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Ripples…One Year Later

Posted on August 7, 2012August 7, 2013 by Christine Alemshah
Last year I heard the amazing, Bruce Coville speak at my very first SCBWI 2012 Summer Conference. Here are a few quotes from his keynote “Ripples in the Pond: Why What We Do Matters…and Matters…and Continues to Matter”:

“Start ripples throughout the world” and “You cannot know how you’ve affected the world; make ripples anyway.”

Powerful words, right? Every time I hear them, I my heart melts.

I threw my tiny rock in the pond in 2010. That’s when I attended my first ever writing conference, the Central Coast Writing Conference at Cuesta College. I met Children’s Book Author, Merrily Kutner, who told our class that the best thing we could do for our career was to join SCBWI. So I did…

Fast forward to July 2011. My little pebble sat in the pond, stagnant. I longed to make a connection. I gathered up some courage and emailed another local SCBWIer I’d found online and invited her to coffee. I was nervous to meet someone this way, but I took the plunge anyway. We connected instantly. We attended the summer conference as buddies and enjoyed every breathtaking keynote together. One ripple.

A few weeks after the conference, feeling more inspired than ever, I stalked the SCBWI Critique Connections board, anxious to find a critique group in my area. As luck would have it, a new one was forming. One more ripple and then after a SCBWI Schmooze — two more.

This summer I attended the Summer Conference again. This time I had made a few connections. But it didn’t stop there. This year I found my courage. My courage to write. My courage to look inside my heart and will my true self out, the one I’d suppressed for many years.  I spoke with agents and authors who inspired me, hugged me, and nodded my way with eyes filled with a ‘way-to-go’ like shine. It was magical. I met other writers from across the nation. This time, I can’t even count the ripples, and as Bruce said, I can’t even imagine what kind of affect they will have on the world. I felt blessed to have attended this year. My true writing voice is ready to ooze out of my fingertips onto the page. I hope to continue sending ripples outward, that all started with a tiny, stationary pebble.

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Category: Inspiration

3 thoughts on “Ripples…One Year Later”

  1. Anna Staniszewski says:
    August 8, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    I love this! This sounds a lot like my writing journey. Each year has made me a little more experienced and confident. It’s so great to look back and reflect.

    Reply
  2. Ruth Schiffmann says:
    August 8, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    Such an inspiring story. Sometimes it takes looking back to appreciate how far we’ve come. Continue enjoying the journey!

    Reply
  3. Mirka Breen says:
    August 8, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    Every action has reverberations. Lovely image, especially as the pebble throwing is often associated negatively. I like your rippling pond being an SCBWI coffee date… who knew.

    Reply

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About Christine

About Christine

Mother to two spirited tiny dancers, Christine Alemshah, is a lover of books filled with more pictures than words, dark chocolate, and karaoke.

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