How the LA19SCBWI Conference Complimented My Mentorship

“Allow yourself to listen to the still, small voice that is bidding you to do.”  (Alice Faye Duncan, LA19SCBWI)

Introduction:  FOCUS

One of the main goals that Adam and I set for our #PBChat mentorship was to get more me into my manuscripts.  In order for that to happen, I need to flush out all the negative self-talk and other things getting in the way of hearing my “still, small voice.” 

The mentorship officially started this month.  I had paid for the LA19SCBWI Conference before I knew about #PBChat.  At first, I was worried that attending the conference would distract me from focusing on my mentorship.  Rather, this conference leaves me refreshed, energized, and better equipped to tackle it.  In this blog, I will share how the LA19SCBWI helped me get out of myself (the introversion, the doubts, the fear, etc.) and into my #PBChat mentorship.           

YOGA and a “Coincidence”

I enjoyed the yoga on Saturday morning.  Being a beginner, I found Lori’s instruction to be both easy to follow and appropriately challenging.  While I physically stretched myself, I similarly expanded my mind and prepared myself for being open to all that the LA19SCBWI Conference had to offer. 

At the conclusion of the class, Lori scattered about 100 cards – pictures on the front; words on the back – on the carpet and invited us to select an image that spoke to us.  I picked the “eye,” which was actually the Sea Serpent.  My card said: “The Sea Serpent represents …expression…. creativity… helps us move…into a healthy current…. We express ourselves creatively …without fear or shame…. We loosen the grip of self-judgement…. We let the cool waters of forgiveness in to heal our wounds.”  Was it an interesting coincidence that I was reading about creativity at a writing conference?  I’m not sure I believe in coincidences!

Mandatory Morning Pages 

I made it a point to continue doing my morning pages, an exercise from Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY, throughout the conference.  I spent about ten minutes (or three pages) writing in my journal freestyle first thing every morning.  I wrote whatever I wanted – journal stuff, conference information, gossip, meaningless words, budget stuff – everything!  This helped me empty my brain so that I could fill it up with what the day had to offer:  lessons, insight, and meeting new people. 

Did all this “extra” writing do anything?  Yes!  Lots!  I have attended scores of conferences over the past decade.  At all of them, I noticed common themes with my behavior, all revolving around introversion.  I was always on the periphery of the conference.  But this conference was different.  I talked to anybody.  I felt only a little jet lagged.  I was just a little “whelmed;” not overwhelmed.  At the “Woodstock, 50 Years Later” party, I danced right up in front of the stage.  I credit all of these things to the morning pages exercise, although I don’t understand the “why” yet.  I wonder how these changes will ripple through the rest of my life!

Learning

To say I learned a lot at this conference would be an understatement.  I have so many bullet points, practices, and mindsets to bring with me into my mentorship as a result of those four intensive days of conferencing.  On Friday, I learned more about rhyme and rhythm in picture books, with #PBChat mentor, Lori Degman. I LOVED Linda Sue Park’s writing room on Saturday afternoon.  Writing anything, I believe, helps a writer get better at writing what she wants to write. My take-home from Sunday, after listening to Carol Hinz’s lecture, was that I need to rewrite the back matter for three of my stories.  On Monday, I learned that a couple of agents whom I had previously thought desirable, while they are still very talented and knowledgeable, might not be the right fit for me.

Deepening Relationships… and Food

One of the best things to happen during this conference was the down-time spent with my critique buddies.  In particular, I am grateful for the time they spent helping me to revise one of my upcoming potential magazine publications.  But I also enjoyed things such as re-trying sushi for the first time in nearly a decade.  I liked it!

I met Stacey Mozer at the NESCBWI luncheon and ate nearly an entire gluten free pizza on my own!  Speaking of food, it was feast or famine throughout the weekend.  They fed us once on Friday, once on Saturday, once on Sunday, and not at all on Monday. Although we went out to eat three times, seven of our meals came from a Thursday evening Target run.  The best meal was the taco bar at the “Woodstock, 50 Years Later” party on Saturday night.

Bonus!           

During lunch on Saturday, I attended an illustrators’ informal workshop, munching on veggies and hummus and sketching the live models in 5- and 10-minute drawing sprints.  When I went up to the woman model, Ariel, at the end (to show her my favorite pose and talk about modeling and sketching), a camera crew swooped down upon us.  I might be included in a documentary film!

Conclusion    

All in all, I am very glad I attended the LA19SCBWI Conference.  It directly supported my mentorship; in fact, it seems like a huge “coincidence” that the conference took place at the beginning of my mentorship.  I feel primed for writing, thinking, and revising throughout the months ahead. 

“If you are comfortable with your uncertainty, then you are on the path of learning.”  (Yuyi Morales, LA19SCBWI)

Did you go to LA19SCBWI?  What were your big take-home messages from the conference?  What other writing workshops would you recommend attending?

Around the World with Vivian Kirkfield, PLUS GIVEAWAY

For someone who only started her writing career in 2011, Vivian sure is going places fast!  She began by blogging to connect with parents and teachers for a parenting book she wrote, but wound up connecting with the writing world in general.  She made one friend in particular who shared her belief that picture books are important for kids because a picture can say 1000 words.  This friend happened to be an author in Singapore and was on the planning committee for an upcoming conference.  She invited Vivian to speak at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in 2013, a year in which the Festival was also an SCBWI event.

Sneak peek at characters from OTTERS, courtesy of the talented Mirka Hokannen.

Having never left the country before, Vivian was more than a bit hesitant, but all of her new writer friends encouraged her to go. One of them even wrote and illustrated a little picture book story called MISS V’S BIG ADVENTURE. Vivian had never created a PowerPoint before either, so she reached out to her daughter-in-law for help. And then Vivian flew to Singapore with a suitcase of clothing and her presentation on a jump drive clutched in her hand.  She spoke on the importance of using picture books to connect parents with children, which parents sometimes forget, both here and on the other side of the world, in their hurry to have their children advance to reading ‘real’ books.  But because the conference was so chock full of events, Vivian barely had time to see anything in Singapore except the hotel and the conference venue.

Not so for her upcoming round the world trip that starts at the end of February 2019: Vivian will fly into Sydney two days before the Australian SCBWI conference.  She will meet up with a fellow American friend, as well as an Aussie friend, whom she first met in Singapore and who is the RA for the Australia SCBWI.  After a bit of sightseeing around Sydney, she will attend the conference, as well as present a program entitled: How to Succeed in Publishing: From Story Idea to Book Deal. And Vivian is doubly excited because her agent is the keynote speaker for the event. What fun!

Time to recuperate from jet lag?  Not for Vivian!  Next, she’ll be off to Auckland, where she will spend three weeks with another writing friend, traveling all over New Zealand (I’m envious!).  And the day before she leaves, she’ll present another program at a regional SCBWI conference in Auckland.

Finally, Vivian will conclude her writing conference tour with the Bologna Book Fair.  But this does not conclude her travels!  After the book fair, Vivian and one of her stateside critique buddies will do day trips to Florence, Milan, and other points of interest in Italy.  And finally, seven weeks after beginning her trip, she will head home to New Hampshire.  When all is said and done, Vivian will have literally traveled around the globe!

Vivian Kirkfield

How does one keep track of such expansive travel plans?  For Vivian, the answer is:  in a notebook and on a calendar.  Vivian loves notebooks.  As she shared travel plans with me, flipping from page to page during our interview, she also came across pages of general reminders, shopping lists, and, of course, countless writing samples.  She wishes she was more organized. In fact, she told me she starts each new manuscript in a ruled notebook, but somehow other items of interest find their way onto the pages.

She showed me her rough draft for her tentative sequel to PIPPA’S PASSOVER PLATE (Holiday House). I know we are all excited to see the launch of this first Vivian book which hits the shelves in early February…to be immediately followed by FOUR OTTERS TOBOGGAN: AN ANIMAL COUNTING BOOK (Pomegranate) on March 1. And then on May 1, the long-awaited SWEET DREAMS, SARAH arrives.

The cover of one of Vivian’s soon-to-be-out picture books

For of you who are fans of the #50PreciousWords Writing Challenge, never fear.  Even though Vivian will be traveling, she still plans to host the challenge which runs from March 1-8…she’ll be reading all of our stories from her friend’s home in New Zealand.

One can’t talk to Vivian without discussing the topic of writing.  I asked Vivian where she wrote, how she wrote, and from where she received story ideas.  Well, she sits facing North at her dining room table, with the beauty of NH to the left as seen through a big picture window that looks out to the woods that surround her home.  Her fireplace and the front door are to her right.  She inscribes the first lines of each new story in longhand in a notebook and takes copious notes, especially if she is researching a nonfiction subject.  If it is a rhyming story, she loves using Rhyme Zone and for all of her stories, the Thesaurus. She says you can never have enough words!  Frequently, she receives ideas for stories from television shows, magazine articles, and online while researching other ideas.  And I’m sure she’ll also get plenty of ideas for potential stories from her upcoming trip around the world!

Concluding advice from Vivian:  Have the desire to share your story and life with the world in order to benefit children (and adults).  Everybody can make their dreams real if they have passion, patience and persistence.  Embrace feedback.  Always be open to what others tell you, but stand firm for what you believe.  Check out Vivian’s website and blog https://viviankirkfield.com/ for more inspiration!

The cover of another of Vivian’s soon-to-be-out picture books.

How have you traveled in your writing career, both literally and figuratively?  Leave a comment below in order to enter a contest to win a Surprise Writer’s Package from Vivian, containing picture books and more (and maybe, just maybe, something chocolatey, too!).

Respectfully submitted,

Sarah A. Hetu-Radny

Vivian reading to her grandson, Jeremy