Hightlights Foundation Workshop: Writing Off the Page

March 26 -29, 2017

(L to R): Kekla Magoon, Laurie Calkhoven, Nicole Valentine

Instructors: Kekla Magoon, Laurie Calkhoven, Nicole Valentine 

Driving to the Highlights Foundation barn felt like driving home. It is now a familiar place. One where I know the magic and love of books resides. It’s a safe place where strangers transform into friends, where everyone receives encouragement and knowledge. 

Writing Off the Page was my third workshop at the barn. Though each experience is different, all have been beneficial to my writing journey. And oh, the food. It’s both nutritious and delicious, much like the knowledge gained.

The description of the workshop is what caught my attention. I wanted to learn creative techniques to carve out my characters, to breathe more life into them, to make them real. I wanted to learn how to pump more heart into my stories. To push my creativity to new limits. I was not disappointed. 

And to make this memory even more heart-warming, several writers in the group made major breakthroughs during our stay. If you’ve never been to a Highlights Foundation workshop, check out their offerings. They’re an investment in your children’s book writing and/or illustrating career.

 Previous Highlights Foundation workshops I've attended are: Picture Books & All that Jazz and Perfecting the Picture Book Text. 

From the Highlights Foundation web site:  

Writing Off the Page

In this workshop, you will develop new creative strategies to help bring your stories to life:

*Think about your writing from different angles, drawing inspiration from other disciplines (theater, graphic design, visual art) to deepen your characters and create more vibrant landscapes in which to immerse them.

*Practice new ways to get into your characters’ heads. Through meditation, journaling, arts and crafts, and creative projects, you will be pulled out from behind the keyboard to immerse yourself more fully in the worlds of your stories.

*Consider story structure and explore visual and tactile tools for outlining, organizing, and reorganizing your story.

The Cow Who Climbed a Tree AND Other Ways to Kick Doubt Out

**As seen on EasternPennPoints Blog (Eastern PA Chapter of SCBWI)**

I’ll be in the middle of writing and I’ll get this unwelcome visitor called Doubt. *sigh* And this visitor asks all kinds of annoying questions. Can you write? I mean really write? Will you ever be published? What are you doing? Are you wasting your time? Should you keep plugging away?

And so if you’ve ever experienced a Doubt visit, you’ve got to read The Cow Who Climbed a Tree by Gemma Merino. To discover Impossible! Ridiculous! Nonsense! is absolutely possible. Even when there’s a ton of naysaying from your herd or in your own head.

Matt de la Peña is proof. He received the 2016 Newbery Award for Last Stop on Market Street. His acceptance speech mentions Doubt. Here's an excerpt:

This job can be a lonely, lonely ride. And there are moments when it’s nearly impossible to maintain a belief in yourself. Ninety-nine percent of the time the words don’t seem quite good enough. Or the characters don’t seem quite real enough. Or, worst of all, you don’t feel quite talented enough.

 
So how can we kick Doubt out? These are the branches I climb:

·         I’m open to learning. I read, read, read. I attend workshops. I'm a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writersand Illustrators (SCBWI). And I'll be chairing/co-chairing a new SCBWI picture book critique group in Mechanicsburg, PA (interested? contact me at: jeannecurtin@yahoo.com).

·         I surround myself with positive people. I can’t imagine life without my loved ones and friends cheering me along the way.

·         I have reminders in my environment. Like these words on my wall:

    Make your Magic = write.

    Be Grateful = I take a moment of each day to acknowledge people/things in my world for which I’m genuinely thankful.

    Believe = that my goals of publication will happen.
 

    ·         I keep healthy. I walk. Run stairs. Take time to enjoy life. Adventure. And eat right as much as possible.

   ·         I practice, practice, practice.

Have you used these Doubt busters? Do you use other ways to kick Doubt out? Please share in the comments below!

#SCBWI #NewberyAward #MattdelaPena #GemmaMerino #amwriting #kidlit #doubt  #picturebooks #GetBrave #LiveLife