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How Writers Work Earlier this year I attended the winter conference of the Society for Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators in New York City. There were sessions given by agents and editors interspersed with speeches by writers and illustrators. This document is a synopsis of the speakers we heard. The first speaker was Nikki Grimes. Some of her quotes: “poetry is portable”; “some novels in verse are just broken prose” – there must be simile or metaphor for it to be poetry. “rhyme is not necessarily poetry” – she doesn’t allow rhymes in her workshops. “poetry at its heart is a picture in words” –             From What is Goodbye? she used the image of a choir singing sorrow in the key of C.             David Wiesner followed. He’s known for wordless picture books so it’s hard to write down what he talked about. He had a lot of slides of his works.             Carolyn Mackler gave the keynote address at lunch. One of her best-known books is The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things. That book was a Printz Honor selection as well as the number four spot on the ten most challenged books of 2006. She read entries from the diary she had kept in high school.             Susan Patron, last year’s Newbery winner for The Higher Power of Lucky, told us about her year of being the Newbery. At the time she received the award, she was the Juvenile Materials Collection Development Manager for the Los Angeles Public Library. She got the call at 6:30 a.m. and wasn’t supposed to tell anybody. She went to work and was watching with her co-workers when her name was announced. Her publisher said she had to fly to New York to be on the Today Show the next day. She wondered if she should go because she had a training session for new librarians and had never seen the Today show. Her publisher said it wasn’t about her, but about the award. She went to New York in January in open-toed sandals. She didn’t want to sleep because she was afraid she’d wake up and find out it had been a dream.             She had advice from Linda Sue Park: sum up your book’s theme in one sentence.                      After Today, she went to her publisher’s office and visited everyone in their cubicles, having tiny sips of champagne because it was 7 a.m. in LA.             She was invited to speak many places and write many articles and eventually quit her job. The LA City Council gave her a declaration with Newbery misspelled.             She gave a speech in eastern California. The kids from the Death Valley school had a three hour bus ride each way. She was gratified because they said they felt she had been writing just for them.             Before the Newbery banquet she tried out and returned numerous dresses. She learned things about makeup that everybody else had learned in sixth grade. When it was time to give her speech, she was on the opposite side of the room from her table. She had to retrieve her speech, which was in her purse under the table.             She’s glad she’s now an Oldbery and can work on the sequel to Lucky.             The last speaker of the conference was Richard Peck. Some of his gems: All writing is about uncentering ourselves. No one is looking for us in our pages. Authors we’ve lost in the last year: Madeleine L’Engle, Lloyd Alexander, Philippa Pearce, and Clyde Robert Bulla.             A standardized test cannot reform the home lives of students.             We can’t be fired – we’re unemployed.             “I wanted to be hyperactive too but mother wouldn’t let me.”             Humor is anger that was sent to finishing school.             We never write about anybody who can move back home after college. http://www.tscpl.org/kids/comments/how_writers_work/