SCBWI Conference Recap

I can't tell you every little thing that happened because the author's presentations are their property and I don't want to give everything away, so I'll just say a little about each one.

Friday:

Dialogue intensive with author Matt de la Pena. He basically talked about the writer getting out of the way and letting the characters take over the story. This makes a lot of sense and I believe it would immerse the reader deeper into the story.

Saturday:

Session with literary agent Tricia Lawrence from Erin Murphy Literary Agency. She talked about the revision process. Basically she said you should look to yourself when revising and dig deep.

Session with author Helen Landalf. She talked about keeping it real in fiction, meaning having your novel be authentic rather than accurate.

Session with author Bruce Hale about Skype visits with schools. Mostly talked about making sure your equipment works and to be entertaining. Also to make sure you are prepared and to make sure the teacher or librarian on the other side is prepared as well.

Session with author Rachel Vail on Character Building. She talked about the need to know your characters in depth before trying to write them.

Session with Caroline Sun publicist for Harper. She talked about publicity vs marketing, and what your publicist can do for you. She also talked about how to communicate with your publicist and what you can do on your own do publicize your book.

The keynotes were really good too. Bruce Hale talked about having to be a warrior writer. Matt de la Pena talked about being a working class writer. Melissa Sweet talked about digging in deep with research. Bonny Becker talking about being yourself when writing, and Rachel Vail spoke about writing with humor and heart to build characters.

Those are the basics without giving too much away. Some things to think about...



Tomorrow I rant about stress, as usual. :)