Yogurt Pretzels and Scribbles for Emma: Day 2 in LA
Out of over 1100 people at the SCBWI Summer Conference, I gave a singular yogurt covered pretzel to MT Anderson-one of the greatest children’s book writers of our time. Of course, he asked first. That was at the LGBT poolside lunch where members and allies of the LGBT community met to chat about concerns, trends, and breaking through boundaries.
Just before lunch, MT, (Tobin, to those who want to feel close to him), spoke about the transformation process in writing: taking the landscape of your setting and allowing it to change your characters, and, in turn, your readers. Essentially, manipulating setting by creating a new frontier in fantasy. His methodology parallels the Victorian notion of home, where a character is defined by their immediate surroundings, but once they are taken away from the familiarity of their setting, a crisis occurs. “[Literature] restores the sense of the unknown to what we already know.”
Later, Anderson bellowed out a song about Delaware, and I realized he’s one of those people that would be fun on a midnight run to Denny’s.
John Scieszka-the recently unemployed Ambassador of Children’s Books-entertained the crowd of thousands with jokes and commentaries on his favorite and most wretched children’s books. Sharing slides from popular picture books like George and Martha, he demonstrated the need for writers to reduce word counts and allow illustrators to take over.
The biggest compliment a writer can receive from an eighth-grader, according to Gordon Korman, is that your book is "not bad" or "pretty cool". In his workshop yesterday, Korman stressed the need to get out there and visit schools to talk with kids. He finds most of his characters from people he's met; nicknames and dialog stays realistic when you mold your work based on real people. Korman also reminded writers to focus on the what-ifs by pulling and stretching the plot.
At night, during the wine and cheese reception, we gathered to celebrate SCBWI authors.
[Sarah Schroeder, Cynthea Liu, Trina Sotira, Michael Reisman]
Deborah Freedman signed a copy of her first picture book, SCRIBBLE, for LA fashionista, Sarah Schroeder.
And, get this! When Deborah signed the book to Sarah's niece, Emma, we discovered the main character's name is Emma, too! Total serendipity!
The magic continues today with a long list of speakers, and tonight’s Heart and Soul Celebration! We'll talk soon!