Erika Wassall here… The Jersey Farm Scribe

Intimidating?  Yup.

Exciting?  Absolutely. 

Terrifying?  No question about it.

I’ve really taken the dive into my first full draft of my YA.  I’ve done plot layouts, walked my concepts through The Plot Whisperer breakdown, written character assessments, and spent lots of time with it rattling around inside my brain.

But… well… WORDS on PAPER?  Not so much.

So I dove!  And I quickly learned a few things about writing a YA draft that help me keep moving along, and I thought I’d share them with you as well.

No more putting it off!  Simple as this sounds, we have to write the manuscript before it can ever exist.  My guest post here on WritingandIllustrating.com goes over how I plan to do just that!

Guest post on Writing and Illustrating for Children on January 27th (part of an ongoing guest presence every other Wednesday)

Write what you know, right?

Well, yes, absolutely.  But don’t stop there!!!

This post talks about the different ways to expand your circle of knowledge, gain perspective on aspects of your writing that you might not natrually be an expert in.  It will add depth to your stories, the realities behind them… and hey, you might just learn something along the way.

Check out the full post here.  And I’d love to hear what you think!

Next in my series of posts on supporting characters is the side kick.  A common, not often overlooked character.  But are you using it to it’s fullest extent?  Some of the possibilities may surprise you.

Supporting Characters – The Side Kick

Ever had the main character take over your work-in-progress? Sometimes I find it useful to sit back and think about all the aspects different supporting characters bring to the table.

Over the next few posts, I’ll be discussing a few of my favorite supporting roles starting with the Comic Relief.

So come check out my post on Writing and Illustrating for Children…

Supporting Characters – Comic Relief

My post on Writing and illustrating for Children today is:

The Four Energetic Markers of Any Story.

In reading The Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson this has been one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned.  See how you can take four moments of your novel and give yourself a birds-eye-view of the ebb and flow of your story.

Here is my post on Writing and Illustrating for Children today. The work-for-hire journey had been an interesting one.

Exciting Frustration… ahh… the life of a writer!

I thought I’d update everyone on my upcoming book, and highlight a few things I learned about writing for the educational market.

Work For Hire Journey: A Bee Book Update.

Check out my post on Kathy’s website, Writing and Illustrating for Childred today, where I talk about a writing exercise I love to do when time is short.  It’s unique, creative and gets not only the pen writing, but the editorial and critique juices flowing too!

The 15-Minute 100-Word Challenge.

Try it!  Let me know what you think!

My post today on Writing and Illustrating for Children is about

Reading About the Craft

It’s something I did for while, year ago.  But in the incredibly long list of “things I’ve been meaning to do” it often doesn’t make the top.  This talks about how a book I happened to purchase a while ago totally changed my outlook.

My post on Writing and Illustrating for Children today is on:

Writing for a Diverse World.

Click the link to read my thoughts on what We Need Diverse Books really means, not only to authors, but to parents, agents and readers.

My next post on Kathy Temean’s Site Writing and Illustrating For Children is a commentary on all the amazing support I got when I told you about my setback in my new project.

It meant so much to me I had to write…

A Heart Felt Thank You.