On Saturday I attended the SCBWI-MI 2010 Spring Conference, The Tortoise and the Hare: Journey to the Finish Line. There was a star-studded line-up, and the conference was packed with useful information about writing and illustrating.
I was reminded of ideas that had been put aside while I struggled with writing or revising, and the speakers organized information in a way that made it fresh. Here are the pearls of wisdom I gathered.
Jay Asher explained how to build suspense by creating overlapping subplots, so that when one problem is resolved, other issues remain to keep the reader turning pages.
Beth Fleisher advocated mapping arcs for plot, character, emotional development and setting.
Ruta Rimas discussed analyzing a manuscript word by word, at the level of sentences and by paragraph.
Donna Gephart suggested we fill in the blanks in this sentence for our protagonists: I’ll do anything to ___, just don’t ask me to ___.
It was an action-packed day, and unfortunately I didn’t get to hear all of the speakers.
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