Check out this very informative post, The Benefits of A Writers' Roundtable, by author and team blog member Martha Brockenbrough. In it, Martha tells us about the Writers Roundtable Intensive at the upcoming 2015 SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City, February 6-8.
In addition to sharing what happened to her four years ago at the roundtable, Martha is now the intensive's moderator, and shares her thoughts on how to maximize this remarkable opportunity.
Illustrate and Write On,Lee
Every one of Ellen Hopkins' seven young adult novels in verse have hit the New York Times Bestseller lists, and there's a reason - they're powerful, compelling, and masterful. Every word seems perfectly chosen. Every poem is laid out on the page in a way that draws you in and then beyond the words. Every character is bared through their mind's lens.
And you can't stop reading because you have to know what happens next.
I didn't enter Ellen's intensive thinking 'I want to write a novel in verse,' but Ellen achieves intensely powerful emotions and her stories grab you and don't let go - and she does it with such economy and artistry. I had to see what I could learn, and then apply, to my own writing.
With worksheets and examples from her own work, she guided us through exercises that pulled out of us things about our characters that we'd never before considered. A few attendees read their poems out loud after the writing, and the level of accomplishment across the room was inspiring.
For one of the exercises, I re-worked the opening scene of my current MG work in progress, taking it from prose to verse. It was magical. Excess detail and repetition fell away, and character motivations leapt forward. The scene had so much more emotion and impact this way.
I raised my hand to share. As I read, the words felt so right. Spare, and still funny. Filled with emotion and conflict. So much more what I was hoping for. I was heartened by the laughter (in all the right places) and the kind encouragement from Ellen and my fellow workshop participants.
Now, I'm inspired to dive into my rewrite with this new way of telling my characters' story. Will it become a novel in verse? I'm not sure, but I do know that for me, this workshop was a huge creative breakthrough.
Thank you, Ellen. And thanks SCBWI for giving me - and the rest of the class - this incredible opportunity!
The editor at my morning table is Michelle Poploff, Vice President, Executive Editor at Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books. She's edited a number of Newbery honor-winning books, including "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson, "You'll Like It Here, Everybody Does" by Ruth White and the just announced winner of this year's Newbery Award, "Moon Over Manifest" by Claire Vanderpool!
Aaron tells us it's 12 minutes for each of us.
Ready? Set? Go!!!
Our Critique Session:
writer #1 at the table shared a YA historical, and when Michelle asked for what her elevator pitch for the story would be, she struggled to come up with the words to describe her book, but ultimately did. We were all rooting for her.
writer #2 hadn't brought her manuscript to share, and wanted to pass, saying she was happy to just be here and learn from everyone else. We urged her to take her turn at the end, and then she could at least talk about her book. She didn't seem sure about that, but we went on.
writer #3 was myself. I shared the first 500 words of my MG, and many of my fellow writers said kind things. There was a discussion about their not being sure where the book was going, and again Michelle asked me to pitch it, thinking that perhaps the manuscript was all about my main character's Bar Mitzvah - which left her wondering what made it special. That was very thought-provoking, and makes me want to look again at my opening paragraph.
writer #4 shared a MG historical, and again had to share with us where the story was going. Michelle shared the tip that if you write a particular genre, check out the other books in that same genre currently being published, and look in the acknowledgements to find out which editors are loving that time period. (She, for instance, is a big fan of historical books encompassing the American South.)
writer #5 shared a YA contemporary. She was also asked to quick pitch it, and what we discovered from her pitch was that the main character (who she said the story was about) wasn't really featured in her opening two pages. That's something she sounded like she wanted to address in a re-write.
writer #6 shared an upper MG contemporary, and got lots of compliments (from Michelle and the table at large) about her very nice opening and writing in general. At this point, we were all eager to hear her pitch because it contextualized the first 500 words and gave us a sense of the whole story and where it was going.
writer #7 shared a picture book manuscript, and discovered that her story started about 300 words in! She was excited to work on it again, revising it to reveal the gem that it can be. Also Michelle shared with us the thought that from a parent's perspective, picture books are an expensive investment, and to buy one it has to be a story they and their kid are going to want to read again and again. She challenged all of us to consider what was the sense of "specialness" about our books.
writer #8 shared an historical MG, and there was a mistake in her printing, so we only had the first page and the third (with a single paragraph on it) so we were missing the second page on all our copies. She bravely apologized and forged on with her reading, and got a lot of praise from Michelle et al., about her very nice beginning and her skill at conveying time and place. And props for handling it so professionally.
We came back to writer #2 and, emboldened to claim her twelve minutes by Michelle's kind encouragement, she gave us her pitch for her MG historical. She made it rich and layered and interesting, and as her book had a regional interest, it lead to Michelle's advice about not discounting regional publishers in the search for publication. We were all delighted she seized the opportunity to get feedback on her pitc
The SCBWI Writers Intensive is underway and the room is now halfway through the morning session.
Over 200 writers and 26 agents and editors fill the ballroom with the intense excitement only the this event can bring about.
Let the reading and critiquing begin.
... just got intense!
--POSTED BY ALICE POPE
SCBWI's own Aaron Hartzler (who looks dashing is his bow-tie) is moderating the kick-off panel of the Annual Winter Conference Writers' Intensive on taking feedback on your work. The editor panelists include:
- Courtney Bangiolatti, Simon & Schuster
- Nancy Conescu, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Michelle Nagler, Bloomsbury
Aaron: What works and what doesn't?
Courtney: Have a pen in your hand, write down comments, and really consider what both editors and agents have to say as well as your writer peers. Remember, we do this for a living. We want to make your manuscript better.
Aaron: What are you looking for as you start reading and giving feedback?
Nancy: You're looking for those sentences that grab you and good character. Be receptive to the feedback whether you agree with it or not. Really things about what editors and peers are saying. Focus on listening.
Michelle: Write down comments. Try really hard not to be dismissive. Put yourself in your critiquers shoes. We read and evaluate manuscripts constantly, considering not just whether your writing is good, but whether it's salable, has an audience.
--POSTED BY ALICE
The 11th Annual SCBWI Winter Conference is about to begin. The registration table is hopping, the Intensives rooms are abuzz.
Starting today, SCBWI TEAM BLOG will give you live play-by-play of conference sessions and events.
This morning we kick off with a panel on Listening to Feedback with an Open Mind (before the room full of writers hear a day's worth of feedback).
Stay tuned...
--POSTED BY ALICE
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"Ellen achieves intensely powerful emotions and her stories grab you and don't let go - and she does it with such economy and artistry."
Beautifully said Lee and so true, she always has something amazing up her sleeve to teach each and every one of us!
Wish I could have been there!