Friday, May 20, 2011

Four on Friday--things I learned at NESCBWI

Remember to go over and follow AFTERGLOW BOOK REVIEWS -- there's a mega Start of Summer Giveaway starting on Monday.

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I still can't believe the NESCBWI (New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) is over. My crit group had been looking forward to it for months--we don't get to see each other in person all that often. And now it's over. :( But I did take away a few things I wanted to share.

1. As I've mentioned before, be prepared to answer the question "What's your book about?" anytime, any where. Call it your pitch, call it your log line, but know it and be prepared to say it out loud, to friends, agents, and anyone else interested in hearing about your writing.

2. "Show don't Tell" has a fancy scientific name--"Elision." And Janet Fox can talk much more intelligently about it than I can. Just know that it's all about the space between the words, sentence structure, and leaving things out. Read her article to find out how to add to your manuscript during the revision process.

3. In order to be successful at this writing thing, you have to DO THE WORK. Lin Oliver, co-founder of SCBWI, shared success stories from the vaults. And they all had one thing in common--you have to DO THE WORK. Which basically means, Butt in Chair, Hands On Keyboard.

4. Publishing isn't really a solitary activity. Writing might be, but once you're on the path to publication, you're a part of a team. You've got to be a team player; Divas can be spotted a mile away and no one wants to be their friends. Be a team player.

There were tons of other things I learned, but these are the four that come to immediate mind--so I'm going with them. :)

I can't wait for next  year.

10 comments:

Laura Pauling said...

:) Our posts echo each other. We must've been at the same conference. ;)

Anna Staniszewski said...

These are some of the main things that stood out to me, too. I'll probably go through my pages of notes in a few weeks and try to process everything. So much fun!

Bkloss said...

Thanks for sharing! I particularly like the..DO THE WORK!

Alicia Gregoire said...

Funny, I had some of the same take-aways.

Julia Darcey said...

This post is totally getting me pumped for SCBWI! Yay for the writing community and not living in sad, damp writers caves with bats anymore!

Great advice on the "What is your book about" question. Need to work on that before August.

Ansha Kotyk said...

*giggle* you and Laura took the same exact notes. :) But then the advice is spot on. ;)

Kristine Asselin said...

Ansha--Isn't that funny? I swear I didn't look at her post beforehand.

LTM said...

those last two are key--you have to do the work and then you have to be a team player. I'm so jealous of all these conference attendees! You guys are rockin~ Thanks for sharing, K! :o)

Heather Kelly said...

Great recap. I am posting about this soon--I was struck by an illness as soon as I returned, and I'm hoping that I didn't spread the germs to all of New England's kidlitters... :) Thanks for the AWESOME time, Kris!! I want MORE!!

Joyce Johnson said...

I wonder why #1 comes to mind first?
:)