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28 -- Just When You Thought it Was Safe – SCBWI LA Conference Part THREE
NOTE: This blog is a continuing dialog between the two faces of rilla. The identity crisis is explained (if such a thing is possible) in the first edition. Click here to read: 1 -- Introduction
Susan Patron, 2007 Newbery Award Winner and John Green, Michael Printz Award Winner -- Whoa!
Rilla: Umm…
rilla: What?
Rilla: ARE WE EVER GETTING DOWN FROM HERE?
rilla: Oh…I’m still floating…
Rilla: …without a concern for my vertigo…typical…it’s all about you…all the time…
rilla: You don’t like floating? OK, I guess we can…
Rilla: NO!
rilla: Now what? I thought you wanted to get back down to earth…
Rilla: Not here, don’t come down right here…
rilla: Why?
Rilla: There’s a puddle underneath us…
rilla: A puddle?
Rilla: Yeah…all that drooling…
rilla: …drooling?
Rilla: The drooling you did over Kadir Nelson…
rilla: OH…oh…oooohhh…OK then, no problem we can just keep floating…not difficult at all…all I have to do stay up here is to read all the incredible blog posts of all the wonderful people I met and heard at the conference… Click here to go to links
John Green: All Writing is Rewriting
Author: Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines
As hilarious and wise as you would expect of John Green:
“I feel like an elephant who’s been asked to talk about how to be an elephant, to a group of elephants.”
“Writing is as much translation as it is creation.”
About boarding school in Alabama:
“It’s exactly like Hogwarts except for brooms we had beer.”
Some exceedingly vague ideas about writing:
“Never settle for catching small facts when there are bigger truths in the pond.”
“The truth does not lie in artifice.”
“The great book does not happen by accident.”
Emma Dryden: An Editor’s Guide to Writing a Novel
VP and Assoc Publisher of Margaret K. McElderry Books and Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Maintain voice, it must be consistent throughout, ring true and keep the reader hanging on.
“Dialog is action.” The character must come out through talk and action as much as possible.
“10 strong scenes are better than 10 strong scenes plus 2 weaker ones…make choices.”
The details must be memorable, poignant and particular.
Characters and setting should be clear and believable.
A felt novel is a successful novel.
Linda Sue Park and Dinah Stevenson: Beyond the Slushpile
LSP: Author: A Single Shard, Project Mulberry, When My Name Was Keoko
DS: VP and Publisher Clarion Books
Linda Sue Park’s words of wisdom: “If you want to write, you have to read, no exceptions.” So what’s in my To Be Read pile: I'm reading Book Thief, next is Holes, and Elsewhere, Twilight, Hattie Big Sky, Clementine, Beka Cooper, A Single Shard, Millicent Min, Sea of Trolls, Flipped, Sold… Thanks Linda.
More wise words:
“Finish the story.”
“Story is how a character changes as a result of the plot.”
When I’m struggling with two different ways I can resolve an issue in my writing, her smooth steady voice comes to mind: “TRY IT.” Try everything and see what works the best. Thanks Linda.
Dinah Stevenson: “Publishing is a process not an event.”
You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women. 
2 comments:
You are so sweet Rilla! Thanks for the link!
Hey Colorado Writer...loved your write-up of your trip to LA...what a special thing to happen to you...trusting loads more will come your way ;)
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