This weekend I attended the SCBWI Fall Writer's Conference/Retreat. This was my first ever writer's conference. I had an amazing time.
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Kelley Lynn and me |
Not only did I learn a ton, but it was nice to just be a 'writer' all weekend. To talk about my passion. To learn more about it. To be with others that were in the same boat as I am. To talk to published authors and hear them talk about how they even have doubts and feel like I do some days.
We had some great talks. Author, Kathi Appelt gave a great talk about understanding your character. She gave us ways to look at our characters and exercises to do to get to know your character better.
YA author, Sarah Zarr gave a wonderful talk about emotional pacing and the emotions of your characters. And Marcia Hoehne gave a fantastic workshop on how to get more ideas and if you have a lot of them, how to decide which one you should write. They were all very informative and I learned so much.
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Sarah Zarr and me |
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I also had the wonderful opportunity to get my first chapter critiqued by Sarah Zarr. She gave me a fantastic critique with a ton of great advise. Which will lead me to some major rewrites, but in the end it will better my story.
It was a great time. If you've never been to a conference I would definitely suggest going to one. This one was perfect. It wasn't to big, so not over whelming. And not to small that it wasn't informative enough.
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Fellow writers |
On a side note...Friday I'm being spotlighted by the lovely ladies over at Falling For Fiction. So, If you want to find out more about me, head over there Friday.