Serious about improving your craft? SCBWI's regional events provide opportunities for professional growth and help you connect with a supportive, creative community.
LAUGH OUT LITERATURE: CREATING HUMOR IN PICTURE BOOKS ~~~Humor sells! It's no wonder that many editors and agents have funny or quirky picture books on their submission wishlists. In this presentation, Isabella will discuss: Why humor is important, what's funny to kids at different ages, how she created NO FUZZBALL! and NO SNOWBALL! As well as dissect different techniques used in 25 successful humorous picture books.
SCBWI Oregon’s Great Critique is an event that happens twice a year. Each session is an awesome opportunity for writers and illustrators to be critiqued by a professional and their peers. 📝 Never been in a critique group? Wish you could be critiqued by someone who is ahead of you in the publishing game? Want to strengthen your work? Need a fresh set of eyes and ears on that oft-revised piece? This is your chance. A published author or illustrator will lead each small group and critique your manuscript or art. You’ll also hear/see others’ work and get feedback from those writers and illustrators too. Plus, you’ll learn from the comments by the critique leader about the work of others. ⭐So join us for a morning of perfecting your craft. And, who knows, you might make a few new like-minded friends to start a new critique group, too.⭐
THE PROMISE OF A GOOD BEGINNING ⭐ Writers know that a strong beginning is critical for any story: It sets the story in motion, hooks a reader/agent/editor, and establishes character. But beginnings do so much more. In this online session, we'll explore the promises and expectations that beginnings communicate to our reader. We'll assess how to carry over those promises to the middle of our novels, and see them through at the end. With some short exercises and lots of questions and examples, audience members will leave with the tools they need to keep their promises of strong beginnings. ⭐
BUILDING A VISUAL WORLD ⭐ Once illustrators receive a manuscript, they have the incredible task of dreaming up a whole visual world. What would it look like if you illustrated Little Red Riding Hood, for example? What year is it set in, and where? This early stage of the picture book illustration process is a vital part of what makes a story feel real to readers. In this workshop taught by author-illustrator Chamisa Kellogg, we'll take a look at how some of today's working illustrators have created unique worlds for their books, as well as stories that have been told and retold, each time in a new and interesting way. We'll then spend some time dreaming up our own worlds for a classic story, diving into personal experiences to make our own unique interpretations through mood boards and sketching, or even a written description. We'll end the class by sharing screenshots or photos of our mood boards in the chat, with time for a short Q&A at the end. 📌 Tools required: sketchbook and/or a personal pinterest board, photoshop, procreate or other image collage tool. 📝 Both authors and illustrators welcome! 🎨