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CONFERENCE
SESSION OUTLINE:
*Our
craft-focused conference schedule is designed to provide the kind of
education that all Middle Grade and Young Adult writers can use to take
their work to the next level.
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SESSION 1: The
Self-Centered Author, Or Making Fiction Personal
The best way to
connect readers to characters, and their stories, is to make your
fiction as personal as possible. In this session, award-winning author
John 'Corey' Whaley will discuss how he has used aspects from his own
life, things both great and small, to help develop characters and
narratives-while sharing tips for others to do the same! Followed by
questions.
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Instructor: John 'Corey' Whaley
John 'Corey'
Whaley taught public middle and high school before publishing his
debut, Where Things Come Back, which is the only book to be
awarded the Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris Awards in the
same year. Whaley is also the only YA author ever named a "5
Under 35" honoree by the National Book Foundation. His sophomore
novel, NOGGIN, was subsequently a finalist for the National
Book Award in Young People's Literature. Whaley's third book, Highly
Illogical Behavior, an exploration of mental illness and
friendship, published in May 2016.
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SESSION 2:
Efficient Creativity
This
workshop-style seminar reaches across genres and disciplines to
challenge participants to reflect on and engage with their creative
processes. Drawing on research, psychology, and the ideas of some of
the most innovative and creative minds of our time, we delve into the
creative process. From Steve Jobs' mock turtlenecks to contemporary
research on ants to William Carlos Williams' poems written on the backs
of prescription pads, we will question what makes an idea beautiful.
Participants will be encouraged to reconstruct individualized creative
environments to help generate, incubate and cultivate those ideas.
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Instructor: Julianna Baggott
Julianna
Baggott is the author of over twenty books published under her own
name as well as two pen names. Her novels The Seventh Book of
Wonders and Pure were both New York Times Notable
Book of the Year. Her most recent release is All of Us and
Everything, a comedic novel about an odd family, written under
Bridget Asher. Baggott's essays and poems have appeared in The New
York Times Modern Love column, New York Times Book Review,
Washington Post, Real Simple, Best American Poetry
series, and on NPR's Here and Now, All Things Considered, and
Talk of the Nation.
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SESSION 3:
Creating a Character That Your Readers Can't Forget
Debbie Dadey
once made a student cry because she came to his school-he had been
expecting the characters in her book, and he was bitterly disappointed
that they couldn't make it! Dadey will walk you through four basic
steps in creating layered characters that will make your readers laugh,
cry, and never forget your stories. And there will be time for
questions at the end.
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Instructor: Debbie Dadey
Debbie Dadey
is the author and co-author of 166 traditionally published books,
including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series from
Scholastic (listed by Forbes.com as one of Scholastic's top three
best-selling series of all time) and Mermaid Tales from Simon
and Schuster. She has sold over 42 million books. Her newest Mermaid
Tales, Books vs Looks, combines ocean ecology and marine
life into a fantasy story.
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SESSION 4:
Finding Your Own Superpower: Authenticity and the Art of Writing for
Kids
One of the
hardest things about breaking into children's publishing is that
writers hear so much about "the market." From demi-gods to
wimpy kids, writers are sometimes inclined to follow these trends, but
in fact, this is one of the worst things a writer can do. Kids, even
more than adults, seek authenticity. In this session, award-winning
author Laurel Snyder will discuss how best to develop a distinct,
authentic voice and how to sell work that feels unusual and
unlikely-covering both craft and the art of selling a book, with
participants encouraged to ask wide-ranging questions.
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Instructor: Laurel Snyder
Laurel Snyder
is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and the author of many
books for kids, most recently SWAN, the Life and Dance of
Anna Pavlova. Her next middle grade novel, Orphan Island,
will be out in 2017. She has been the recipient of an E.B. White
Honor, an Orbus Pictus Honor, and the Sydney Taylor Medal.
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SESSION 5: The
Principles of Plotting a YA Novel
The plot of your
book is the underlying structure of its story-the specific events, and
the order of those events, that create the novel's emotional effects.
But how do you know if you're choosing the right events for your story,
setting them in the right order, and achieving the effects you have in
mind? Editor Cheryl Klein will guide you through the principles that
underlie most YA narrative plotting-a framework on which you can build
all sorts of variations-and suggest tips and exercises to craft an exciting
and emotionally compelling storyline.
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Instructor: Cheryl B. Klein
Cheryl B.
Klein is the author of The Magic Words: Writing Great Books for
Children and Young Adults and the executive editor at Arthur A.
Levine Books/Scholastic. Titles she has edited include the New
York Times bestselling Shadowshaper, by Daniel José Older;
A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce; Marcelo in the
Real World, by Francisco X. Stork; King Baby, by Kate
Beaton; Interference, by Kay Honeyman; and The Great Greene
Heist, by Varian Johnson.
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SESSION 6: Deep
Play and the Bull in the Bicycle
Play is the
brain's favorite way of learning-and storytelling is one of our
favorite ways to "play." We'll talk about word play, about
the role of curiosity and confusion in discovery, and why raising the
stakes for yourself is far more vital than "torturing" your
characters. Questions invited!
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Instructor: Blythe Woolston
Blythe
Woolston is the author of little novels about physics and grief,
evolutionary biology, terrorism, and loneliness. The Freak
Observer earned the William C. Morris Award, and Black
Helicopters was a Montana Book Award honor title and a High
Plains Book Award winner. Catch & Release and MARTians
were great joys to write. She loves nonfiction, first-hand
experience, and pretending these buttons she's pushing control a
spaceship.
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