First there’s the obvious reason–’cause we rock!  Then there’s our tireless (I swear, she really doesn’t appear to have a ‘tired’ setting!) RA Teresa Fannin, and all our great PAL members that are super generous with their time.  But let me share a few of the highlights from the conference speakers–just a few–and you decide for yourself!

A new favorite writing quote, shared by Patti Ann Harris of Little, Brown, in her breakout on Saturday:

Inspiration is for amateurs.  The rest of us just show up and get to work.

–Chuck Close

Which is such the perfect way to frame this process!  Especially when Chuck Close goes on to talk about how the best ideas come out of the process, or work, of writing.

Throughout her breakout she illustrated her points with the gorgeous artwork of her illustrators.  I’m not an illustrator (obviously!) but I enjoy sitting in on a panel/breakout aimed at the artists at least once each conference that I attend.  Much of the advice can be translated, and I think that the translation process helps me fix it in my brain a little more firmly.  Besides, I love the eye candy!  It was soo cool to see the progression from sketchbook to finished art in books like Peter Brown’s The Curious Garden.

And Jerry Pinkney’s The Lion & the Mouse.

Truly, it was like seeing your first stained glass window.  That’s the best analogy I have.

Some points I took away from Ms. Harris’ discussion were these nuggets:

• Embrace feedback.  It shines a light in dark corners and lets them sparkle.
• Be teachable.  Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.  Delving deeper and researching is a way to get unstuck and let the creativity flow.
• You are not just an artist/writer.  As you create your story, you are also the interior designor and architect of the homes where your characters live, the clothing designor, etc.  Have fun with the creation of your world.

Aren’t those lovely?  Of course, I also learned through trial and error that she has an excellent sense of humor.  Just before the breakout began we all had lunch.  Before that, I’d received my award (squee!) and after lunch, I’d been on the phone.  All of this is a way to excuse my hectic state when I saw what I thought was a conference volunteer about to close the door to the breakout session, and rushed to get in and get my seat before it began.  But, we had just come from lunch and it occurred to me that I should have checked my teeth for stray chicken or green beans before going in and claiming a seat on the front row.  So, being the impulsive person that I can sometimes be, I turned to the nice volunteer and asked her if she could look at my smile and tell me if there was anything embarrassing I should know.  She laughed, and gave me the all clear.  I scooted inside, and…you guessed it.  The nice ‘volunteer’ went up to give her presentation.  That was Patty Ann Harris checking my teeth!

Thankfully she was a very good sport and even ribbed me about it a bit later.  So, we’ll always have that.  And maybe it will give her a story to tell at future conferences. 😉

I must have been listening for certain answers, because I heard some of her nuggets echoed in other presentations.  In Stephen Barr’s discussion on creating setting and bringing it to life, we were told that we should never think of setting as a prop.  I loved his analogy that if our protagonist, antagonist, and other characters are inside a rock tumbler getting tumbled around and re-shaped, then our setting should be in there, too.  It is never the rock tumbler–it’s in there, interacting with the rest the story.  I also loved his point that while we adults can, with enough time and effort, change our environment or setting if we want to, kids are often stuck.  They must drag their setting with them wherever they go.  Something which seems kind of obvious once it’s said, but easy to forget!

In our last keynote, the fabulous Dan Yaccarino had us all rolling with laughter (seriously–my hubby said he could hear us from the lobby) and sighing simultaneously over his fantastic artwork.  The painting that sparked Good Night, Mr. Night was a personal favorite.  I don’t think the painting’s online anywhere, but here’s the front cover.

And I absolutely loved the clip from Oswald he shared with us–and really pretty much all of it.  His style is so fresh and creative!

Here again, I gleaned several brilliant nuggets:

• While we focus on being professional we need to also remember to follow our hearts.  That’s where our best stuff will come from.
• Send what you love out into the world, and showcase it.  That’s what will come back to you.
• Remember that everything we know now we learned somewhere along the way.  When faced with something we don’t know, say yes and trust that we can learn what we need.

Great stuff!  And of course my ‘nuggets’ are not the actual words of the faculty.  Just like they don’t represent the whole hour+ presentation.  They represent the puzzle pieces that I was missing in building my mental picture of myself as a professional author.

Sometimes those puzzle pieces aren’t found in breakouts or keynotes.  Sometimes they come in the form of a seriously awesome PAL round-table, in which everything from writing under pressure, to balancing the well-writer with our other obligations, to how to make a living as a writer before the books can cover all the expenses, to balancing marketing and self promotion with the need to get the next book written.  One thing I am eternally and consistently grateful for is the generosity of my fellow writers.  This is a self-taught trade.  We rarely use degrees, and can’t get everything we need from books, either.  We rely on each other, and I have been so fortunate to cross paths with writers who helped me get where I am now, and shone a light down the path ahead.  It’s wonderful to now be in a position to emulate the example I’ve been set and begin to give back, as well.

Three cheers for writers helping writers, and for the best regional conference around!

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