Another SCBWI Summer Conference come and gone! This year, I won’t bother to summarize what happened, since that’s already done so beautifully by the SCBWI ‘Team Blog.’ 
Thanks you guys!
Instead, I’ll give an illustrated version of a few moments that really struck me. I’ve stolen most of the beautiful pictures and illustrations from other talented people, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Karyn Raz, Edith Cohn, Marie Miranda Cruz, Lee Wind, and the SCBWI Live Blog, so click on the pictures to check out their own versions of the events!
Holly Black: I pretty much wanted to copy down everything that came out of her mouth. For example, “All writing is in conversation with what has come before it.” She gave a talk about plot, citing her own struggles with it. Evidently when she started writing she didn’t know how to move the plot forward, so she had “lots of scenes with elves sitting around drinking coffee, experiencing ennui.”
She also did a break-out session about career, talking about practical and terrifying things such as when to quit your job (the ‘safe’ answer is once you can live off your royalties), taxes (about 33%), and choosing which author’s career you’d like to have (she wanted Neil Gaiman’s, which I think is a fantastic choice). It was an incredibly concrete talk that made me really ponder career goals and attitudes. And here’s the best line from it.
Audience Member (speaking about benefits): “It’s in our publisher’s best interest for us to be alive.”
Holly Black: “Actually that’s not true.”
So now we know why it’s so hard for writers to get health care!
Karen Cushman advised us all that when it comes to our inner voices, it’s important to “separate the writer from the editor, the editor from the critic, and dump the critic.”
David Wiesner showed us how the shape of UFO’s and the movie The Shining, both inspired the picture book Tuesday. He also literally illustrated how ideas can try for years and years to express themselves through different projects, before they finally manifest.
Sherman Alexie inspired us all with his charismatic speech and eloquently reminded us about the nature of writing as well as its purpose. “You’re alone. You are doing this alone. But remember someone else is out there alone.”
And then, after so many insightful and inspiring words, we got to what the conference is all about. Boooogying at the Blue Moon Ball!
