During the SCBWI conference in Orlando, FL, I also attended the Young Adult workshop. This was led by Noa Wheeler, editor for Henry Holt, and Nancy Werlin, bestselling author of numerous books including Extraordinary. These two ladies did an excellent job exploring ways to tackle issues we face as young adult authors.
Noa Wheeler talked about how to deepen our characters by asking questions about them. One of the best questions she asked was “Is my character active?” She says we should be asking ourselves this question all through the book.
She also had us create 100 questions for our characters. I was really excited after I finished because these questions helped me build a more three dimensional character for my current WIP.
In the afternoon, Noa discussed how to write a flap copy and gave us specific examples from the books she’s edited. She said that usually the assistant editor writes these for the books, but they are a great exercise to find what the big issues of our stories are about.
Nancy is currently revising the third book that will come after Extraordinary. She broke down the revision process she is undertaking right now which I found fascinating in how she tackled her revisions. She also explained how she used the feedback from her critique partners to write another revision.
Overall, I came away with some new ways to revise and a stack of answered questions I hadn’t known about my main character.
Have you ever interviewed your characters? Did you find that helpful and if so, which questions did you find to be the most helpful?
Today I'm pleased to post my interview with Sarah Nicolas who attended the SCBWI Orlando, FL conference with me. She is a young adult writer who is famous for her youtube channel, YARebels.
In this interview she shares about her best conference experience. Sarah is also the acquisitions intern for Entangled and in this interview she shares common mistakes writers make.
At the SCBWI conference here in Orlando, FL, I was able to chat with the very talented Danette Haworth. She is the middle grade author of the VIOLET RAINES ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING, THE SUMMER OF MOONLIGHT SECRETS, JACK AND ME, and her upcoming book that will be released in September, A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY.
I'm a big fan of Danette's books. The characters are so real and I'm instantly sucked into the worlds that Danette creates. I first read VIOLET RAINES when I was still living in Korea and the story brought me right back to Florida with the lightning storms, alligators, thick hot air and swamps. I was homesick! And who wouldn't fall in love with the spunky Violet?
In the interview, Danette chats about her SCBWI success story, why pre-published and published authors should attend conferences, as well as a peek at her upcoming book, A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY.
Thank you Danette for sharing with us!
You can find Danette on:
Her website: http://www.danettehaworth.com/
Her blog: http://summerfriend.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danettehaworth
And as a special treat, I'm giving away an autographed ARC of A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY that Danette shared with us! All you have to do is post a comment. (note, later in the week I'm giving away another of her books!) You get an extra point if you tweet, blog, Facebook or share this post with a friend. Just let me know in your post! The deadline to enter is by July 11th.
This past weekend I attended the SCBWI conference at Disney World in Orlando, FL. I had an amazing time and got to learn under brilliant editors and talented authors.
Here's a short video clip of what I'm planning to share with you about the conference:
I have 18 more school days left. 18!!!! And I can't deny that I'm just a teeny, tiny bit excited. Because I can't wait for summer to begin.
I'm kicking off my summer by attending the Florida SCBWI Orlando Conference on June 16th at Disney.
Here's the line up:
Holiday House Associate Editor Sylvie Frank, Scholastics Trade Vice President and Executive Editor Andrea Davis Pinkney, Tracey and Josh Adams of the Adams Literary Agency, Henry Holt Editor Noa Wheeler, Simon and Schuster Art Director Laurent Linn, Artist Agent Christina Tugeau, Tammi Sauer (Chicken Dance, Bawk and Roll), Florida SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator Linda Shute, Donna Gephart (How To Survive Middle School), Nancy Werlin (Impossible), Tracy Barrett (Dark of the Moon), Nancy Rosenthal Stewart (One Pelican at a Time), Deb Noyes Wayshak, editor-at-large at Candlewick Press, and Gaby Triana (Backstage Pass, Cubanita).
So you see, it's going to be awesome.
Then I'm jumping in a plane with my boys and spending a week in Germany and then another week in Austria. The main request from my boys is to see lots and lots of castles. It's going to be such an inspirational trip and I hope full of adventures.
Then come July, I'll be attending the Quill Track at Ascendio 2012 at Universal Studios. And guess who's going to be there? Beth Revis! I can't wait!
Here's the line up for the Quill Track:
Lev Grossman (author)
Beth Revis (author)
Veronica Roth (author)
Aimee Carter (author)
Michelle Hodkin (author)
Molly O’Neill (editor)
Ben Schrank (publisher)
Joanna Volpe (agent)
Lindsay Ribar (agent & author)
Carlie Webber (agent)
Mark Oshiro (MarkReads, author)
Cecilia Tan (publisher & author)
Don't worry. I promise to take heaps of pictures and do some awesome worthy post conference contests with signed books.
Oh and in the middle of all that, I plan on writing another book. Should be fun.
