In early December the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators of Hawaii hosted a fiction workshop that I was very happy to attend. Especially since the guest author and workshop leader was best-selling novelist and award winning writer, Donna Jo Napoli. Her fairytale re-imaginings have long been favorites of mine. I admire her inexhaustible enthusiasm for children’s literature and her seemingly bottomless well of great ideas for spinning tales.
Donna Jo getting ready to do some writing exercises with the group
The workshop lasted two days and we did a number of individual and group writing exercises. We discussed all the different aspects of the writing and publishing process, and aside from the very positive experience of working and interacting with a great group of talented people, one of the most useful things was the anonymous first-page critiques. The experience is definitely worth the money and having a pro critique is priceless. Getting feedback on your writing is always valuable and meeting with an actual editor is even better, sooooo it just so happens that the SCBWI Hawaii conference is coming up in February! I encourage anyone interested to attend.
February 24, 2012
February 25, 2012
Featured Guests: Author/Illustrator Peter Brown and Viking editor Kendra Levin
OPTIONAL MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUE
For manuscript critique, your registration form must be received and manuscript must be emailed by January 18, 2011. Critiques will be done by Kendra Levin, Peter Brown or a Hawaii children’s writing professional at assigned times on conference day. For manuscript critique, at the same time you mail your registration, email your manuscript for critique to lwikoff@lava.net,
following these guidelines:
*Format: double-spaced,12-pt. type, one-inch margins, title/page number on all pages.
*Picture books: six-page maximum. Novels: ten pages plus one-page summary.
*No artwork except for author/illustrators submitting story with dummy.
Fee; sign up on registration form.
