April 29 - May 1 Springfield, MA

April 29-May 1 NESCBWI Spring Conference

This weekend we took a short road trip to Springfield, Massachusetts to attend a writers' conference held by the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators at the Sheraton Springfield at Monarch Place.  The hotel was easy to reach, surrounded by public parking garages as well as some parking in the hotel building, modern and clean.  We did not stay at the Sheraton since we live only an hour's drive away but found the public spaces, restaurants and bars to be excellent.

Springfield is a small city of about 150,000 people located on the Connecticut River. It is a mixture of the old and new, the shiny and the shabby.  I felt comfortable walking six blocks to the Red Rose on Main for lunch, but there is quite a bit of construction a few blocks out and pan handlers typical of larger cities are common.

           

 While none of the illustrators we met have anything to fear about competition from me, the experience did remind me how much fun combining words and pictures can be.  The illustrated cartoon at left is something I probably should have kept in a dark place in my drawer, but I used my camera primarily to take notes at the conference so I'll use these four frames to make up for the lack of photo's.

Gloria and attended this conference because we are both writing books for a young adult audience (books that don't generally include illustrations). Gloria is wrapping up Mystic Quest, a young adult fantasy and is a third of the way into a sequel. I'm co-author of a dystopian novel in process called IRS Nation of which my son Andrew is first author. 

 

 The SCBWI conference was recommended  by Suzy Cordatos, author of two children's books, The Crown of Apollo, a middle grade adventure book, and Sneezefire an illustrated book for younger kids both of which came out this spring. Suzy was correct about what a pleasant and useful experience the Spring Conference was.The conference program was filled with typical events, all done exceptionally well.  Keynote speakers profiled their careers and work with wit and modesty.  One speaker urged writers and illustrators to think of themselves as inventors and entrepreneurs, a useful image. 

The participants and presenters were universally friendly and helpful. Workshops provided hands-on learning experiences in dozens of topics. Ample opportunities for writers to pitch their books to agents and publishers were provided. I stuck to the sessions on writing but I heard good things about the workshops for writers interested in illustrated books. 

In addition to reviving my enthusiasm for spending time in my office writing, I also came away with some useful information on writing craft.  Here are a few of the things I learned.  

My office, where the writing gets done.

AC Gaughen reminded us that setting must be approached from the point of view of the character, and that each character experiences a slightly different setting. 

Anne Sibley O'Brien noted that kids increasingly come in many colors, sizes, and shapes and so should the characters in our stories.  This theme came up again in a presentation by C Banks, A. Knight and P. Venkatraman who focused the portrayal of children with disabilities in  books. Although persons with disabilities are everywhere, I'm writing a book (with a co-author who uses a wheelchair) without persons with disabilities. Oops.

AC Gaughen also showed that villains aren't always evil, but hero's of their own story. I expected Trisha Leaver to talk about lying, but Counterfactual Fiction, showed how to use blanks in the historical record to craft stories that stay true to historical fact while creating entertaining fiction in the gaps.

Audrey Poole said that the Hero's Journey, used to structure the action of a story, won't impress readers unless we show the internal journey of the characters as they change and develop. The last workshop on Sunday was about endings. Erin Dionne said every novel needs an ending that completes the promise made in the opening of the book, but the last novel in a series also needs to tie up the story arch that makes all the volumes part of one story.

This conference was among the best I've attended, for logistics, setting, instruction, food and fellowship.

Those of you, who like me enjoy writing and road trips, might consider organizing your next excursion around a conference in a distant city since events like these can be found across the country at different times of the year. Every genre (science fiction, poetry, mystery, romance, children, and more) seems to have a professional society and one or more regional conferences per year. Besides rekindling your passion for writing (or whatever turns you on) it is a great way to get to know new people and places along the way.