Judy Blume’s Puzzle

Last year I was lucky enough to see Judy Blume speak. It was a truly inspiring talk for authors writing for any audience. This was especially true of her approach to first drafts. 

Judy Blume takes on first drafts like jigsaw puzzles. Instead of plotting everything out ahead of time or beginning on page one and writing through to the end, Blume begins by writing big blobs of the story. In these blobs, she captures specific details, unique character behaviors, and dramatic moments. Only once she has a bunch of these amorphous shapes in front of her does she start piecing them together. As she begins making connections between the pieces, she fills in the missing spots until the full picture starts to take shape.

With more than 25 novels written Judy’s approach has put together a lot of fantastic puzzles. I can’t wait to try the method myself.

We love learning. Wise Words seeks to present a tiny taste of what we’ve gleaned from great teachers. We hope you check out their websites to find future events where you can learn even more: 

Presenters: Judy Blume,  author of books for children and young adults

Host: SCBWI, Winter Conference 2020