Here is a group picture of the attendees of her workshop. Cheryl is the tall lady in the middle, I am in the pink shirt beside of her.
I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. She came with a pile of picture books to share with us. She read a few of her favorites.
She told us something that I think is very hard to do. She said to find the holes in the market - find what hasn't been written. I think this applies to all genres of writing, don't you?
She showed us some books that she stated when she first saw them, she didn't think they were the greatest. But when she read them to small children, they loved them!
They shouted out answers when she read the text to them!
They became involved in the reading!
They wanted it read over and over again!
I think that is what we want to accomplish with any of our books. We want our reader to become involved with the story and for them to want to read it over and over again.
One of her favorite books : THE DOT
If you write picture books, but haven't read this one, go to the library and check it out.
It is so simple, yet so good!
Some very good advice from her:
Start your story on a day that something is different in their life.
Ending should be expected, but a surprise.
As you can see, I think you can take this information and apply it to whatever type of writing you do, whether it be for adults or children.
Some of Cheryl's published books are:
Flea Circus Summer,
Catty-Cornered,
Venola in Love, and
Venola the Vegetarian
Her stories introduce you to Venola May Cutright, a spunky 11 year old girl.
I hope you read something from this post that will help you with your writing.
Great article, Sharon. So glad to see the group photo, also. It sounds like you were greatly inspired by the wrokshops, and I am so glad you were there. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I called you Sharon, Janet. Sometimes names stick and sometimes they don't. That might be an idea for a story: "I Always Called her Sharon, but Her Name was Janet!"
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about your conference experience, and learned a lot!
ReplyDeleteThank You,
Anita
I write historical fiction, too. I love exploring the past.
ReplyDeleteYes, you can look at and print out the transcripts. Just sign into the chat (at any time) and look on the left for the correct command.
Thanks for choosing to visit my blog. I really appreciate your comments.
Jean
It sounds like it was a great workshop, Janet. I like all the advice and I do think you can apply it to all types of writing.
ReplyDelete"Find the whole in the market." I've heard this advice too and it just seems impossible! But I guess if you pay close attention to your genre, you'll be able to find that twist that will make your book unique.
ReplyDelete