Serious about improving your craft? SCBWI's regional events provide opportunities for professional growth and help you connect with a supportive, creative community.
This workshop will help you hone and revise the crucial opening pages of your manuscript. Shannon will critique your first 10 pages in a live group session where you will also receive feedback on your work from the other participants. In the group debrief session, each participant will have 15 minutes of time to discuss your feedback from Shannon, ask questions, and consider next steps for your manuscript.
Saturday, February 8, 2025, 10:00am-12:00pm. Topic: We will be sharing our writing and illustrating goals for 2025 and ways we stay motivated throughout the year. Remaining time will be for critiques: Please submit up to 650 words of a ms, query, pitch, etc. to wendisilvano at gmail dot com if you are interested. First submitted will be first critiqued until time is up. Zoom link will be sent to those who RSVP a few days prior. Any questions and to RSVP, contact Wendi at the email above.
Creativity. Is it science or art? Join us for a discussion about the creative process as self-published author/illustrator, Linda Bridges, details the parallels between art and life, illustration and writing. Remaining Time: Critiques, if interested--bring 8-10 copies of your work in progress (up to 5 pages or 1500 words) to share.
Goals can help us focus and direct our energy, and being held accountable for our goals is extra fuel for the fire. Come share your goals for your creative work with the supportive community who wants to see you succeed. After discussing goals and learning how we can help each other, we’ll share critiques. Bring up to 1500 words of a draft or the equivalent in illustrations. Contact karenlee at rmcwyconnect@gmail.com for more information or for the Zoom link if you are not on the WY list.
You’ve heard what not to do in your novel’s opening—cliches, dreams, info dumps—but avoiding these isn’t enough to grab an agent or editor’s attention. In this workshop, learn six easy strategies to make your first pages sizzle. Bring a first page to share with a group and apply what you've learned. Presenter Rachel Delaney Craft is an award-winning author of speculative fiction whose most recent novel won the Colorado Gold Rush Literary Award. Questions: Contact the YA team at rmcyaconnect@gmail.com. RSVP: Please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSen_uHuaPGj7g8ZwoJTq7w61Q4b9bHt0oWzUC6J7A1bxfVu1Q/viewform
Some of the most successful picture books are rhyming or lyrical. Why, then, do editors often treat verse as a curse? Join award-winning picture book authors Michelle Schaub and Lynn Becker in this workshop to demystify rhyme. Through presentations and exercises, Michelle and Lynn will walk attendees through the major components of writing in rhyme, with a particular focus on picture books. They’ll start with story and structures, move on through meter, and wrap up with word choice and poetic devices to polish your work. Whether you write poetry, picture books, or longer work, rhyme or lyrical prose, this workshop will have takeaways for you. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Please join the ongoing conversation about our self-publishing projects. This group is a wealth of knowledge and everyone loves to share! All are welcome, come with questions and/or experience to share. Contact Ann Cunningham at ann@acunningham.com to get on the list for the zoom code. Hope to see you there! Future events scheduled for April 21st and May 20th.
Book dummies are helpful in figuring out many picture book details, including pacing, and where to cut/add words. We are lucky to have Author-Illustrator Brittany Cicchese to teach us the ins and outs of creating a book dummy. During the second half of our Connect, bring a work-in-progress to critique. For critiques, bring six copies of a PB manuscript; the first five pages of a longer work, a query letter, illustrations, or similar. Bring a snack to share if you'd like! Please use this form to RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRq9JMh0cye6_xjzOHm-epJTLeGnppp5SmJlAdUhwzvGhoTQ/viewform?usp=send_form Contact Stacey Simmons or Jenny Johnson at rmcdsouthconnect@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.