The first day of spring

This morning I was all set to go to a regional book conference with a friend. She and I both enjoy reading and writing, so that was the plan for this first day of spring. We were looking forward to just spending the day together, talking, enjoying the drive, the springy weather and all the things we would absorb from the seminars. However, things don't always go the way we think they will go. Our plans changed due to an emergency in her family. So at 7:30ish this morning I found myself wondering who to call so early on a Saturday morning to go with me or I could go with me, myself and I. It is more fun to spend the day with a friend especially when going to something that we both would love to do. Most of my other friends aren't interested in learning to write short stories, novels or memoirs and I wouldn't have any friends if I called them at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. Then a lightbulb from God came on in my head.... "A" would love to go. After making that terribly early phone call and finding out that "A" could go, I thought, "Thanks God for Your Hand in this that You put in motion before our change in plans."

"A" and I both chatted and enjoyed the scenic drive. We learned much from the experts in the writing field. We learned that a picture book should never have more than 800 words tops. Well,of course, that makes sense. However we writer types can get wordy, so just remember a picture is worth a thousand words and be word skimpy.
We also learned to grab the reader with a great opening sentence. That sentence doesn't need to be steamy, raw or over the top, just a really big BANG!
It's also best to write in the present tense so that the reader can feel a part of the story. Go easy on the adverbs and adjectives. Finally, if you are looking to get that manuscript published, don't give the editor a reason to stop reading.
On a personal note, remember that the experts who are critiquing your work are giving you their opinions, so keep writing and don't get discouraged if you get rejected.

That's about all that I learned today on this first day of spring, except for one more thing.... Don't speed:)