Ben Crowder

A couple weeks ago I was reading Shannon Hale’s blog, and she mentioned that she would be keynoting at the upcoming UVU Forum on Children’s Literature. That’s my kind of conference. :) Besides, I love Shannon’s books (even though I put my hand over the cover when reading Princess Academy so my roommate wouldn’t see the word “princess” and start to wonder ;)) and so there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity to hear her speak.

So, I got up early this morning (too early, says my body) and got on the northbound 831 bus to head over to UVU. A couple minutes later I looked out the window to see where we were, and realized we’d headed south and were now approaching the Wilkinson Center at BYU. That’s when I realized I’d gotten on the wrong bus. Fifteen minutes later I caught the right bus and made it okay to UVU (though it was a little tricky finding out exactly where the conference was).

General impression: with a couple hundred women at the conference and maybe ten or twenty guys tops, I definitely felt in the minority. But at the same time I think I felt far more comfortable than I would have been if I’d been surrounded by guys at some sporting event or something.

Keynote: Shannon Hale, “Girls In Towers: How to Break Free, Lose the Prince and Save the World”

Anyway, Shannon Hale gave the keynote and was hilarious. You know how sometimes you read a book and then when you meet the author you’re kind of disappointed because they’re not like what you expected them to be? Shannon was everything I expected and then some. She’s very down to earth, incredibly funny, and one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard.

After a slideshow of funny photos of her “stalking” other authors, she started off with a G.K. Chesterton quote which I love — “Fairy tales are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated.” She talked about how she writes, including anecdotes from writing Book of a Thousand Days and Rapunzel’s Revenge. And of course in the Q&A, someone asked her to talk about getting the Newbery Honor (for Princess Academy).

I really like her idea of keeping a writing journal (I did it briefly and then stopped, and now I’m not sure why), writing every day and not giving yourself excuses (though she does take Sundays off), and daily wordcount goals (1000 words/day, which is what mine is too, actually). She also talked about losing a lot of sleep (I’m already getting quite familiar with that ;)) and how writing is a form of mental illness. :)

Favorite Books Panel

Next was a book panel entitled “Our Favorite Books We Didn’t Write or Publish,” with Abby Ranger (editor at Hyperion), Nicole Craig (teacher), Shannon Hale, Lu Ann Staheli (educator), Robert Neubecker (illustrator), Carol Lynch Williams (writer), and Janice Card (bookbuyer) on the panel. And, for the heck of it, here are the books each person recommended:

• Abby: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks; The Mysterious Benedict Society; Where the Wild Things Are
• Nicole: Love That Dog; Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon; Alphabet City
• Shannon: The Wee Free Men; Whales on Stilts; Castle Waiting
• Lu Ann: Far World: Water Keep; Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow; Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener’s Bones
• Robert: Leonardo the Terrible Monster; Go, Dog. Go!; and Dr. Seuss books in general
• Carol: Madapple; Saffy’s Angel; Everything So Fine
• Janice: Impossible; Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears; Swords

Abby Ranger, “Revising Your Novel”

Lots of good material here on, well, revision. Most of my notes are specific to the novel I’m working on (and thus not as interesting for y’all), but here are some pointers (I should add that these are paraphrases tailored to my own needs, but they’re fairly close to what Abby said):

• Wait at least two months to start rewriting so you can see the manuscript with fresh eyes
• On your first reading, don’t overthink it; be hyperaware of your impressions and feelings, and take notes on any unsatisfied expectations
• Working on the details too soon can keep you from seeing the big picture
• Make each character crucial so that you can’t take them out without changing everything
• The measure of a subplot is how well it ties into your main plot

There was much more than this, of course. I sat next to Becca Wilhite, who is super nice and whose novel Bright Blue Miracle just came out (published by Shadow Mountain). This may be kind of silly, but authors are like rock stars to me, even if they’re on their first book and I haven’t even read it yet. But more on the rock star thing later.

Lunch: Michael Tunnell, “My 2009 Newbery Committee Experience”

Michael (we ran an article on him in the last issue of my magazine) has been on two Newbery committees — the 1991 committee that gave Jerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee the Newbery Medal, and this 2009 committee that just gave Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book the Medal. He talked about the whole process, which I’d never really given much thought to before, but it’s fascinating.

Book Signing

The line was very long for Shannon Hale and almost nonexistent for everyone else. Kind of sad, in a way, but that’s just how things are. I brought my copy of The Goose Girl and got in line. I think this may have been my first book signing ever — if I’ve ever been to one before, that memory is completely gone.

Anyway, yes, I was nervous (the whole rock star thing), so all I was really able to do was push my book in front of Shannon, reply “Yes” when she asked if I was Ben (they asked us to put post-its on the title page with the name we wanted inscribed), and gush out, “I love your books.” She wrote, “For Ben — who has excellent taste in books. Shannon Hale”. Aw.

Shannon Hale, “What I Wish I’d Known”

This time I (and my friends Marisa and Heather, who I ran into at lunch) came early and saved second-row seats. Shannon talked about a lot of different things, with tons of funny stories and asides, and it was a delight. She talked a lot about the writer being at the bottom of the book totem pole, with even the lowliest bookstore clerk being more important; about publication as part of the journey and not the end goal (focusing on the process more than the product); about not saying anything negative about other people’s books online because it’ll come back to bite you; and about not giving yourself permission to give up on a book (as a writer). Again, tons of great ideas and things that I needed to either learn or remember as a writer. And Shannon’s a delight.

Emily Wing Smith, “A Lawyer and a Children’s Writer Walk into a Bar: What I Learned About Writing from My Father the Attorney (a talk about voice)”

The main thing I got out of Emily’s talk was that characters need to have their own voices. (Obviously. :)) I think with my writing I haven’t been making that happen as often as I should, and too many of my characters sound just like me. Emily gave five key points to keep in mind:

• Write as you would speak
• Know your subject (the characters)
• Be honest (to how they talk)
• Be personally involved
• Be at ease (don’t nervously jump around)

Closing

They had door prizes (mostly books but also some restaurant gift certificates). I, however, somehow lost my ticket, but that’s okay since I kind of prefer not winning door prizes. (Yes, I’m weird. :))

Anyway, I’m stoked for tomorrow (particularly looking forward to Shannon’s and Abby’s talks) and über-excited for the two BYU conferences (Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers and Books for Young Readers) this summer.