Illinois SCBWI held its Spring Thaw meeting last weekend at the
Morton Arboretum. The guests were none other than
Lin Oliver and
Stephen Mooser, the founders of SCBWI. What a pleasure to hear them speak about their writing and the history of SCBWI. I went for inspiration, and I was inspired.
Lin gave her baker's dozen of the best writing tips that she's gleaned from successful writers over the years. She is generous; her baker's dozen is 14. One of my favorites was "Make it shorter." That applies to everything, right? Each of her tips was a nugget, and if you'd like to hear them all, I recommend you see her speak some day. She had everyone laughing the whole afternoon.
She and Stephen also ran through a history of SCBWI. Their laid-back style from the get-go (as a Midwesterner, I'd call it "Californian") still defines the organization. Anyone who's ever been to an SCBWI meeting knows what a supportive, caring community it is. There is nothing competitive here. I love the word "tribe" and it came up a lot throughout the day. Finding your tribe feels really good. When Lin and Stephen went looking for their tribe 40-odd years ago, they found it and made it so the rest of us could find it too.
Happy writing. Happy Spring.
