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.

LIVE FROM THE WOW RETREAT IN BEAUTIFUL ENOTA GA...GROGers GAIN INSPIRATION FROM LISA WHEELER! by Kathy Halsey

Yes, here we are up in the mountains in beautiful Enota, ready to get our "write on," with guru, nonfiction maven, Kristen Fulton. We GROGers have never met our own tribe in person before, so this is a real treat. BUT, we've been so immersed in writing that I can hardly get this post done, so stay tuned for more and pictures to come on Friday.

GROGERs kick up their heels.

Today we were treated to an amazingly prolific picture book author, Lisa Wheeler. She condensed her popular Picture Book Boot Camp workshop, and went all "camo" (camouflage) on us. If you get the chance to listen to Lisa Wheeler or take a course, do it! Lisa's sessions today were so inspirational, I began to immediately fiddle with the manuscripts that I brought to the WOW retreat. 

Here are some of Lisa's most memorable nuggets for writers that I gathered today. Enjoy and learn from one of the masters:

1. Study script. It's an awesome way to learn to write a picture book.

2. Part of the fun of being a writer is that we (writers) get to be the boss. We get to tell the characters what to do.


3. A picture book should have bookends. (on the importance of the beginning and the ending)

4. ANYTHING that takes your reader out of the book has to be fixed.

5.  When a story amused you, show it to others. (How you know  you're ready for feedback.)

6. Lisa on talking animals: Yes, you can write about them. An aside on the subject: A picture book writer asks a publisher,"Do you buy talking animals?" Publisher's answer,"It depends on what the animals have to say."