NYC 2011: Sara Zarr gives the speech that she wanted to hear

By Candy Gourlay

Reports from the 2011 Winter Conference of the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

I didn't manage to get a good shot of
Sara so here's a nice portrait I found
on several blogs

Note: This post has been abridged extensively since it was first posted. I'm afraid my detailed notes threw up some copyright issues and I have had to scale back my piece. Apologies to all.

The best books I've read are the ones that make me go, "OMG that was me. That book is totally who I am."

That's what I felt about YA author Sara Zarr's keynote speech on the last day of the SCBWI conference.

Sara attended her first New York conference in 2001, after five years of being serious about writing. She was frustrated - even angry.

"I wanted something to happen ... seriously, how much longer did I have to wait? I had an agent, I had finished my book ... I came in part to figure out the system and work out an angle; network the hell out of it ..." She was straining to hear that "magic piece of information" that would finally open the door.


But no. Nothing happened. To make things worse, a year later, she had lost her agent and was back to square one.

She returned to the conference in 2005. If she was frustrated in 2001, she was fit to burst four years later, with no agent and no prospects. But it was a bad conference, mainly because she lost her purse with all her money and credit cards in it. "It just felt like a symbol of something  - that nothing was ever going to go right for me."

So today was an emotional homecoming for Sara, returning to the conference not as a delegate but as a keynote and critically acclaimed author of three successful books.

Unlike some of the other keynotes, the rejection and frustration she experienced as an author-in-waiting is still fresh - and with that in mind, she was determined to bring a message of hope to the conference.

"They say write the book you want to read. I am going to give the speech that I needed to hear," Sara told the 1200 strong audience.

After the 2005 conference, she found herself close to tears when an agent she had arranged to meet asked the innocuous question how are you. She got as far as saying that it was hard - that she just wasn't finding the key. Afraid to break down in front of the agent, she had to stop talking.

The agent finally broke into the awkward silence. "The time between when you are no longer a beginner but you are not yet in the business is the hardest ... and one of the biggest frustrations is: no one can tell you how long this phase will last.

The time between when you are no longer a beginner but you are not yet in the business is the hardest and no one can tell you how long this phase will last.

"There’s going to be a lot of waiting and you are going to have to decide what you are going to do while you are waiting."

And this was Sara's message to the throng of writers, illustrators and other children's book people in the audience: it's not just about a book deal, a good review, a big advance. It's about a life.

It's not about a book deal, a good review, a big advance. It's about a life.

"The life that you create for you as an artist and the love for that life maybe the only thing that is totally  yours," she told us."Just as no one can tell you how to craft a great book, I cannot tell you how to create a fulfilling creative life."

Instead, she offered a list of elements that constitute a creative life - these are my notes:

1 A creative life is sustainable

....

2  A creative life is engaging
"Your creative work expands your world. It does not reduce you down to your screens and word counts."

3 A creative life invites company
"Seek mentors. Be a mentor ... at the same time don’t mistake hundreds of people you don’t know as your trusted colleagues."

4 If you live a creative life you will know when to send company away
"When it comes to getting your work done nobody but you can do it."

5 A creative life is faith based
She wasn't talking about religious faith. "It takes a tremendous amount of faith to live a creative life - especially before you are published because there is no tangible evidence of its worth."

But it's not easy because obstacles litter the road to a creative life. Here are the obstacles Sara listed ("it was sad how many I could list" candy adds: but thanks for the wake up call!):

1 Unsustainable habits
"Set up the content of your life so that it allows you to experience it with JOY and not with dread."


2 Obsession with process over craft
Avoid a "life with all the accessories of being a writer – but not really doing it."

3 Commodification of our creativity
"Commodification happens if you begin to see the value of your creative work only in the context of the marketplace. The marketplace has its reasons that have nothing to do with you or your book."

The marketplace has its reasons that have nothing to do with your or your book

4 Being in the wrong company
"An agent that is not right for you. A crit group that doesn’t get your work. A writing buddy who lets you off the hook. A romantic partner who feels threatened by your efforts ...Guard yourself."

5. Self-obsession
"We can calcify into our alone life which is not necessarily good for our creativity and our imaginations."

6 Lack of faith
"You start to believe in your rejections more than your ability to learn and grow and change."

7 The Mother of all Obstacles: Disenchantment
"I miss my passion so much. Did I ever have it? Or is that just a passion for success? I miss the freedom I used to have to get carried away with my work."

I miss the freedom I used to have to get carried away with writing

Sara's parting shot: "Let ‘s all encourage each other to cultivate our creative lives."

I was not surprised when the room rose in a standing ovation.

Sara Zarr's first novel, Story of a Girl, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her second book is the award winning Sweethearts. Her latest is Once Was Lost. There's another report on Sara Zarr's presentation on the official SCBWI conference blog