• About Janey
  • Future Book Signing Dates 2017-2018
  • Guest Post
  • My Books
    • Thane
    • The Liar and The Mob
    • The Sebastian Series

janeyrosen

~ Random thoughts on writing and life

janeyrosen

Tag Archives: Newbery Medal

Writers Digest Conference, New York…

23 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by Janey Rosen in I'm just saying ...

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#amwriting, #WDC16, Kwame Alexander, Literary, New York, Newbery Medal, Writing

Well, what a conference it was again – The Writers’ Digest Conference, 2016, in New York City.  I have flown home from my third conference with so much new knowledge and motivation!

Screen Shot 2016-08-23 at 15.22.17

Kwame Alexander, Keynote Speaker

Where to start?  There is only one place, and that’s with my personal favourite hour with the keynote speaker, Kwame Alexander.

I won’t list Kwame’s extensive writing career on this post but you can find his Wiki entry here.

Kwame is a world-renowned writer of poetry and children’s fiction and the winner of the Newbery Medal in recognition of his outstanding contribution to American children’s literature.  So, he was more than qualified to do the keynote!  It really was an honour that he shared his time with us writers.

He was hilarious!  Funny and inspirational.  The thing is, Kwame knew the pain of rejection in the literary world.  Even his father, a publisher, said no to his first book!  So many would give up in the face of rejection, yet Kwame developed his own ethos which was to say YES! to everything and anything.  Honestly!  Every opportunity was met head-on with a ‘can do’ attitude.

The lesson I learned from Kwame was this:  We should open our minds on our writing journey.  New paths will open up ahead and, if we take them, even though we have no idea of our destination––will we fail? If we fail, how the hell will we pick ourselves up?––we should say YES!  If we don’t, then we will always be limited by our own fear and lack of confidence.  This was my interpretation of his talk, others might have taken away a different message and that’s okay.  We each take from experience and from life, that which we personally need at this stage of our lives, and that’s the beauty of really listening and learning from others.

There were many other incredible speakers, too many to list here.  Yes, some seminars gave conflicting information to other seminars (e.g. to outline or not to outline) but, again, it goes back to taking from something like this what you want.  What sits well with you is what is important.

Aside from the speakers, I had the privilege of meeting other writers and what a fabulous group they were!  Again, too many to mention but a wave across the pond to Ron, Kent, Erin and so many others.

One special lady I met who deserves the biggest hurrah! is the Statue of Liberty.  I’d wanted to see her for so long and finally did so!

Screen Shot 2016-08-23 at 15.44.38

Finally, I’ll spend some time now collating all the information I brought home with me.  I think I’ll go again next year although I hope it’s back at the Roosevelt.  🙂

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 15,973 other subscribers

Please like my Facebook fan page

Please like my Facebook fan page

My Community

Progress on my next book

I'd love to hear from you...

janeyrosen@yahoo.com

Social

  • View JaneyRosen’s profile on Facebook
  • View @JaneyRosen’s profile on Twitter

Recent Comments

33Concetta on Self-Doubt, The Story Sla…
Janey Rosen on Tips for Writers: Frustrate Yo…
Janey Rosen on Dear writer, do your readers l…
Janey Rosen on Dear writer, do your readers l…
Janey Rosen on Dear writer, do your readers l…

Archives

  • August 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • January 2016
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • October 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013

Clickety Clicks

  • 4,382 hits

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • janeyrosen
    • Join 37 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • janeyrosen
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: