Keynote Bruce Coville

We are so sorry to miss Marc Brown due to a family emergency and are sending him every good thought and wish. In his stead, Bruce Coville has graciously stepped in to give us a closing keynote. As you may know, Bruce Coville has published over 100 books for children and young adults, including the international bestseller My Teacher is an Alien, the four book “Unicorn Chronicles” series, and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. Before becoming a full time writer in 1986, Bruce was a teacher, a toymaker, a magazine editor, a gravedigger, and a cookware salesman. In 2001 he created FULL CAST AUDIO, an audiobook company devoted to producing full cast, unabridged recordings of material for family listening. He has produced over 120 audiobooks, directing and/or acting in most of them. 

Here is a taste of his keynote:

Bruce knows most of us are here because we have this crazy belief that children are worth our best efforts. Crazy because society seems to be saying one thing but doing another.

“…How can we not call ourselves crazy to believe kids matter when our society seems to believe it’s more important to give bankers their bonuses than children their books in school?”

Take a look at why our craft matters, what you do as children’s book creators has the opportunity to reach out far into the future.

“Our children are in crisis, and not just the ones at the border in cages… Children are told they're important as consumers, that they should buy things, but we’re not giving them anything that feeds their hearts.”

Bruce reads a fan letter to us, from a boy who'd read all of Bruce’s books as a kid, and the thoughts and themes that Bruce shared in those books shaped the way the boy looked at the world, ultimately informing what he did with his life which was to go into medicine, saving people all over the world in its most needy locales.

Bruce saved this letter in a folder he calls ‘To Look at on Bad Days’.

Think about what you write or draw as perhaps having a Butterfly Effect on future generations.

The ripples of stories through generations fascinate Bruce, one thing you write or one picture you paint can change a person’s heart forever. “That is what we have a chance to do every time we create our art. Bring to that creative effort your full heart.”

You cannot know all the effects your work will have on the world or how.

You don’t need to be an earnest angel, you can be ironic, silly, a little naughty, but no matter what, do it with your best heart.

Bruce’s last word of advice is do not start your story with a message.

Start instead with your own good heart: Fabulous characters, intriguing situations and out of that will come what needs to come.

"The right story at the right moment is like an arrow to the heart, it can catch and hold a hurt and bring it to the surface."

You will change the world, you can’t help but do so simply by being here, and you won’t know how you did. Every creative action is a pebble making ripples that will spread out to places you can’t even imagine, and from there, those ripples will set other waves in motion, and on and on.

Every act of courage, moment of compassion, every kindness matters.

Go home, get busy, drop some pebbles in the pond, says Bruce.

Bruce Coville: Plot, Character, and the Emotional Life of Story

Bruce Coville is the award-winning and beloved author of over a hundred books for children and young adults.

Bruce says plot and character are inextricably linked. You can't talk about plot without talking about character. You can't talk about character without talking about plot.

Bruce is a plot writer.

The best story telling energy has a bridge between male and female storytelling energy.

A great ending is both a surprise and inevitable. It is not a coincidence.

You can use a coincidence to start a story. The further along the coincidence occurs, the less believable it is.

What is a good story? Three thing Bruce loves to find in a story and also tries to put them in his own work. He likes to call them: Ha, Wah, and Yikes.

• A belly laugh
• A tear
• A gasp of surprise

If all three are in a story, the reader is bound to be satisfied.

Story recipe: Take somebody you like and get them in trouble.

By asking questions and inventing scenes that answer those questions you write a story.

Stories happen when characters have to choose. Make your character make a tough choice. Your character's need will drive the action.

Plot happens when desire meets obstacle.

If you've never heard Bruce Coville speak and you get the opportunity, don't hesitate for a second.

LGBTQ&A

Since 2008, SCBWI has hosted an invaluable LGBTQ&A at their national conferences.  Hosted by Lee Wind (I’m here. I’m queer. What the hell do I read?), the LGBTQ&A is a great place for writers and illustrators to talk with editors, agents, and authors about issues and the current market for stories with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming or questioning youth characters and themes. 

Left to Right: Bruce Coville, Jane Yolen, Lee Wind, Michael Strother and Ellen Hopkins

This year the panel was honored to welcome Jane Yolen, (author of over 300 books for children and teens), Bruce Coville, Ellen Hopkins, and editor Michael Strother. In the opening remarks, Jane was asked about her book SISTER LIGHT, SISTER DARK where she offered insights into the matriarchal society in the story. She was followed by Bruce Coville who when talking about AM I BLUE? said that some people didn’t think humor had a place in LGBTQ. But Bruce pointed out that laughter could be an entry point on the topic.

It was a great segue into Ellen Hopkins’s comments about normalizing through books. There was a heart wrenching moment when she talked about the struggle of some kids and teens, about suicide and depression because of bullying or confusion or lack of acceptance. And Ellen said that until we get to a place where kids are no longer killing themselves, we as authors need to keep writing about LGBTQ topics. Normalizing through books. 

The panel got into a discussion on craft, and Jane told the attendees that their characters should come about organically. Let them tell you their story. Michael, an editor at Simon Pulse, told the group that it’s important that their characters have other attributes, and that they’re not just gay. Make them real, fleshed-out people. 

Towards the end, a great Q&A session helped the large group of attendees get specific answers to their writing questions. It was comfortable and exciting, and writers and illustrators were able to stay after to talk privately with the panel. 

For more information and book recommendations, visit:

Lee Wind's Blog

Rainbow List

My Experience at the Bruce Coville Writing Intensive: Making Room For Magic! The Art Of Writing Fantasy

Bruce Coville is a remarkable storyteller and author, and when you read his books, like "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher," and "My Teacher Is An Alien," and any of the other fantasies among his nearly 100 published titles, you can see his mastery of the Art of Writing Fantasy.

Bruce shared from his heart and expertise, giving us some amazing tips and advice and techniques that I can't wait to try. He answered our many questions in depth, and even did a number of first page critiques of the attendees' fantasy projects.

For me, listening to Bruce read my first page and a half out loud was remarkable. See, Bruce doesn't just read, he weaves a magic spell.

When they're his words, it's as if he's chanting them.

Enchanting his listeners and readers.

Re-enchanting our world.

And for the first time, listening to Bruce read my story opening aloud, I could hear how my words fell so far short of what I had hoped they would achieve.

And when I asked for more insight about when to start a fantasy story, what Bruce shared really resonated:

You don't have to start with the fantasy, but you might want to start with the character's problem in this world.

And it was an epiphany for me.

I may not know exactly HOW to solve the puzzle of my opening pages, but now I understand the problem with the starting point I had chosen.

Everyone finished Bruce's session energized and inspired. And as for me, I'm all fired up to do some of the brainstorming exercises he suggested to figure out how I'm going to meet the challenge, and start my story in the right place!

I'm so grateful to Bruce, and to SCBWI, for this amazing opportunity to really sink my teeth into craft and learn from a master.

Because I'm going to keep working at it until my words chant. Enchant. And re-enchant my readers, and our world.

Bruce Coville: at the intersection of plot and character

Bruce Coville

Bruce Coville, author of too many books to count, launched our conference with a speech about the ripple effect our writing can have in the lives of children. He helped wrap it up with a talk about plot and character, two elements that work together to create a story.

"You need to discuss them both interweaving with each other," he said.

There is a literary divide between plot writing and character writing, and Bruce has a theory of male and female storytelling energy. Male energy is about action, adventure, incident. "You blow stuff up and boys love it."  Female storytelling energy is about character, relationship and beauty of language. "Many girls will sit still for a story with that kind of energy."

The best stories partake equally of both male and female energy, he said, "in that sweet spot in the center where you have incredible characters engaged in fascinating situations."

Some useful nuggets: 

• Plot imposes discipline on the disorder of life.
• A perfect ending is both a surprise and inevitable.
• Fiction is held to a much higher standard of believability than life is. 
• On coincidence: it can start a story, but not end one.

What is a good story? 
Bruce loves to find three things in a story when he's reading: the Ha, Waah, Yikes! formula. Ha is a belly laugh. Waah is a tear. Yikes! is a gasp of surprise.

"It's hard to get somebody to gasp when they're reading a story, but it can happen," Bruce said.

The ha: Bruce loves jokes, but this isn't a belly laugh in a story. It's one that grows out of the story itself. When a bully gets his comeuppance, for example.

The waah: It's easy to get the tear. You just kill the dog. If you wake up one morning and you're a dog on the pages of a children's book, run for your life. Your pages are numbered.

What he prefers are the tears or joy of relief, because of what happened that was so true.

There's a third kind of tear that you can't plan for, but can happen: the tears of personal connection. They will ring true for the right person, who needs to hear that thing at that time. "The right story for the right person is like an arrow to the heart."

The yikes!: When the world of the story changes on us and we see the story in a new light. 

Some story and writing fundamentals
"The recipe for story is very simple: Take somebody you like and get them into trouble. The better the character, the worse the trouble, the better the story," Bruce said.

Another rule: The character has to solve the problem. Usually they're making a tough choice.

"Writing is, in many ways, the art of choosing details" Bruce said. "By choosing the right details, you can crank up the emotional drama and make the story more compelling... By asking questions and inventing scenes that answer them, you end up with a story."

For your major scenes, try to engage three of the five senses. Don't do it for all your scenes; that's too much.

* * * * *

JOKE INTERLUDE

Q. How do you write a story for the New Yorker? 

A. It's easy. Just write your story and throw away the last page. Then you have a New Yorker story.

* * * * *

On characters: Make your character face a tough choice: a moral decision, Bruce said. All of the elements in a story should lead to choice, which is the primary character revealer in a story. Generally, people will take the most conservative action that gets them what they want.

More Bruce

• His homepage
• Bruce on Facebook
• Bruce on Twitter

Bruce Coville's Keynote - Tips On The Writing and Illustrating Life

Bruce is giving the rapt audience of 1,342 of us twelve tips - they're funny and interesting and unexpected... Here's three of them:

1. Take acting or storytelling lessons. What's the essence of acting? Entering the internal life of your character. And what better tool could you have as a writer?

2. Take your art seriously, and take yourself seriously as a business person. Our culture tries to de-fang artists by linking the idea of being an artist with being a "starving artist" - because if you're an artist and doing your art properly, you're dangerous. Bruce says of himself,

"I became a children's book writer because it was the most subversive thing I could think to do."

So learn to read contracts. Royalty statements. Negotiate. Provide for your retirement. Insure yourself.

3. Scare yourself. Be fearless. Cole Porter said, "Courage is Freedom."

Bruce says, "If you don't jump, the wings never come." And it's writing, so if you jump and fall, you can just back up ten pages and try again.

So when you think you're at the end, see if there's more, if you can push forward, make there be more at stake...

Bruce is sharing so many great moments and tips, and just told a story - wove a story - that made tears come to my eyes.

okay, I have to share one more brilliant moment...

"A good book is like other books, a great book is only like itself."

And that was a great keynote!

Now the room is on its feet, giving Bruce a standing ovation...

Bruce Coville's Keynote - Prepare To Be WOWed!

Bruce Coville is a master storyteller, author and Publisher of Full Cast Audio who has written nearly 100 amazing books (like "Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher" and "My Teacher Is An Alien") that have earned him millions of readers and fans, including, well, me!

Bruce starts out by welcoming all of us to the 40th gathering of our tribe...

And then he gets serious: He's talking about how our politicians give lip-service in our culture to "children being our most important resource" - but there are so many examples of how librarians are being fired, how education is being shortchanged...

And we, the writers and illustrators for children, are one of the last lines of defense against the barbarians inside the gate...

The struggle is long-term, and if we look back and then to today, we are making progress.

He shares a great anonymous quote:

Craft without inspiration leads to basket-weaving.

But inspiration without craft leads to modern art.

You may like modern art but you don't want your book to read like it was painted by Jackson Pollack.

And how well we write our books and illustrate them influences how we shape the arc of society towards the moral good.

He shares a letter from an adult who had read one of Bruce's books as a child, who became inspired to make the world a better place and later joined the peace corps, and when he signed up, the scene in Bruce's book was prominent in his mind.

We can never reach one child the way a teacher does, but if we're lucky, and we do our writing and illustrating well, we can reach hundreds of thousands of kids, and impact the world...

Inspiring!