SCBWI Southern New England ENCORE 2009, 12 September

All attendees at ENCORE 2009 will be able to attend all four of these workshops.

"Choices in Narrative Voices" (1-hour workshop)
An author can describe the same series of events involving the same characters in many different ways. From one character's point of view or several? In the first person or third (or second)? In the past tense or present? From an immediate perspective or years later? In this workshop, J.L.Bell lays out six building blocks of all narrative voices: Person, Point of View, Perspective, Past & Present, Paper Trail, and Presence. Understanding all the choices available will help you select the narration that serves your stories best.

For over ten years, J.L.Bell worked for a publisher editing a wide range of titles, including two New York Times bestsellers. Since going freelance, he has consulted on books for many clients, including Candlewick, Kids Can Press, Dutton, and Little, Brown. For young readers he has written the book Soap Science, historical articles, and short stories, and he has reviewed titles for The Horn Book. He maintains a daily blog on children's books, comics, and the peculiar publishing industry at www.ozandends.blogspot.com.

"What's So Funny--and Why?" (1-hour workshop)
Whether you're writing a comic novel or a more serious piece, knowing how and when to use humor can take your writing to a new level. Any situation has the potential for humor if you know how to approach it. Ellen Wittlinger will help us learn how to use humor effectively. We will also look at a few examples of authors who are experts at making us laugh.

Ellen Wittlinger is the author of 14 novels for young adults, including such titles as Sandpiper, Blind Faith, Parrotfish and her newest book, Love and Lies. Her novel, Hard Love, won a Michael L. Printz Honor Award and a Lambda Literary Award. Many of her novels have been listed on the yearly best books list of the New York Public Library and the American Library Association. She has taught at Emerson College.

"Writing the Middle Grade Series" (2-hour workshop)
A series is the ultimate way to expand literary horizons, allowing the author to explore and develop characters over the scope of several novels. But how does it differ from writing a single title? What gives a concept "series potential"? Writer and editor Lisa Papademetriou will share her boot-camp-style approach to creating series in this hands-on creative seminar. The class will discuss several different types of series, including (but not limited to) Harry Potter, Disney Fairies, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Princess Diaries. We will explore the influence of genre on plot choices and the way story arc functions across multiple novels. Participants will come up with characters and situations for their own "high concept" series, will practice plotting, and will begin work on a mini-bible/proposal.

Lisa Papademetriou is the author of Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me; How to Be a Girly-Girl in Just Ten Days; The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls From Jersey; Drop; and Chasing Normal. She has worked in an editorial capacity at Scholastic, HarperCollins, and Disney Press. Her most recent work is Accidentally Fabulous, a four-book series for Scholastic.

"Before and After" (1-hour workshop)
Submitting a manuscript to a publishing house can be nerve-wracking, but it doesn't have to be that way.  Erica Zappy will help you learn how to research publishing houses and editors, using bookstores, libraries, and the internet to your advantage.  She will let you in on how things get selected out of the slush pile (hint: it doesn't have to do with the color of your envelope), what happens when an editor likes something, how things proceed in-house, and what kind of communication goes on between the editor, the publisher, and the author.  Finally, she will share the things NOT to worry about and focus on as you wait to hear back, why it takes so long, and what to do next if you've been declined.  It's sometimes a long, slow-moving process, but the right story can find its way to the right editor with patience and research.

Besides being an Associate Editor at Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, Erica Zappy is also the series editor for the acclaimed Scientists in the Field series. She has edited such series titles as Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion; Emi and the Rhino Scientist; and The Frog Scientist. She is the editor of Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past and Ellis Island: Coming to the Land of Liberty. Erica has also edited a few novels, including Next to Mexico and Ghost Town, and picture books, such as the forthcoming The Little Piano Girl: The Story of Mary Lou Williams, Jazz Legend. Currently she is working on books about arctic whales, bees, bats, manatees, homeless dogs, seahorses and sea turtles.