lost.
  • Annie Stone, Assistant Editor, Harlequin Teen, has a special place in her heart for the Chronicles of Narnia. Stone said the appeal of a great story is power in humanity and protagonists who possess humility, innocence, faith, and flaws. “It’s hard to get behind someone who’s too perfect. It’s their failures– their overcoming of weaknesses that’ll make them heroes.” Clichés: female protagonists who aren’t pretty but everyone falls in love with them and the big reveal where the parents are of magical descent.
  • Marsha Qualey, a Hamline University MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults  program professor and author of several young adult novels, including Thin Ice, gave an intensive entitled Angles, Facets, and POV. It was my favorite part of the conference because she led us in hands-on group and individual writing exercises. “Editors can’t work with you like they used to,” Qualey commiserated. Lucky for us, we can take a class.
  • Marsha Wilson Chall also teaches for the Hamline MFA program and has authored eleven children’s books, including Pick a Pup. I wasn’t able to attend her presentation, but I intend to look into the Hamline program. Even an old dog like me can learn new tricks (like not writing clichés).

Thanks to organizers, Quinette Cook, Jessica Freeburg, Alicia Schwab, and Nina Crittenberg, and all volunteers for putting on a fabulous 2013 conference. Your devotion to the success of regional book writers and illustrators reaches far beyond the competitive marketing arena and into the minds of children everywhere. That’s profound, when you think about it.

Now what?

Aruthur Rackham's illustration from GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS from the Project Gutenberg archives.

Aruthur Rackham’s illustration from GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS from the Project Gutenberg archives.

So, you’ve subjected your manuscript to writers’ conference reviews.

  • Papa Editor says your manuscript is too soft/lame/dull.
  • Mama Agent says it is too hard/scary/implausible.
  • And your Baby Peer Group says it is just right, except for a few hundred nagging flaws.

Now what?

  • Sleep until noon.
  • Eat bon-bons.
  • Complain on Facebook that editors, agents, and other writers don’t know their succotash from Shinola.

Just kidding!

Post manuscript review steps

1. Detach

  • Know that your reason for living is not dependent on those 600/9000/48,000 words.
  • To avoid burn out and increase objectivity, let the project rest in a drawer for two weeks or more.
  • Start another project. Many successful authors juggle several manuscripts at once. Epiphanies often occur while focusing on something else.

2. Look for middle ground

Note opposing revision suggestions. You can’t incorporate both, so see if the middle ground makes sense.

For instance, one manuscript reviewer advised that I intensify a storm scene to make it scarier. The next suggested that volatile weather may be too scary for children.

Because of favorable input received earlier from a test group, I plan to meet in the middle and leave the storm as is. If I didn’t feel confident and couldn’t decide which advice was best, I would save my original manuscript, rename and rewrite it  the two suggested ways, and select the best.

Writing exercises are never wasted.

3. Note common threads

Listen and check your notes for common threads of advice. This indicates a weak point. A common thread regarding my aforementioned manuscript is a preference for a supporting character over the protagonist.

To improve the manuscript according to this feedback, I can:

  • change my protagonist to make him/her stand out.
  • advance the supporting character to the rank of protagonist, knowing this may change the genre, theme, and story.
  • create an entirely new protagonist.

What critique advice have you heard more than once?

4. Note common sense

An editor noticed a scene where I had gotten sidetracked. I tend to be a bit attention deficit. SQUIRREL! To compensate for the shortcomings in my personality, I plan to change my writing process. It’s dangerous for someone like me to just write and hope it takes me to a logical place. ICE CREAM! I will need an outline to keep me on track. Common sense will save me from ending up in an entirely different story and writing ten times more material than I need.

What common sense advice speaks to you?

5. Incorporate the best advice

Save your manuscript under a new name and incorporate the common thread and common sense advice. If others, especially the professionals, agree that chapters, phrases, and words do not carry your story forward cut or change them.

You can go back to the original if you don’t like what you get. But I’m guessing you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

6. Test your manuscript

Revise, then test your manuscript with readers of the age group you are targeting. In extreme critique instances, ask your test group to select between the two different revisions and the original. If the pieces are too long, offer three different synopses for comparison.

My manuscript was originally written without a storm. The youngest member of my test group suggested one. Post-revision, the test group says the story is way cooler with a storm and it’s just the right amount of scary.

Trust your target audience. They’re the best indicator of the marketability of your story.

7. Start again (Back to Baby Peer Group, Mama Agent, and Papa Editor)

At the October 2013 Iowa SCBWI conference, a participant received a submission request from a major publishing house director. This friend started her manuscript over a decade ago.

“She’s arrived!” you say?

Not yet. She’ll follow the post-manuscript-review steps, then she’ll submit her manuscript.

I can’t wait to tell you how the story ends.

I Knew Them When …

Children’s book writers all over the world have been polishing their manuscripts in anticipation of this season: Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) regional conference time. These events provide the inspiration and hope that keep us plugging along, one-word-at-a-time for the remainder of the year. I love conference season, because all who plunge in with an eagerness to learn are stepping closer to publication. I’m on the edge of my seat for those who are ripe to be discovered.

Here are a few of those writers:

Louise Aamodt was awarded runner-up in the 2011 Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Contest with her picture book manuscript Frankie the Flop. The 2011 web page is no longer available, but below are a couple of screenshots.

CheeriosContestWinners2011

LouiseAamodt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Louise, an empathetic teacher, mother, and animal rights activist, has a gift for pulling her readers’ heartstrings and pressing their funny bones. Her smart and diverse picture books–some humorous and some dramatic–promote thoughtfulness and understanding. Whether they are underappreciated vultures or underdogs with or without tails–they’ve found refuge in Louise’s imaginative manuscripts.

Elise Parsley, picture book writer and illustrator, recently conducted a successful, hands-on dummy book workshop that drew 24 attendees from all over Minnesota.

HylenDummyTalk2013DummyWorkshopElise gained her dummy book creation expertise by writing and illustrating four of her own fabulous masterpieces. I laugh just thinking about Elise’s funny and charming characters. In fact, I feel like I know them–like I’m their aunt or something (well, except for the cows, although I’m awfully smitten with them). I think you’ll feel the same way.

Other MN writers I’d like to endorse are Randy Holland and Alicia Schwab.

Randy Holland’s middle grade mystery novel manuscript first pages blew me away when I attended my first MN SCBWI critique meet-up. I aspired then to try to write as clear and tight as Randy. He’s stocked his manuscript full of intrigue.  And, he’s already busy writing the sequel, because the ideas just keep coming.

Alicia Schwab is another lucky writer who can illustrate, too. She’s got a delightful  picture book ready for bedtime snuggling. If you click on her link, you can see she’s already a published illustrator, but this will be her debut as a writer and illustrator.

Yes. I’m an unapologetic name dropper. And, I hope I’m as right about writing talent as Frankie MacDonald is about South Dakota weather. (Deadwood got 48 inches of snow, BTW.)

I wish my friends (and all conference attendees) success. And I want them and everyone to know how grateful I am that I knew them when …

Look Out South Dakota!

For all of my friends in South Dakota:

Best weatherman ever.
Frankie MacDonald, the best weatherman ever, has a storm warning for you.

 Order your pizzas and order your Chinese food!

Hope everyone’s okay in North Dakota, too.