SCBWI Conference Notes: Rachel Cohn
We are operating under the "better late than never" policy here at Locket's blog. :) These notes are from Rachel Cohn's keynote: Embracing (and Resisting the Urge to Throttle) Your Inner Teen.
Rachel suggests we think of ourselves as a teen. Remember your goth phase or whatever phase you went through and the attachments you had to pop culture things. It doesn't matter that theses pop culture things are different for today's teens as long as you convey the way your teen self felt about them--that strong and real attachment.
Rachel keeps dolls as "props" around her room. She even has a half mannequin of herself as a teen complete with a scraggly-haired wig and flannel shirt. A stuffed Animal from the Muppets is there to remind her of herself when she really gets going on her writing...her "raaaah" moments.
She also has Jean-Luc Picard and Sid Vicious dolls. They've been having a mad love affair for years.
Think of your character. What do they want? What's in the way of that?
It's easy to idealize your teen years, but remember who you're writing for. Respect teens as readers. Consequences mean nothing and immediate gratification takes way too long. Everything is happening for the first time, but there is a level of cool to deal with it all. Respect your characters--don't smother them. Think how an adult would react and do the opposite.
Rachel recommends Megan McCafferty's retro blog. McCafferty goes back to her old notebooks as a kid and comments on them. (Although when I went to her blog, it doesn't look like she's done this lately, so you'll have to go back to older posts to see.)
Rachel also suggested listening to loud music. --end of notes from Rachel Cohn keynote
As a side note, it has recently been proven that Edith cannot write while listening to music--loud or otherwise. It could be that she can't do two things at once in any regard...say, talking and driving for instance...but hey, some people are singularly focused and that's okay.
I think a retro blog would be an awesome thing to start & a great way to tap into memory. Unfortunately all my diaries from junior high & high school are in a landfill somewhere. :( My parents moved my senior year of high school & I was freaked out my mom would read them while I was away at college, so I threw everything away. I had garbage bags of letters from boys and friends and notebook after notebook of rambling teen thoughts. All that fabulous material, gone! Very sad.
I really wanted to go to Rachel Cohn's breakout session, but I had to miss it due to Julie Strauss-Gabel's revision class. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I did want to be in two places at once. Regardless, it was so great to see Rachel speak and I got her to sign my books. I brought Nick and Norah & Gingerbread. She signed them, "This is the first book I've signed for another Cohn who is not related to me." Can I just tell you about my hopes of one day being next to her on a bookstore bookshelf? And my hopes that some kid will think that we are in fact related or get confused and buy my book instead? Maybe I should have titled this entry the sick and twisted dreams of Edith Cohn.
Rachel suggests we think of ourselves as a teen. Remember your goth phase or whatever phase you went through and the attachments you had to pop culture things. It doesn't matter that theses pop culture things are different for today's teens as long as you convey the way your teen self felt about them--that strong and real attachment.
Rachel keeps dolls as "props" around her room. She even has a half mannequin of herself as a teen complete with a scraggly-haired wig and flannel shirt. A stuffed Animal from the Muppets is there to remind her of herself when she really gets going on her writing...her "raaaah" moments.
She also has Jean-Luc Picard and Sid Vicious dolls. They've been having a mad love affair for years.
Think of your character. What do they want? What's in the way of that?
It's easy to idealize your teen years, but remember who you're writing for. Respect teens as readers. Consequences mean nothing and immediate gratification takes way too long. Everything is happening for the first time, but there is a level of cool to deal with it all. Respect your characters--don't smother them. Think how an adult would react and do the opposite.
Rachel recommends Megan McCafferty's retro blog. McCafferty goes back to her old notebooks as a kid and comments on them. (Although when I went to her blog, it doesn't look like she's done this lately, so you'll have to go back to older posts to see.)
Rachel also suggested listening to loud music. --end of notes from Rachel Cohn keynote
As a side note, it has recently been proven that Edith cannot write while listening to music--loud or otherwise. It could be that she can't do two things at once in any regard...say, talking and driving for instance...but hey, some people are singularly focused and that's okay.
I think a retro blog would be an awesome thing to start & a great way to tap into memory. Unfortunately all my diaries from junior high & high school are in a landfill somewhere. :( My parents moved my senior year of high school & I was freaked out my mom would read them while I was away at college, so I threw everything away. I had garbage bags of letters from boys and friends and notebook after notebook of rambling teen thoughts. All that fabulous material, gone! Very sad.
I really wanted to go to Rachel Cohn's breakout session, but I had to miss it due to Julie Strauss-Gabel's revision class. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I did want to be in two places at once. Regardless, it was so great to see Rachel speak and I got her to sign my books. I brought Nick and Norah & Gingerbread. She signed them, "This is the first book I've signed for another Cohn who is not related to me." Can I just tell you about my hopes of one day being next to her on a bookstore bookshelf? And my hopes that some kid will think that we are in fact related or get confused and buy my book instead? Maybe I should have titled this entry the sick and twisted dreams of Edith Cohn.