It Starts with Hello with Charlie Barshaw

My first SCBWI conference was a weekend stay at the Yarrow Golf Course and Conference Resort in 2010. I had a roommate who was not my wife, and a freshly-written novel about Friday the 13^th.

Charlie Barshaw

As I stepped nervously up to the registration table, I was greeted with genuine warmth by Rachel Anderson, who seemed positively happy to see me, a complete stranger. I would later that weekend share a critique session with her and others, and it would be there that I’d hear an initial draft of what would become The Puppy Predicament.

Rachel’s warm smile and welcoming attitude got me started on what was soon to become a learning experience. I learned, for instance, that I snored so badly that my roommate packed up and stayed at a friend’s house Saturday night.

I also learned that my perfectly polished novel was not, in fact, polished or perfect, and I remember stewing in a miserable funk during the final session Sunday morning, counting the minutes until I could scurry from this place and give up writing for good.

Which, thank the Muse, I didn’t.

Mostly I learned that writing for kids is not for the lazy or thin-of-skin. On the flip-side, I learned that children’s book creators are some of the friendliest, sharing-est, best commiserators anywhere.

That first encounter (and I doubt she even remembers it) led to hundreds, thousands of heartfelt hugs and handshakes over the years since, and I embrace my SCBWI experience as a joyous journey of discovery.

Thanks, Rachel.

Charlie Barshaw is a published author of seven middle grade short stories on Amazon Rapids , pre-published author of several MG and YA novels, and an interviewer for the Writer Spotlight feature on The Mitten. Check out his website CharlieBarshaw.com.

 

Thank you, Charlie, for sharing your Hello story and relating your aha moment with a good dose of honesty—a necessary trait for any writer/illustrator who desires to grow and deepen their understanding of the art form. I love hearing these stories and it makes me think of both sides of the hello—the greeter and recipient. While it takes courage to attend that first event or an event where you don’t know anyone or only a few people, it also takes confidence on the part of the greeter to reach out, to break the ice, to move us from being strangers toward becoming professional colleagues and perhaps friends. May Charlie’s Hello story inspire you to take that first step!  

Has anyone made you feel welcomed to an SCBWI-MI event and made you feel like you mattered? Share your Hello story with the rest of us by sending a three-hundred word or less post to Outreach Coordinator, Isabel Estrada O’Hagin at ohaginib@gmail.com.