Quoteskimming - the NESCBWI edition
So, last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the New England SCBWI conference in Nashua, New Hampshire. I love seeing so many good friends, and to meeting new ones. Once again, I've discovered that the folks I like on LiveJournal are folks I like in real life.
Anyhoo - here are some quotes from the weekend:
A few from Cindy Lord's keynote speech:
Quoting Sarah L. Thomson, author of Dragon's Egg: "Fantasy is just reality wearing cooler clothes"
"You open a book expecting to fine a story, but instead you find yourself."
From Ellen Wittlinger's breakout session on writing GLBTQ characters:
"There are more similarities in the human experience than there are differences."
"Once you know someone, your prejudices fall away."
From Eric Berlin's breakout on writing mysteries:
"Mysteries are puzzles - you don't want readers to solve the clues until you say so."
"Give kids just enough [information], and not one drop more. DO NOT PANDER to a juvenile audience."
"An outline is not a contract. Better ideas will come along. Don't be afraid to throw out paper. . . . If your inner soul is telling you you just had a better idea, you probably had a better idea."
From Linda Urban's breakout session on writing better dialogue:
"Try to see if each line of dialogue can tell us at least one other thing about the character besides relating the plot."
Anyhoo - here are some quotes from the weekend:
A few from Cindy Lord's keynote speech:
Quoting Sarah L. Thomson, author of Dragon's Egg: "Fantasy is just reality wearing cooler clothes"
"You open a book expecting to fine a story, but instead you find yourself."
From Ellen Wittlinger's breakout session on writing GLBTQ characters:
"There are more similarities in the human experience than there are differences."
"Once you know someone, your prejudices fall away."
From Eric Berlin's breakout on writing mysteries:
"Mysteries are puzzles - you don't want readers to solve the clues until you say so."
"Give kids just enough [information], and not one drop more. DO NOT PANDER to a juvenile audience."
"An outline is not a contract. Better ideas will come along. Don't be afraid to throw out paper. . . . If your inner soul is telling you you just had a better idea, you probably had a better idea."
From Linda Urban's breakout session on writing better dialogue:
"Try to see if each line of dialogue can tell us at least one other thing about the character besides relating the plot."