One of the things I always find amazing about musicians is that they take individual notes and make unique melodies. There are only so many notes and yet, new music is being made every day. I guess we can say the same thing about writing right? There are only so many words --- but unlike music, there are a lot of words that mean the same exact thing. I remember in high school keeping a journal of "exotic" words. Words that when announced sounded like you were someone special. I remember … [Read more...]
Cultivating a Creative Life
February 1, 2011 Read Comments
I had the pleasure of participating in a workshop with Sara Zarr last December at The Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop, so I already know firsthand how inspiring she can be for writers trudging along their creative journey. I knew she would be the keynote speaker at the recent SCBWI Winter Conference so it didn't surprise me to hear that her speech was great. It was basically the speech she wished she had heard during the early part of her writing journey --- a speech of hope. Candy … [Read more...]
2011 SCBWI FL Conference Highlights (2)
January 20, 2011 Read Comments
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 … [Read more...]
2011 SCBWI FL Conference Highlights (1)
January 18, 2011 Read Comments
So now I'm back in Atlanta from the fabulous 2011 SCBWI Florida Regional Conference. I've attended several conferences hosted by this chapter and they have always been top notch, so I knew this year would be no different. Today I'm going to post some highlights for you and share some really great gems of inspiration and information from the conference. First off, The Novel Intensive was a full day of learning about the craft with agent Erin Murphy, author Joyce Sweeney, and executive … [Read more...]
