SCBWI has been offering free digital workshops to its current members. When the digital workshops program was announced, the email from SCBWI said the weekly webinars were "a gift from us to you to support you during this difficult time."
I love SCBWI. Truly, what an incredible organization.
They've been presenting each live workshop on Zoom and, twenty-four hours later, making the recording available for a full month. Check out the SCBWI website to find out which videos can still be viewed. I've watched several of the presentations and have found nuggets of wisdom in each one.
The first workshop in the series of eight, "Big Picture Revision for Middle Grade and Young Adult Novels," was taught by author Kate Messner. It was a very popular presentation she'd given in New York at the SCBWI Winter Conference. While I'd heard her keynote in New York, I'd missed her session, so I was thrilled to have this opportunity. Kate Messner presented it online on April 2nd.
Here's a photo I took of my computer screen during Linda Sue Park's May 14th webinar, "Using Scene to Build Story."
Author Linda Sue Park is in the upper-right corner. The amazing Lin Oliver is in the bottom of the screen. (Lin, the SCBWI Executive Director, hosts each of the workshops, and she taught the April 13th webinar with author and actor Henry Winkler. It was sooo good!) The woman in the upper-left corner, Jennye Kamin, is a sign language interpreter, and she signed the whole presentation, making it accessible to more people. I watched Linda Sue Park's webinar live, and I highly recommend it. She shares her process, and there's so much wisdom in her talk. I think she's brilliant.
This Thursday, May 21st, is the eighth and final workshop. Marietta Zacker (co-owner and agent, Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency) is leading the webinar, "A Creative Look at the State of Children's/YA Books." I'm registered and looking forward to it.
Thank you, SCBWI. This has been a wonderful gift. <3
5/21/2020 UPDATE: Today Lin Oliver announced SCBWI's Digital Workshops 2.0! There will be a new series of digital workshops starting in two weeks. Hooray!