Let Your Inner Kid Out

So a couple of weeks ago, my baby brother had to write a persuasive paper and needed help.  My mom with her weird sense of humor assigned me the task.  I took one look at his paper and thought two things.  The first thing I noticed was that he didn't have an audience so after much debate on the subject we settled on President Trump.  The second thing I noticed was that he didn't have a clear thesis.  When I asked him about this, he just gave me a blank stare.  So I tried again and asked him what his point was.  After an even longer discussion, we finally neatened up his topic and knocked the paper out in record time.

This experience got me thinking of just how important it is to have an identified audience and point otherwise readers are like what the heck.

 So what's the point of my article?

Work with younger children on their writing because I kid you not it will help you with yours.

  Happy Writing.

How much violence is too much in YA?

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year - of course it is I'm writer.  Nonetheless, I really do love fall!!! But as October 31 fast approaches and I see all the Halloween decorations go up, I can't help but wonder how much gore is too much especially in YA.  Here are some of the best answers I could find:

1. Voice is key.

     Anything goes so long as it is written from a YA's point-of-view.


2. Keep your audience in mind.

    YA covers a wide range of readers from middle grade into adults.  Some readers will shy away
    from violence while others will embrace it.  This is one time I might recommend not too keep
    it too real.


3. Balance is also key.

    Bad things sometimes happen to people.  Our writing reflects the world thus bad things often
    happen to our characters.  Just remember to balance the bad with a strong positive message (but
    don't get pedantic about it). A simple bad things happen, but good will prevail can work wonders.


4.  If all else fails, just remember the old saying:  if in doubt, do without.


                                      Happy Haunting. . . just a little.