write a great story: SCBWI carolinas fall conference 2022 recap!!
"if you don't want to do it, don't put it in your portfolio."
future visions & lots of lessons from the
scbwi carolinas fall conference 2022
allow me start this post with a shout-out to the crayon box (my author-illustrator patreon). for two reasons: the opportunities this conference gave me (meeting with agents & art directors) are exactly why my author-illustrator patreon has existed for the past year and a half. i've been doing art every month with the expectation of developing my portfolio, experimenting with new styles as i create both black & white art pieces (for chapter headers or interior art) and alternate cover art pieces every month: getting myself back into practice of telling a story visually.
and my crayon box members collected enough ORIGINAL art from me to pay for my registration and trip! for that i am immensely overwhelmed and grateful.
(as someone on a podcast i listed to this week said, "my [newsletter] is what the internet used to feel like: a community full of encouragement and kindness." that's exactly how i feel about my patreon. it's special and i don't take it for granted. their kindness makes me cry with joy pretty often.)
anyhow: i promised you ALL a blog post about the SCBWI carolinas fall conference. last week had OTHER things come up (promise it's the last plug i'll make for it, but the crayon box got to hear ALL about the excitement!) and so with a bit of a delay, and a thank you for your patience, here are my major takeaways of wisdom from the conference.
(note: SCBWI stands for the "society of children's book writers and illustrators.")
so after sitting at the coffee shop with my tuesday writing group (taking a break from The Book for reasons...😏) and re-reading through all of my notes, highlighting the highlights... instead of giving you a workshop-by-workshop play-by-play, let me just tell you my biggest take-aways as i continue to process all the wisdom from all of the very-talented, very-professional, very-successful & at the top of their game conference faculty and presenters:
know that i took 46 pages of furiously scribbled (colourful, of course) notes and came home with a list of follow-up items.
create the work YOU want to make. particularly for your portfolio. i heard repeatedly both "WOW ME!" and "what is your artistic vision?" as in, what is your style adding to the story? and give me something i haven't seen before.
so not only does the artwork have to excellently crafted and up to a professional level, but it shouldn't look like anyone else's work, either.
(i talked to my crayon box about this, so i'm about to start working through john hendrix's DRAWING IS MAGIC to help solve my artistic identity crisis... )
if the passion is lacking, the viewer will feel it. and an art director will hire you for the work you want to do. so if you don't like doing it, DON'T show it in your portfolio! (this kind of contradicts everything i learned in my college portfolio class where we were supposed to show everything you can do… kids! older people! full backgrounds! black and white art! full-color art! character designs! full spreads! cover art! editorial! children’s book illustration! celebrity caricatures! etc. etc. etc…. oops.)
what i heard at the conference was: an art director will hire you to do the ONE thing you do because they have a project they need THAT thing for. so show that. and make sure you LOVE doing it. :)
illustration-specific workshops i attended:
let's talk about color, dr. elizabeth dulemba
establishing your artistic voice, chad beckerman (art director at little brown and then little brown young readers for 15 years; now an illustration agent at the cat agency)
seeing things in perspective, leuyen pham
the art of illustrating jackets, maria middleton (art director at candlewick press)
(also notes in the faculty q&a panel)
all of leuyen (pronounced "lay-win") pham's opening keynote was life-affirming.
she talked about creating while the world is falling apart and even sang the weezer's "all my favorite songs are sad" for us. it's OKAY to feel. just know that the drawing and painting is still there. even if you have to pitch a tent in the backyard (as she did) for your own space to create, don't forget your talents still exist. and you're allowed to take a break to process your feelings.
"we are making the world we want to see—the world we WANT to live in! the world the kids WILL make!"
she also read us her new picture book (she's illustrated 127 books in her career so far; this one she wrote and illustrated!) about the lockdown. yes, it made the room of 200 authors and illustrators cry.
so how do you make art when you're hurting? remember ART HEALS.
we put teddy bears in our windows to show that we were still there.
and the communal crisis, for many, reawakened us to the idea of kindness.
as artists, we can continue to intentionally put beauty into the world.
love is a physical manifestation of our hearts, which can, of course, be shown through art.
and story.
i won't get into all the CRAFT reminders i learned from the writing workshops i attended, there were a lot of great advice to implement as my book(s) move along.
the consensus for getting an agent and getting published, however?
WRITE A GREAT STORY.
that’s really all you gotta do.
(and then what stacy told us in the closing keynote: don’t let yourself quit. you never know how close you are!)
writing workshops attended:
the editorial letter, stehen messner (a.k.a. author zeno alexander)
plotting & pacing: creating compellign narratives for readers of all ages, caitlin johnson (associate editor at balzer + bray)
seeing the world through a middle grade/young adult lens, jennifer march soloway (agent at andrea brown literary)
and the closing keynote ("a black belt is a white belt who never gave up") from author stacy mcAnulty was hilarious, awe-inspiring, and encouraging, too.
why do YOU belong here?
i've decided to do the work
i'm here for this and not giving up! there's no timeline for any of the stages.
all you control is how hard you're going to work and believe that it is going to happen. and it's harder to give up when it's everything you've ever wanted.
sunday morning , fighting the weekend’s overwhelm in time for the closing keynote in the hilton airport CLT ballroom. :)
i also got to have a 1-on-1 manuscript critique with an agent (who recommended me to an agent friend of hers who is looking for the type of book i wrote...! 😏🤞🏽🥰)
went to "would you keep reading?" with tricia lawrence (agent at erin murphy literary agency) and foyinsi adegbonmire (editor at feiwel & friends) where about 30 first pages of audience-submitted projects (middle grade novels or YA novels) were read aloud and the two ladies gave feedback... if they were intrigued to keep reading, what made it a strong opening page (or not), etc.
the faculty q&a panel was of course ridiculously informative and insightful into the behind-the-scenes goo of publishing.
so NOW that i'm home and only 3 loads away from being caught up on laundry, i'm doing the NEXT right things:
editing & querying The Book
continuing to define my artistic voice
and refusing to believe it's NOT going to happen. because it is. i can feel it. and i'm willing to continue doing the world.
i'm creating the world i want to see with my art and stories.
the world the next generation will help to create.
putting beauty into the world as a physical manifestation of my heart and love.
i'm making books that give HOPE, spread empathy, bring joy, and celebrate story.
thanks for being on that journey with me.
please email me with any questions, and feel free to reach out on my instagram, too! :D
and hey: no matter where you are on the “white belt to black belt” spectrum, someone who has achieved “more” than you wants something you have… so remember. DON’T QUIT. focus on the work—the good story; the good art—what YOU can control. the outcomes aren’t up to you. and one person’s win does NOT equal your loss! :)