There always seems to be themes at the LA conference. This year there were two that I heard over and over.
1.
Trust yourself as a writer (or illustrator) and write / illustrate how
you want, when you want, what you want. Do whatever sparks your
imagination, and write / illustrate the book that you want to read. And
remember why you started writing / illustrating in the first place.
2.
Advice you get might be right for others, but not for you. Think about
the advice before you blindly apply it to your writing or career. And
critique groups are great, but don’t mistake them for editors.
I
also took notes – not as many as usual, but I think there are some good
quotes here – I hope they are useful, but remember theme #2 and only use
what works for you. Also, I tried to scribble notes as fast as they
were speaking, but I wasn't fast enough! Some of the notes are
paraphrased to get the gist of the idea, rather than a direct quote.
Mo Willems
If
you notice the work, the work is ruined (backgrounds, etc.). BG
shouldn’t detract from the character. Seeming effortlessness is key –
writer/illustrator should disappear.
The more you have on a page
(visually), the faster it will be to read (out loud). The less you have
on a page (visually), the slower it will be read (out loud).
Characters
that are enemies are usually similar to each other (Pigeon and Bus
Driver both love/want the same thing: love the bus/want to drive it.)
Know
your strengths as an illustrator (and writer too) and don’t try to do a
book that doesn’t fit your style. If you can’t see it or imagine it,
turn the project down. You don’t want to work on something that you
can’t do and will turn out awful.
Jodi Reamer
Let
the agent do their job, don’t tell them what to do and how to do it (or
why do you need the agent?). Let them guide you, and not the other way
around. They don’t make the decisions for you, but need to feel like
they can guide you through the options.
It’s all about the writing. You can learn as much as you want about the business, but it’s your writing that sells your story.
Working
with agent tips: make sure it’s the right one / good relationship,
personalities need to mesh, make sure you trust the agent, let them do
their job, agents and editors have strong relationships, so let the
agent advise you on things the editor suggests or next steps.
Laurent Linn
Illustrations should always have main focus / energy flow from left to right, like we read.
Dummy
– don’t make type decisions at this stage – leave it to the book
designer. Make it loose / subject to change, just like the art in a
dummy.
If it’s a dummy with a story you have written as well, send it to the editor and not the AD.
Beverly Horowitz
Choices
you make for the narrative must fit what you need for the story, and
not be extraneous details (like prices of things, or pop culture
references that will date your book).
You must choose the
narrative voice – who is telling the story? (Almost nobody can pull off
first person present - if you can write like Tilly Olson’s "I Stand Here
Ironing" short story, then …)
Make sure that what you know about
the main character that needs to be communicated to the audience is
down on the page and not just in your head, so that the reader knows.
Great dialog works forever.
Wendelin Van Draanen
Forget what you are doing wrong when you write – especially with dialog.
Dare to find a voice that works for you.
Watch non-scripted TV and take notes. (The shows suck, but the dialog is great.)
Your subconscious can help you work on your story if you let it / help it out.
At
the end of the day, re-read the story (or what you’ve written that day)
before you go to bed (instead of watching TV, listening to the radio,
etc.). Your mind will work on your book while you sleep.
Re-reading helps keep you in voice.
Girls are interested in more than just fashion and boys.
Mary E. Pearson (She gave us a lot of great quotes to ponder.)
"I think … I think it’s in my basement. Let me go upstairs and check." – M.C. Escher
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." – Somerset Maugham
"The devil is in the details." - unknown
"A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it." – John Steinbeck
"I have not failed; I’ve found 10,000 ways that won’t work." – Thomas Edison
"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." – Ernestine Ulmer
"A
new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be
stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right
person’s brow." – Charles Brower, Advertising Executive
When a
man wants to murder a tiger, it’s called sport; when the tiger want to
murder the man it’s called ferocity." – George Bernard Shaw
Justina Chen Headley and Alvina Ling
Humor – have to be picky with what you leave in – you can’t keep every joke, even though it might be funny.
Trust your editor. If you don’t, they might not be the right editor for you. Put aside your ego and just get down to business.
Trust yourself as an author.
Jane Yolen
Revise = dream again
Cultivate
patience. Give yourself the time to settle into your characters. Also,
you have to learn to wait in this business, but that should never mean
that you stop working.
Don’t believe anyone’s rules. The only one that really counts is "write the damn book."
No comments:
Post a Comment