7th Annual Idaho Conference on Youth and Childrens Literature and Writing

Two weeks ago, I attended my first SCBWI conference, and I can’t even begin to say how much I enjoyed it. Learning from professionals in the industry was amazing. Mingling with other writers was fun. And getting to spend the entire day focused on nothing but writing was perfect. I loved the entire day. I couldn’t write fast enough in my notebook. I wanted to capture every moment. I wanted to remember it all. It was a wonderful experience.

I learned many things from the different authors who presented, and from literary agent, Sean McCarthy. They each gave wonderful speeches and presentations that helped me to learn more about the craft of writing for children. I also had a critique with Sean that I found very informative and helpful. He was kind, thoughtful, and he gave me comments and suggestions on my manuscript that have been beneficial towards my revisions.

Some of the main things I learned from attending this conference were:

• Readers need to feel at home in a book.
• Readers need to see themselves in literature.
• How will children interact with your text?
• What will your characters do that will be visually stimulating?
• We need to care about the characters.
• The transformation of characters is what readers keep going back for.
• Just because it is well-written, doesn’t mean it will sell.
• Clearly see how a character is different from beginning to end.
• Fresh, original concept
• No one can do character like you can.

These are just some of the many things I wrote down during the conference. There are so many more.
I am so glad that I attended the conference. It was a fantastic experience, and I would tell anyone who has the chance to attend an SCBWI conference, to do it. It is worth the money and sacrifice. I will definitely be attending next year.

I want to end this post by quoting author, Matt de la Pena. “If you’re good, and do the work, you can do anything.”

Books are Friends

Books are like dear friends. You care for them, cherish them, and visit them often. I, for one, cannot imagine my life without my dear friends.

Shower Power

I just got the most brilliant idea for a story. It came to me while I was in the shower. It makes me want to do more of my creative thinking while washing my hair. But I don't think my family would appreciate never having any hot water.

Books Vs. Flowers

For Valentine’s Day, instead of flowers, my husband lets me pick out a new picture book. Now that is love to me. Plus, a book is something that will not wilt or fade away. It will last years to come.

The Perfect Ending

Lately, I have been studying the ends of picture books. I have been trying to figure out what makes a perfect ending. It has been fun to analyze each book. I have come to find so many endings that I love and admire. And it is amazing to me that an ending can really make or break a book. The ending is the author’s last chance to make an impression on the reader. No author wants the reader to feel dissatisfied at the end of a book. In fact, an author wants the complete opposite. He or she wants the reader to feel completely satisfied when they turn the last page.

This rings true with me, because of an experience I had with my son a few years ago. We had gotten a book at the library that we were both really excited to read. We brought the book home, and started reading it right away. But when we got to the end of the book, the last page was missing. And of course, that was the page with the final punch line. Without this page, my son and I had no idea how the story ended. We felt dissatisfied and frustrated. It really bothered us to not know what happened. Later, we were able to get a hold of another book which contained the last page. Reading the end of the story, made such a difference in our feelings about the book.

This experience made me realize how important a good ending is. Without it, a book is just a book. But with it, a book becomes magic. And I, for one, want all of my stories to be magical.

On Hold

I love when I get an email from the library telling me that a book I requested is on hold. It makes me happy. I usually pile my children in the car and head straight there. Luckily, I have trained my children to think that libraries are awesome, and books are a special treat. Basically, we all love it when good books are on hold.

First SCBWI Conference

I just signed up for my first SCBWI conference. Saying I am excited, would be an understatement. I signed up for everything I could—lunch with speakers, critique—so that I could get the most out of this conference. I want to learn all that I can, and find new ways to improve my craft. This conference is going to be so much fun, and I know I am going to learn a lot. And I will, of course, report back here on everything I learned, gained, and gleaned from attending my first conference.