I recently watched a free PB Mini Summit online on August 22 with presenters Julie Hedlund, Jon Bard, Emma Walton Hamilton, and Katie Davis. Great content! After the evening presentation, I went to the library and checked out a few of the “mentor texts” they suggested. Had to put “MOTHER BRUCE” on hold, can’t wait for it to come in!
My take-aways
1. Think about pacing and how to create movement with words. Do I want to slow. certain. texts. down. to. a. standstill. Or do I want to create a more fast paced line that will zip along quickly and rapidly for the reader to read. And how do authors create a sing song quality… I’ve really been reflecting on the role of punctuation, repetition, and word choice.
2. I loved this quote by Kate Davis, “Cut soggy words and keep the crisp words.” As the one of the presenters said, “pictures are supposed to create 50% of the story.” So, if that is true, what should I cut out of my story to create space for the artist to work his/her magic?
**This got me thinking about how being an author/illustrator would be advantageous, because so much of the humor/sparkle comes in the pairing of the words and the art. (A little worried about this because I am not an artist.)
3. Use page turns to create suspense and reveal a surprise or punchline. I plan to go back through manuscripts to make sure that the page turn has a reason and/or a surprise waiting on the other side.
It was a really helpful mini-seminar, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to tune in!
