I was lucky enough to attend a full weekend workshop held at the picturesque Writing Barn in Austin, Texas led by the amazing Sara Zarr. Friday night was a meet and greet with the opportunity to buy Sara's books, as well as books by Writing Barn director, Bethany Hegedus and other upcoming workshop leaders. Visiting with writers I knew and meeting those who came from far away was a great kick off to the event. Plus, I was able to get all my Sara Zarr books signed without standing in a long signing line. Bonus!
Sara lectured Saturday morning on emotional pacing and small turnings. She was so insightful, not to mention very warm and funny. I wasn't good about taking pictures because I was too busy meeting other writers, laughing, and listening. You can find an album at the Writing Barn's website with plenty of pics because the talented writer/photographer, Sam Bond, was on hand with her camera.
After lunch we pulled chairs up to the table and began workshopping everyone's manuscript pages. Each participant got 30 minutes of workshop feedback. That sounded like such a long time before we started but it flew by for each piece. Everyone was eager to offer their feedback, which was followed by the writer receiving everyone's written comments on their work as well.
It was truly amazing to participate with this talented group of writers. My only regret is that I wasn't feeling well on Sunday and had to miss the last two workshop pieces. I'm still reading and absorbing the feedback I received as I revise the beginning of my manuscript and prepare to forge ahead.
I highly recommend the Advanced Workshop Series at the Writing Barn. Please check out the upcoming events and consider applying for one. You'll be glad you did!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Houston SCBWI Conference 2013 Josh Adams
2nd installment from the 2013 Houston SCBWI conference and I couldn't resist sharing a few more of the awesome birdhouses from the silent auction. They've got a talented, imaginative group there!
Josh Adams from Adams Literary presented during the conference on Saturday and at a smaller workshop on Sunday morning. Josh owns Adams Literary with his wife, literary agent, Tracey Adams. The agency has been open since 2004 and has made 822 deals. He indicated during the Sunday workshop that only a fraction of those deals were reported to Publishers Marketplace. He urged attendees to use multiple sources when checking out an agent.
One of the first things he said was: "Agents don't sell books. They license rights."
Josh used an A-B-C (D-E) format for much of his information, which I believe is indicative of his straight forward communication style, and sometimes showcased his sense of humor as well.
This is what an author needs to get published:
Agent
Belief
Critique Group (he is a huge believer in critique groups)
Determination
Editor
Pretty straight foreward, right?
This is what an author should expect from an agent:
Advice
Blackbelt (because both he and his wife, Tracey, have one)
Confidence
Diplomacy
Enthusiasm
And there's the sense of humor. He has a client who actually had business cards made to warn people that his agent is a ninja. Josh did say he has wicked sword-wielding skills. There may have been a mention of one-stroke beheading potential.
In addition to critique groups, Josh also highly recommends writing retreats and SCBWI conferences. The agents at Adams Literary are editorial agents but, as he put it, they are not the architects of a manuscript; they are the stagers. As a huge design buff, I love this analogy.
They do check a writer's online presence. If none, they will do a search to see what shows up on the web. They take on about 10 new clients a year. They receive about 10,000 submissions a year.
His background is in marketing, particularly brand development. He urged writers to consider their brand image. Josh Adams was informative and entertaining. Though the odds of signing with him seem daunting based on the numbers he provided, he clearly cares very much about his clients and their work.
 | |||
| THIS ONE IS MAGNETIC AND IT CAME WITH EXTRA PIGEON MAGNETS! |
Josh Adams from Adams Literary presented during the conference on Saturday and at a smaller workshop on Sunday morning. Josh owns Adams Literary with his wife, literary agent, Tracey Adams. The agency has been open since 2004 and has made 822 deals. He indicated during the Sunday workshop that only a fraction of those deals were reported to Publishers Marketplace. He urged attendees to use multiple sources when checking out an agent.
Josh used an A-B-C (D-E) format for much of his information, which I believe is indicative of his straight forward communication style, and sometimes showcased his sense of humor as well.
This is what an author needs to get published:
Agent
Belief
Critique Group (he is a huge believer in critique groups)
Determination
Editor
Pretty straight foreward, right?
This is what an author should expect from an agent:
Advice
Blackbelt (because both he and his wife, Tracey, have one)
Confidence
Diplomacy
Enthusiasm
And there's the sense of humor. He has a client who actually had business cards made to warn people that his agent is a ninja. Josh did say he has wicked sword-wielding skills. There may have been a mention of one-stroke beheading potential.
In addition to critique groups, Josh also highly recommends writing retreats and SCBWI conferences. The agents at Adams Literary are editorial agents but, as he put it, they are not the architects of a manuscript; they are the stagers. As a huge design buff, I love this analogy.
They do check a writer's online presence. If none, they will do a search to see what shows up on the web. They take on about 10 new clients a year. They receive about 10,000 submissions a year.
His background is in marketing, particularly brand development. He urged writers to consider their brand image. Josh Adams was informative and entertaining. Though the odds of signing with him seem daunting based on the numbers he provided, he clearly cares very much about his clients and their work.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Houston SCBWI Conference 2013 Peter Brown & Paul Rodeen
Illustrator, Peter Brown, delivered the keynote and shared a few things about his becoming an artist. He says he loves complaining but tries to be artful with his whining, a trait he believes he inherited from his grandpa, "Grumps." Grumps was an artist, too.
Peter says the biggest problem he sees in manuscripts in that people don't understand visual storytelling. "Remove the description" is the most often needed advice.
I was fortunate enough to reserve one of the available copies of CREEPY CARROTS. His inscription? "For Shelli. Don't be creepy." That's good advice, too.
Agent, Paul Rodeen, shared that he arrived in NYC in October 2001. His risk-taking didn't end there. He opened a satellite office for Sterling Lord Literistic in Chicago before opening his own agency, Rodeen Literary Management, in 2009.
He represents children's books for all ages and is an editorial agent. He doesn't care about the cover letter or the writer's background, at least not until he's interested in the writing. He cares about the writing first and foremost and particularly likes humor. "Children's books should be trying to make people laugh." He is Peter Brown's agent. Submission guidelines are available on his website.
Peter Brown and Paul Rodeen did a joint presentation later in the day and it's apparent they have a very successful personal and professional relationship. They're friends in addition to being agent and author.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Some Thoughts on Plot & Other Things
I recently attended a workshop on plot led by John Pipkin. Sometimes I make a good decision. This was one of those times.
John is the perfect type of teacher to reach someone like me -- someone who needs information broken down into "sound bites" that her brain can slip into the folds of its gray matter. Large, meandering chunks of information do not fit into the folds of my gray matter. We'll blame the construction of my brain, rather than the teachers who present information in that way. It's not them. It's me.
Plot has always been an elusive beast for me to understand. I mean, I basically understood it well enough to work with it, but no way could I have offered any coherent explanation of it. In fact, some of the best writers I know start to stutter and use phrase like: "basically," "pretty much" and "well, you know" when asked to define plot.
I know people disagree on the best definition of plot, but here are a few of my take aways from John's class that I think others might find useful as well:
THERE ARE THREE SOURCES OF STORY
THERE ARE ONLY TWO WAYS A PLOT MOVES FORWARD
CHARACTER COMPOSITION NECESSARY TO MOVE THE PLOT FORWARD
There was much more information provided and discussed regarding story structure and character development but these are some great examples of the "sound bites" I referred to. This is the type of information I can file away to create a reference database. Some people think in spreadsheets. I apparently think in bullet points and numbered lists. Single colums.
John is the perfect type of teacher to reach someone like me -- someone who needs information broken down into "sound bites" that her brain can slip into the folds of its gray matter. Large, meandering chunks of information do not fit into the folds of my gray matter. We'll blame the construction of my brain, rather than the teachers who present information in that way. It's not them. It's me.
Plot has always been an elusive beast for me to understand. I mean, I basically understood it well enough to work with it, but no way could I have offered any coherent explanation of it. In fact, some of the best writers I know start to stutter and use phrase like: "basically," "pretty much" and "well, you know" when asked to define plot.
I know people disagree on the best definition of plot, but here are a few of my take aways from John's class that I think others might find useful as well:
THERE ARE THREE SOURCES OF STORY
- Imagination
- Experience
- Events
- Story is Raw Material
- Plot is the Structure
- Narrative is the Sequence of Events (the way in which you choose to present the story - the timeline)
THERE ARE ONLY TWO WAYS A PLOT MOVES FORWARD
- Environment Forces (external) - something happens beyond the character's control that visits mayhem upon him
- Character Based (internal) - conflicts/events brought about by the actions and reactions of the character to a force/event/circumstance
CHARACTER COMPOSITION NECESSARY TO MOVE THE PLOT FORWARD
- Strengths/Weaknesses
- Motives (specific to a situation - dynamic)
- Desires and Needs (overall - static)
- Effective PLOTS and SUBPLOTS are usually focused on a SINGULAR conflict.
- Well-developed CHARACTERS are involved in MORE THAN ONE plot or subplot, both on and off the page.
(The whole day would have been worth it just to hear these two lines)
There was much more information provided and discussed regarding story structure and character development but these are some great examples of the "sound bites" I referred to. This is the type of information I can file away to create a reference database. Some people think in spreadsheets. I apparently think in bullet points and numbered lists. Single colums.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)