The third in our series on the creative gifts you can give yourself in the coming year, today's post is about the continuing education that illustrating, translating, and writing children's books takes.
There's always more to learn from those further along in the journey, from those just starting out, and from your peers. And it turns out, sharing your knowledge with others is a great way to gain insights into your own work and process, too. Consider:
What works, and why?
Where can you apply it to your creative work in progress?
How can you best deal with the stumbling blocks that will pop up?
Whose advice will resonate with you, your process, and your creative work?
From courses to conferences, critique groups to one-on-one chats, we collect the wisdom of our community as we go. Much of the best education I've received in KidLit has been at SCBWI Conferences, and I'm excited to attend the upcoming Winter 2025 In-Person Conference in New York City.
Three of the most useful bits of wisdom I've collected over the years:
Bruce Coville suggesting that if you don't know how to get a character out of a sticky situation, brainstorm a list of 20 ways to resolve it. By the time you get to number 17 and 18, you're forced to really think out of the box! Every time I've tried this, I come on a solution I like long before I reach 20.
Linda Sue Park advising that if you're unsure which of two ways to tell your story (i.e., first or third person), rather than struggle with the problem in your head, go write the same chapter both ways. In doing so one way will probably resonate with you more. This totally works, and has saved me a lot of time!
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| Linda Sue Park (left) and me (Lee Wind) at the 2015 SCBWI Summer Conference. |
Lesléa Newman explaining that rather than "submitting" our work to an editor, we can instead call it "offering" our work for their consideration. "Submitting" implies we're giving up a lot of our power as creators. "Offering" is more an exchange between equals, offering to collaborate with that editor and publishing house on putting that work out into the world. If they decline the offer, it is not a "rejection," and certainly not a rejection of you as the creator. It's just that the work wasn't something they chose to team up with you to publish. This has been a game-changer in how I emotionally approach things when my agent sends my manuscripts out "on offer"!
Keep on learning – and illustrating, translating, and writing!
Lee
P.S. If you haven't seen it yet, I invite you to check out the first two creative gift posts, Community and Time to Play.
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