TED talk Thursday: John Green's The Paper Town Academy

Oops, the blog post title led you to believe that this blog post would be all about John Green's awesome TED talk about how community learning is alive and better than ever because of online communities like youtube? (You didn't think youtube was a learning community? Better skip down right to the TED talk.)

And this post is. It is about how John Green is so wonderfully meta and smart and *gets* how to inspire people and understands that what we put into the world changes the world.

But it's also about THIS ARTICLE on writerly envy, subject: John Green. (See how it all ties in?)

And I don't want to judge or shame anyone. Everyone is allowed their Feelings. And writing is such a tough industry--rejections all around, all the time. So, by all means, have the envious Feelings. But also know that there are ways to not wade into and get swallowed up by those Feelings.

With this perspective, our mental state would be so much healthier:

Courtesy of Aish.com

I think that video stands for itself. Without further distraction, here is John Green's fantastic and eclectic TED talk on paper towns:

 

I love how Aslo became something, just because people believed it already *was* something. :) Just makes you want to write, right?

Have you struggled with looking into someone else's bowl? Have you ever joined in the online learning classroom? I know it helps my research as a writer--what did writers do before the internet?!

Monday Meeting: Blue about Missing You, and Looking for Conference Advice

The Blue Man Group rocks. Literally.

Last week was vacation week for my kids--and we did some great stuff. None of it revolved around writing or being plugged in. I miss this aspect of my life when I can't focus on it. I'm hoping to jump right in this week, and not lose any momentum that I had gathered before. (I guess that's my ROW update--I did nothing last week, but plan on hitting my goals this week.)

This April, not only am I attending the NESCBWI (New England Society of Children Book Writers and Illustrators) conference, (can I get a WOOT!?) but I'm moderating a discussion there about attending a conference for the first time. Since my group is first thing on Friday afternoon, what I tell first time conference goers might affect how they go about the rest of the conference.

I remember attending my first conference, and, quite honestly, feeling like a fraud. I stuck to my writing partner, and we both introverted the entire time.

Now, that doesn't sound much like me. :)

So, I'd love to hear your take on your first conference, and what advice you would like to have heard before that conference.  Or, if you have yet to attend a writing conference, what questions you might have about preparing for the time spent there.

I think that my advice for first time conference goers revolves around the idea of picking one thing to focus on--whether it is socializing (or appropriately networking), getting critiques for your work, or working on craft. Otherwise it can be overwhelming.

On another note, I found this great post outlining the benefits of using youtube, and it reminded me about our discussion a few weeks ago about an author's platform.

And, I love this hopeful post, about YA and ereaders.

So, what goals do you have this week? What concerns did you have when you attended your first conference? What do you think about YA and ereaders? Do you youtube?