Picture Book Pointers from the Prairie ~ by Patricia Toht

What was I doing last Saturday night? 

Photo by Floyd G

White-knuckling it while skating my car home on icy roads. Sometimes I hate living in Illinois!

But, what was I doing last Saturday day? 

Glorying in 10+ hours at Prairie Writer’s and Illustrator’s Day, our state’s annual SCBWI conference. Sometimes I love living in Illinois!

This year’s faculty included:

• Esther Hershenhorn, writing teacher and coach

• Eliza Wheeler, author and illustrator

• Caroline Abbey, Senior Editor, Random House Children’s  Books

• Jordan Brown, Senior Editor, Walden Pond Press/Balzer & Bray

• Brett Duquette, Editor, Sterling Publishing

• Noa Wheeler, Editor, Henry Holt BYR

• Loraine Joyner, Senior Art Director, Peachtree Publishers

• Karen Grencik, Agent, Red Fox Literary Agency

• Rachel Orr, Agent, Prospect Agency

From Eliza Wheeler's opening speech to the final thoughts from faculty, the day was chock full of writing advice, tools, inspiration and laughs. Without a Harry Potter time turner, I couldn't attend every breakout session. As a picture book writer, I chose workshops in voice, revision, and craft that honed in on that format. Below are some helpful tidbits I gathered that day.

~ Oftentimes, a picture book needs an opening spread to tell you what to expect from the book; it initiates the voice and “trains” the reader in what to expect from the rest of the book. (Brett Duquette)

~ Your word choices should never be random. Choose words that have weight, especially action verbs. (Brett Duquette)

Photo by Alice Popkorn

~ Your characters need to go on both a physical and an emotional journey. (Eliza Wheeler)

~ Every character must serve a purpose in your story. If not, remove them – even the parents! (Brett Duquette)

~ If taking an illustrator on as a client, it’s important that the illustrator demonstrate that he/she knows how to make a picture book dummy. Try a dummy of a known story, such as a fairy tale. (Rachel Orr)

~ Don’t ruin the punch line of a joke by putting it into text when an illustration can have a bigger bang. Use an illustrator note. (Brett Duquette)

~ Craft matters! Take time to learn and grow. (Jordan Brown)

~ Don’t forget to be playful. And don’t be afraid to play with bad ideas, for something surprising may come of them. (Caroline Abbey)

~ You must want your manuscript to improve more than you want to be right. (Eliza Wheeler and Karen Grencik)

In their final advice of the day, the faculty reminded the writers and illustrators present to never be too nervous or afraid to ask questions. Editors, agents and other presenters are there to encourage and cheer you on.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

STILL LIVE from the WOW PICTURE BOOK RETREAT: GROGers SHARE

We are learning so much with our 33 "fantabulous" writing buddies. And, thanks to Kristen, all of us will be able to submit to the the agents/editors here. SQWEEEEE! 
Here are a few snippets from all of us regarding this fabulous week.

Hello, Peeps, this is Janie direct from the writing retreat. Just dropping in to tell you some of the wonderful things going on. 

The waterfalls and lovely camp grounds are relaxing and calming. Just the ticket to write and revise your work after a morning of exhilarating speakers (Lisa Wheeler and Karen Grencik).

The most amazing event for me is meeting people in the flesh after  knowing them virtually. As a GROGer, I now have the pleasure of getting a hug from Kathy, Sherri, Jackie, and Marcie. 

As a Picture Book Scribbler, (my online critique group) I am sharing a cabin with Donna Sadd, Pat Miller, and Ann Magee. Needless to say, we are talking up a storm and not getting much sleep. Yeah! for meeting every one here.

Kathy here again. This afternoon we met for the first time with our critique groups with whom we'll work for the rest of the week. The groups stay the same, but our facilitators change, which means we have the benefit of the professional opinions of editors, published picture books authors and agents. We can choose to perfect the same manuscript or submit a new manuscript each session. WOW is truly the word. Tonight is our dress-up and campfire night. Luckily it stopped raining and we a ready to write and bond S'MORE! 

 Sherri here:
Great Glorious Grogger Gathering. Can it get any better? We all connected right away--like we'd been friends forever. We're Learning lots of stuff; we're Burning the midnight oil; we're Yearning for a picture book sale. The mountain air clears our head. The rustic cabins help us to "get back to basics." Write from your heart. You have a story only you can tell. So, go to it. The children are waiting.

Marcie Flinchum Atkins: These are "my people." We speak the same language--the language of story. I always feel a camaraderie with writers, but somehow, I feel like I've known these people for a long time, and I'm just know meeting them in 3-D. With a mix of time to gain new tools and time to write, this is truly a retreat with time to make our stories better. 

And to reward you with reading this far on the GROG:
 a s'more 

and 
two fabulous web sites you WILL use as a writer: WritersDietTest  and Word Associations.  Happy Trails.