SCBWI NYC: Libba Bray on Writing As an Extreme Sport -- and CONTEST!

Libba Bray, author of the Gemma Doyle trilogy and Going Bovine, gave the first keynote speech on Saturday. Her hilarious and perfectly inspiring talk was exactly what we needed at 9am. Here’s a summary of her great points… which, unfortunately, only captures a small fraction of her awesome sense of humor!

She titled her speech “Writing As an Extreme Sport” because writing is one of the riskiest endeavors she can think of—everything about yourself is exposed. It’s “the most extremiest of extreme sports,” and you have to take risks.

Libba Bray’s Four Points to Achieving the Extremiest Writing Possible:
1. “Be the giraffe.”
- When she asked her 4-year-old son what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said, “A giraffe.” Talk about creative!
- Push for the unpredictable and the unexpected.
- Open a whole new conversation.
- Discover the unknown. (An example from current YA: How to Say Goodbye in Robot)
- Strive for small, unexpected moments.

2. Find the cracks that let in the light.
- Create fully human, less than perfect characters.
- Reach for the painful truths.
- Sit at the kitchen table with your characters
- Ask yourself “Is it true yet?”

3. Just say no to the hot pterodactyl boyfriend.
- Even if it’s the big-selling trend, resist the urge to write “the sexy, mysterious pterodactyl with a prehistoric chip on his shoulder.”
- Trying to please other people is madness.
- Keep listening to your pages to hear what they want to tell you.

4. “First you jump off the cliff, then you build the wings.” -- Ray Bradbury
- It’s counterintuitive, but it’s the only true way to go. You need the fear of falling, of failure. You need the scary, need the stakes.
- There is nothing without the leap of faith.
- She brought this back to her latest release (and Printz Award winner) Going Bovine, which was a drastic shift from her Gemma Doyle trilogy. She said, it “seemed like a willful act of career suicide.” But she needed to write that story, and it worked.

Lastly, Libba called all authors to begin “The Year of Writing Dangerously.” Are you in?

Squee Notes:
Libba remembered Frankie from the epic Books of Wonder signing this past fall. Frankie was in the front row taking copious notes for you, our dedicated readers, and during the signing portion, Libba told her that she desperately wanted to know what Frankie was writing so feverishly!

Anyway, we not only got this fabulous group picture with Libba, but we also purchased a copy of the hilarious and amazing Going Bovine, which we got signed for one lucky follower! And Libba signed it for you in a fun and unique way that can only be described as totally "Libba!"

Whee! I'm a door prize! Libba "Free" Bray

(Oh, and we're not just saying "hilarious and amazing" -- Sara's nearly finished and can't stop gushing, and Donna's almost halfway through and totally entertained. This book is an experience!)

PLEASE NOTE: Even if you don’t want to be entered in the contest, we’d love for you to comment on this post! Just write “no contest entry” in your comment so we don’t count you!

The Extremiest of Extreme Contests!

WIN A SIGNED HARDCOVER OF GOING BOVINE

About GOING BOVINE: All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school—and life in general—with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure—if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.

Rules:
In order to be eligible, you must…
1. Be or become a follower.
2. Comment below with your extremiest extreme moment of the past year. Or the extremiest goal you have – writing related or not!

Extra Entries!
For extra entries, please comment on any of our other SCBWI NYC posts, noting that it's counting towards the contest. (Maximum one extra entry per post.)

Important things:
- If you do not leave your email address in your comment, you must check back on the blog when we announce the winner. The winner must claim his/her prize within 72 hours.
- This contest is open to U.S. and Canada residents only.
- Contest closes on Saturday, February 13th at 11:59pm EST.

Stay tuned for more SCBWI NYC awesomeness!

Previous SCBWI NYC posts:
Night one networking.
Our first vlog!