What Do You Do At a Writers' Conference?

My Experience at the SCBWI Winter Conference

I’m on my way home from an amazing weekend at SCBWI Conference in New York City! I’m not going to lie though—while it was amazing and such a great experience, I’m exhausted!! This is a conference where I don’t know people in a business and world I am new to. It was a weekend of constantly meeting new people, talking with people I didn’t know while trying to learn as much as possible at every session available. As an introvert—it’s a lot!

At the same time, I met amazing people! Some who have been writing for years/decades. Some are new to the industry. Some have published books. Some have not. Some are pre-published. Some are unpublished. (I’m not sure if that’s the same thing, and I didn’t want to ask—I’m pretty sure it is though). There were older people. There were younger people. There were women (lots). There were men (some). There were famous authors. There were aspiring authors. There were extroverts. There were introverts. And we all had the same goal. Improving our skills, making new connections, supporting each other, and getting stories out into the world. What a beautiful place to be. A place where everyone wants to tell and share stories with kids! What an amazing common goal!

I had my first professional critique from a professional children’s book editor on one of my manuscripts. I got really positive feedback which feels amazingly validating! With some small suggestions for improvements.

I attended sessions on how to improve character voice, writing query letters, self-publishing, , amping up non-fiction in children’s writing, and so much more. I attended a panel of authors who have had some of their books banned and have received death threats (sad to learn that that is a thing!!)

I met and heard from authors such as Jason Reynolds, Tiffany D. Jackson, and Kate Messner to name a few. I gained inspiration, skills, connections, and joy!

Because the conference was at a hotel in Times Square, I also had the opportunity to take in a couple of Broadway shows—&Juliet and Death Becomes Her. Both were amazing. I spent a couple of hours at MoMA and the MoMA Design Store. I took care of the newly developing creative me.

There’s a lot for me to unpack from these past few days. A lot to reflect on. A lot of input to put into practice. One part of me wants to get started on manuscript revisions right away. One part of me wants to revise my query letter and get it out to more agents. One part of me wants to read through all the notes I took over the weekend. One part of me is exhausted and just wants to sleep. And the realistic part of me is heading back home to get back to work on my day job as an engineer which is also work that I love. I will say, none of me wants to sit on an airplane heading back to -12 degree weather followed by a 3-hour drive home. But alas, that is what the day holds.

Here’s to a feeding our creative souls and to all the stories in the world waiting to be told.