How did you start your morning? Was it, by any chance, hearing a grown man say "This pig just came to me one day" when hearing the story of how the book Punk Farm began? No? Well, those of us lucky enough to be up and listenting to Jarrett J. Krosoczka here at the SCBWI Conference got to hear that and much more. What's always fascinated me about hearing the keynote speeches at these conferences is how much you end up "rooting for" the speaker. They're all incredibly talented, of course, but there's always a tremendous sense of humanity. You think "damn, everyone is sooooo nice here!" And, well, they are. To top the speech off, he showed a hilarious film about the process of making a picture book, culminating with the joy of actually getting it. Seeing someone paint as "Eye of the Tiger" plays... excellent.
Again, "ideas" was a key theme here. Caronline Cooney echoed the thought about the question "where do you get your ideas?" that "ideas are the easy part... but the better question is what do you do with them once you have them?" She gave a great primer on how she works through an idea, how she makes choices in plotting and character.
Plus, she ended with a quote I think any writer will appreciate, and with which I'll end this post:
"I love writing... except when it's really hard and I hate it."
Saturday, August 05, 2006
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I heard Cooney's spirited presentation, too, and attended her breakout workshop the next day. Lots of good, practical writing tips, but for me the best was NOT to start a story with your heart. Doing so will slow you down. The heart, she says, will come later.
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