“Every Book Still Kicks My A**” Words of Solidarity from the SCBWI 2015 NY Winter Conference

By Diana Zipeto

Dr. Brené Brown, vulnerability researcher, says that in the midst of struggle, the two words we most want to hear are, “Me, too.” One of my biggest takeaways from the SCBWI 2015 Winter Conference in New York earlier this month was to hear illustrators, authors, mentors and peers saying, “Me, too.” [NOTE: This post predates the#MeToo movement.]

Following are a few of the “Me, too” moments I experienced at this year’s conference:

During the Friday Illustrator’s Intensive workshop, while author/illustrator Peter Brown led us in a 2-hour whirlwind storyboarding exercise, he played his personal Pandora channel for us and explained that in his own creative process, “Every book still kicks my a**.” 

This revealed two things. One: Peter Brown likes Classical music! And two: it lets us know that even published, very successful book creators have to traverse pretty hefty creative obstacles. Struggle is not reserved for the pre-published or the beginners. It’s part of the process.

If he had said, “Each book presents unique difficulties,” it would have seemed calm and aloof. But he said “Every book still kicks my a**.” This is dire! It’s deep! The struggle we feel now in doing our work, it’s not going to change once you get published. You just have to learn to keep navigating it. 

She had to push the idea in a direction that kept her interested, something that would take it out of the just-a-list mode. Her visual solution gave the book another layer of interest and a narrative that bound the book together. It is great news to hear that while a project can kind of lose steam, it is well within our grasp to rev it back up again.

Other “me, too” moments: