This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the New Jersey Society of Children’s Book Writers and illustrators conference in Princeton, NJ. I will be posting more from the weekend, but here are some quotes that really inspired me from (mostly) chicks at the conference:
“Listen—we writers are one. We all share a common goal—to tell the best story we possibly can. I strive to do that every day, and so do you. There is no divide.” Tara Lazar, author of The Monstore
“I get my ideas from living.” Peter Brown, creator of The Curious Garden, Children Make Terrible Pets and You Will Be My Friend!
“Reading books is fantastic homework.” Ame Dyckman, author of Boy + Bot 
“Writing every day helps you build up a tolerance for it. Kind of like drinking every day.” Lauren Oliver, author of Before I Fall and the Delirium series
“Like moving deck chairs on the Titanic.” Simone Kaplan of Picture Book People, on trying to change only words in a flawed manuscript
“If you want to be big, think big.” Joyce Wan, creator of You are my Cupcake and We Belong Together
“We are in the golden age of children’s non-fiction.” Betsy Bird, librarian and blogger extraordinaire
“I’m on muscle relaxants.” ANONYMOUS
Do you have any quotes from the conference that inspired you?
Nerdy Chicks Rule 
I am looking forward to hearing more. 🙂
Two more quotes (paraphrased): Characters need to be “flawed with a purpose…’bad for the sake of being ‘bad’ is boring.” “Empathy is born of intimacy.” –Sudipta, presenter and critiquer extraordinaire
Thanks for all the help!
Ha! 🙂 Thanks for the shout out — so great to see you again!
Great quotes!
Thanks!
I’m going to share this on my blog next week: “Too quiet isn’t a taste issue. This is a market issue you can’t overcome.” –Sudipta. “Look at a character’s motivations and ask why NOW.” – Heather Alexander.
Enjoyed each and every presentation I attended!
I’m glad it was helpful to you!
“Want some rum?”–ANONYMOUS teehee Thanks for the mention! Muscle relaxants!!! LOL
Wasn’t it more, “I have rum in my purse”? 🙂
“You want some rum?” –ANONYMOUS teehee
Thanks for the mention! Muscle relaxants!! LOL
Perfect recap!
I appreciated Steve Meltzer’s comment that “writers should synthesize criticism.” I know I do that on my own terms, but hearing him put it that way, it makes it sound so much more intriguing and technical. Maybe I’ll go synthesize the wash now!
I liked when Steve Meltzer used the phrase “Writers need to synthesize criticism.” It sounds so technical. Even though it is what I do already, it just sounds better. Maybe I’ll go synthesize the wash!
I love this! Words to live by. 🙂 Thanks for shring!
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