I’m continuing to share highlights from the 2011 SCBWI Florida Regional Conference. I’ve already posted about some of the presentations in Part One Highlights. Now I’m going share some information from the workshops. There were several workshops to choose from and it’s a shame that I couldn’t attend them all.
One of the workshops I attended was “Opening Paragraphs that Pack a Punch” presented by Katherine Jacobs, an editor at Roaring Brook Press. In the workshop, we reviewed opening paragraphs from novels such as Feed by MT Anderson, The Giver by Lois Lowry as well as adult novels such as The Posionwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
All of these opening paragraphs had at least one or more of the following qualities that made them work according to editor Katherine Jacobs:
- Concept or Hook
- Character
- Details
- Voice
- Setting or Place
- Emotion
- Mood
- Anticipation or Foreshadowing
- Problem
We were then asked to craft our own opening paragraph, and I was amazed at what some of the writers came up with. SCBWI Florida definitely has a nestful of talent.
I also attended a workshop led by Sarah Davies, “From Ordinary to Extraordinary: The Art of Creating a Great, Saleable Story.” I had already heard some nice things about this agent and now that I’ve had a chance to meet her and hear her speak, I must say she is a class act.
During the workshop she challenged us to make an extraordinary story and that all extraordinary stories have high stakes. Sarah Davies described herself as a “midwife to writers” and shared during the workshop some of the following gems:
“All protagonists must deal with the impact of their choices.
Writing is an emotional response to the world not intellectual thinking.
A writer’s vocation is deeply set in the chaos of being human. Writers must get order and meaning to create a unique story framework.
An extraordinary story has a great beginning — a build up to something. A strong sense of place. Landscape of character. Voice with language that has color and cadence. Every word is necessary and focused.
A good novel will have readers finding out more about themselves as they do about the characters.”
What I also found interesting is what Sarah Davies says she sees in her submissions. She sees too many of the following scenarios in opening pages: characters waking up, characters dressing for school, characters moving to a new town, characters at the airport, and characters getting into a car crash.
The Greenhouse Literary Agency can get up to 70 submissions a day. Sarah Davies shared some reasons why she rejects work:
- Confusing writing
- Superficial writing
- Writing in manuscript is trying too hard
- Too many adverbs and adjectives — overwritten
- Idea is not fresh enough
- Weak writing
- Lack of a focused “What if?”
But the biggest reason that she rejects work is because the novel doesn’t engage her emotionally.
One thing that I’ve noticed at this conference and other recent conferences that I’ve attended is the agent message of “Take Your Time.” The consensus is that you make your work as strong as it can be before submitting.
I’ve also noticed more “open-ended” submission deadlines offered by agents, which I believe can be a win-win for both the writer and agent. Writers can take their time to get their work right and agents possibly don’t get inundated with manuscript submissions after presenting at a conference.
So that’s it for my highlights from the SCBWI Florida Regional Conference. I hope you found these posts helpful. :)
Great round-up! You attended different Sunday sessions than I did, so I loved reading this. I felt like I got to attend two more. Seriously, it was so hard to choose! :)
Always enjoy these!
these were excellent notes. sounds like a great conference. thank you!
Your posts are very helpful.
Thanks for sharing!
Gwendolyn
I’m trying to take my time with my WIP, which is why I gave myself a goal of finishing it this year but without pressuring myself with a specific date. It’s nice that the agents at the conference allow writers to submit to them at a later time.
Meredith: It was hard to choose which workshop to attend. I hope that your kidlet gets over the Fever Chuck. Looking forward to reading more of your highlights.
Vicky: I know that Sarah Davies is coming to Springmingle so SCBWI Southern Breeze is in for a treat.
Liana: Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. It was a fabulous conference indeed. Glad you enjoyed reading the highlights. :)
Gwen: You’re welcome. :) You know how much I love sharing what I learned from conferences.
Ghenet: I love hearing this message from agents. We want to have goals of course, but we also need to release the pressure that we can sometimes put on ourselves.
you are my eyes and ears at these conferences, thanks
It’s good to hear that message about taking your time over and over. I try really hard to not feel the pressure to finish, to submit….but it has a way of creeping in. I think I’ll post that by my computer on my writer’s bulletin board!
Thanks for the great wrap up!
Great notes Karen, just wish I could have been there :D but I’m glad you made it safely and back.
This is terrific! thanks for sharing. I think Sarah hit on a big one – emotion. If we can’t get an agent to care about character fast, we’ll lose them for sure!
Joanna: Glad to be your eyes and ears. I love sharing info.
Gail: I struggle too with the “hurry up already” syndrome. But in the end, a stronger novel will emerge.
Saba: Miami had warm and gorgeous weather. So glad that I could escape the snow and ice.
Laura: Totally true. I won’t spend time with a book with characters I can’t connect with emotionally.
Awesome post. I almost feel like I was there. And now, I feel like I need to change the opening to my MS. It starts just after a car accident. Thanks for the post and very valuable information.
Karen, thank you so much for your kind words over at my place today. Really means a lot to me.
Latoya: Glad you found the highlights helpful. But remember, this is just one agent’s take — if a car crash is the right way to start your story, stick with it.
Caroline: You are so welcome. You are truly an inspiration on how you have handled your writing journey.