SCBWI Retreat

Warning: This post may be slightly incoherent, as I just returned from my very first activity with my regional chapter of SCBWI--a weekend retreat in Lewes, Delaware. I didn't sleep a lot. But really, sleep is overrated. Right?

I mean, who goes to a retreat to rest? The purpose of this retreat was mostly just to have a time and place where nothing was expected of you except writing. Armed with my laptop, a spiral, and an arsenal of #2 pencils, I hopped in a car with two people I didn't previously know and rode over the Chesapeake to the Delaware coast. I fluttered from project to project, but I did manage to get a good chunk of Kissing Glass: Chapter Five revised to where I almost like it again. I also did some badwriting (you know, when you just force yourself to plow on, even if you have to write junk like "Then she went home.") on Gingerbread and finished nearly a whole chapter.

Even though I didn't get an enormous amount of actual writing accomplished, I'm still incredibly glad I went. The best part for me was getting to meet people. I really enjoyed getting to know a snapshot of them and talking with them, as I'd never before met anyone in the region. I'm already looking forward to the next regional event. Hopefully I'll see some familiar faces. :)



Things I Learned (or at least had reaffirmed) on My First SCBWI Retreat:


1. I don't like the cold. (Actually, I already knew this, but this weekend reaffirmed said knowledge.)

2. There are a lot of people in the area who are in the same boat (or at least a similar boat) in terms of where we are in our writing careers.

3. Some gnome names are more memorable than others.

4. I'm not the only one who has ADD when it comes to bouncing between projects.

5. People will write just about anything into their story for chocolate.

6. No one else in my region of SCBWI pronounces it "SKIB-wee." Oh well.

7. When you're facebook-ing everyone on the left side of the room, nothing much happens in your story.

8. Ophelia joined the group Maidens Who Don't Float.

9. If you finish page 54...it doesn't really count if you started on page 51.