Judy Blume needs no introduction. The author of your all-time favorite childhood novels (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Deenie, etc.) turns 80 today. It’s almost hard to believe, but this woman has been improving kids’ lives for over fifty years, folks. So in honor of her long, prolific, and undeniably influential career, I’ve collected some of her best writing advice—equally applicable to those who want to write books for young people or adults—below. Happiest of birthdays, Judy Blume—and thanks.
“Read your work aloud! This is the best advice I can give. When you read aloud you find out how much can be cut, how much is unnecessary. You hear how the story flows. And nothing teaches you as much about writing dialogue as listening to it.”
“When you’re writing, you’ve got to knock the critic off this shoulder, knock the censor off this shoulder, and all those voices in your head—telling you that you suck, and nobody’s going to read what you’re writing, nobody’s going to buy it or publish it—you have to leave them outside the workspace, and get rid of them.”
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