Highlights and take-aways for me included:

“White space to leave room for your reader.”

and

“Until you find yourself on the page, you’ll go looking for yourself in all the wrong places.” – Richard Peck (from Richard’s SCBWI Master Class)

“A good lesson does not make a good book, at all.”

and

“The page turn in a picture book is an active participant in the story”

–Paul O. Zelinsky

Aiden is “80% me… a more courageous version of myself.”

– Mike Curato, on the main character in his award-winning graphic novel Flamer.

“Making books is a life long journey to understand yourself as a person.”

– Dan Santat

“Representation is a tool of craft.” —Laurie Halse Anderson

“Even a menu is a story.” –Lisa Yee

“All the visual, audible, tangible descriptions that you use as a writer to develop someone’s world – must be character-related and well-paced.” –Chloe Gong

Heather Montgomery blowing soap bubbles through a piece of wood was maybe the most engaging and unexpected zoom demonstration – and underscored her subject: “Breaking out of the boring Nonfiction box.”

Shaun Tan’s advice on revising: “Take it out and see if you miss it.”

“I’m learning something new about my characters all the way through drafting.”

And

“Don’t always write in a straight line.”

–Ellen Hopkins