WORKOUT WRITING & DRAWING - by Erica S. Perl & Zara González Hoang - Zara Gonzalez Hoang
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WRITING & DRAWING WORKOUT by Erica S. Perl & Zara González Hoang
ABOUT / The Workout BEFORE WE BEGIN, SOME ADVICE...
This book was created for attendees of the HOW TO DRAW (IF YOU’RE MORE
OF A WRITER) AND WRITE (IF YOU’RE MORE OF A DRAW-ER) panel at Don’t erase. Don’t think. Repeat, repeat, REPEAT. Let it FLOW.
the SCBWI 50th Anniversary conference. We hope these exercises will jump start Don’t force It. Just show up on the page. Then see what happens.
your writing and drawing practice! Experiment. Use your fingers (or toes!). Make outside. Make upside
down. Use a new pen. Draw over something. Write in crayon. Write
If you have the ability to print on both sides of your paper, you can download a booklet
version of this workbook (which can be folded to create a 8.5x5.5” zine) at:
in code. Be daring. Be minimal. Be MAXIMAL. Get over yourself.
http://zaralikestodraw.com/scbwi/howtodrawhowtowrite-ep-zgh-scbwi-booklet.pdf Make something everyday. Use one color. Don’t use black. Use one
size. Start with a shape. Draw the same object over & over. Finish
Some of our favorite resources: a WHOLE notebook. Make your own doodle zine. Sit down and
http://zaralikestodraw.com/scbwi/SCBWI_big_50_handout_esp_zgh.pdf create at the same time every day for one week, then one month,
then one YEAR. Try drawing or writing first thing in the morning,
ABOUT / The Authors before your inner critic WAKES UP. Draw or write on a new theme
every week. Find a gimmick. Or a hook. Or a prompt. OR NOT.
Erica S. Perl is well-known as the award-winning author of more than Share your doodles (People are the best motivators!) Give yourself
thirty traditionally published picture books, early readers, chapter assignments. Use a pen (no pencil!) Don’t be so hard on yourself.
books, and novels. What is less well-known is that Erica is also an Don’t try to make it perfect. Use color! Give yourself a break (it’s
aspiring illustrator. In April, 2020, she launched an Instagram account
not the end of the world if you miss a day) Start where you are at.
dedicated to her pandemic journal in cartoons (@ESPscrawl). Erica
also co-wrote and illustrated a forthcoming middle grade novel with KEEP GOING. Even if you just have one minute or don’t even have
Alan Silberberg, and recently held her own in her first Illustrator one minute, use it. Then try to find another minute. Use white on
Smackdown (with Shanda McClosky and Jenin Mohammed). black. Use your left hand (or your right if you are a lefty!) Doodle
in 3D. Write something funny. Make something UGLY. Give yourself
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericaperl/ permission to be bad. IGNORE YOUR INNER CRITIC! (And the
https://www.instagram.com/espscrawl/
outer ones too!) Let things be wonky, crooked, funky, etc. RELAX.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericaperl
Web: http://www.ericaperl.com Write aimlessly. Doodle for meditation. Make space for creativity.
Make ONE small thing everyday. (That counts!) Doodle with a
buddy, or a beer (better yet, both!) Draw or write what you see
or hear or taste or touch. Draw the lyrics to your favorite song.
Zara González Hoang is an obsessive scribbler, daydreamer and Keep a sketchbook. Be spontaneous. Use both hands. Doodle with
doodler. A hopeless pantser with pictures AND words, she is a purpose, or with no purpose at all. Doodle in meetings. Doodle
perpetually changing things up to figure out the best way to get what’s
on the plane. Doodle on the couch (just not, like, literally ON the
in her brain out on paper. She is a fanatic about daily sketchbooking
and will talk your ear off about it if given a chance. Her debut book as couch). PLAY, EXPLORE, BUT MOST OF ALL, HAVE FUN!
an author and illustrator, A New Kind of Wild, was published by Dial
books in April 2020 and was a Spring IndieNext Pick. She is also the
DON’T STOP.
illustrator of Thread of Love (Beach Lane Books, 2018) and Mi Casa is
My Home. (Candlewick Press, 2021). There are no rules.
EMBRACE MISTAKES.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zarprey/
There is no right way.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zarprey
Web: http://zaralikestodraw.com/ Find YOUR WAY.
Then KEEP GOING.
WRITING / Taboo Poetry DRAWING / What Do You See?
Here are ten random things:
What do you see in the shapes below? Grab a pen or pencil and draw what you see.
Lemon, rabbit, ladybug, thunderstorm, roller skate, ice cream cone, toothbrush, cloud, For Extra Credit, grab a couple sheets of paper and a friend and draw shapes on your
bicycle, kangaroo papers. Then swap papers and turn each other’s shapes into whatever you imagine
them to be!
Pick one (or choose something else entirely!) and write the first three words that
come to mind to describe it. For example, for lemon, you might write: yellow, sour,
fruit
Okay, cool.
But here’s the thing: those three words are now taboo.
So your job is to write a poem about a lemon WITHOUT USING THOSE THREE
WORDS.
It doesn’t have to rhyme. It can be as short or as long as you want. It just has to convey
lemon-ness, so that a reader would understand what it was about without you telling
them.
Go!
WRITING / Consequences a.k.a. Exquisite Corpse DRAWING / Draw & Repeat
You may be familiar with the drawing version of the Victorian parlor game Exquisite Pick an object or creature* and draw it as many times in as many different ways as you
Corpse, but have you played the writing version? can think of. Vary the size, the shape, the color, anything you can think of. Try to do
at least twenty versions (use another sheet of paper if you run out of space!) When
This requires at least two people – ideally four or more. you’re done, look at each version you drew and pick out what you liked about it then
Each person starts with a piece of lined paper and a writing implement. draw twenty more versions using the bits that you liked.
At the top of the page, each person writes the name of a famous person or fictional
character. Then, without showing the others, each person folds down the top of their
paper to hide what they wrote. Everyone then passes to the left, and DOESN’T
open it or even peek. Instead, they write the word “met” and then write the name of
another famous person or fictional character. They fold again (each time, folding the
paper forward toward themselves) to hide what they wrote and pass left again. They
continue this sequence of write-fold-pass for these prompts:
At ____________________ (write the word “at” and insert a place or location)
(The first person) said __________________ (write this and add a line of dialogue)
(The second person) said _______________ (write this and add a line of dialogue)
So they ______________________________ (write this and write a line of past-tense action)
Until ________________________________ (write this and add an intervening incident)
In the end, ___________________________ (write this and add a conclusion)
Then, you pass one last time, unroll the paper and read the hilarious stories you’ve
collaboratively created.
*If you are not sure what to draw, flip ahead to the “100 Things” exercise and do that,
then pick something off the list to use for this exercise.
WRITING / Pen Pals DRAWING / Making Faces Chose two inanimate objects and write a letter from one to the other. Then, write a letter of response. Continue as a story emerges. Is the toaster in love with the Draw faces in each of the circles below. Can you make them all different? Try blender? Is the blender flattered, but too preoccupied with dreams of joining the making the each element bigger, smaller, farther apart or closer together. Each small circus? Is the toaster encouraging, because life is too short to stay in one place, change can make a big difference in how the face looks! Study what you’ve done and tethered to the wall by a cord? See how many letters you can write, and notice how remember the ones you like! Got more ideas? Grab another sheet and keep going! the personalities emerge through the distinct voices.
WRITING / Give Me Ten DRAWING / Drawing What You See
Make a list of ten of your favorite foods. The more you draw from life, the easier it is for your eye to break down the world
1. 5. 9. around you into shapes that you can simplify and stylize. For this exercise, take 30
minutes and draw the space around you. You can draw the whole environment or focus
2. 6. 10.
in on just the little details, whatever excites you. The space doesn’t have to be that
3. 7. interesting, in fact, sometimes the more “boring” the better because when you start
4. 8. paying attention to all the tiny details of a place, you start notice that things are a lot
more interesting that you initially thought (like the label on the can you store your
Pick one – let’s say it’s potato chips – and make a list of ten varieties. pencils in, or the random gum wrapper you didn’t notice on the floor, or the way the
1. 5. 9. hair curls on the back of your dog). Try to do this exercise every day for a week or a
month – you’ll be amazed at home much better you are at “seeing and stylizing” after
2. 6. 10.
a bit of practice!
3. 7.
4. 8.
Now pick one variety and write ten words describing what makes them so delicious:
Now make a list of ten of your favorite animals.
1. 5. 9.
2. 6. 10.
3. 7.
4. 8.
Pick one – let’s say it’s dogs – and make a list of ten specific dogs you’ve loved (dogs
in books and movies count, of course).
1. 5. 9.
2. 6. 10.
3. 7.
4. 8.
Now pick one dog and describe what makes it so special using ten words:
Keep going.
How about ten of your favorite places? Or ten of your closest friends? Or ten people
you despise, for that matter?
Each time, go wide (gather ten examples), then go deep (use ten words to describe
your feelings for just this one).
WRITING / Fortunately… Unfortunately DRAWING / How to Draw...Anything
Start with something great: a birthday present, beautifully wrapped with fancy paper This is a great exercise for simplifying/stylizing anything into “your style” (whatever
and a hung bow. Write about unwrapping it and discovering something not so great that may be.) First, grab some reference photos (like a fox or a koala, or someone
inside (like a smelly old sock). famous like Cher) and draw using the reference – you want to make as many drawings
as you can at this point, so spend a bit of time here. Try to memorize the thing you are
drawing through your drawings.
Once you’ve drawn from your reference for awhile, put it away and draw only from
the drawings you made from the reference.
Then, put away all of your drawings and draw from the object from memory.
At the end of this exercise you should have a recognizable fox (or koala or Cher), but
done in your own personal way, highlighting the bits that you found most interesting
and important.
Now try to write why this is actually a wonderful thing (perhaps you’re going to a
Stinky Things convention and somebody ate the limburger cheese you were planning
to bring?).
And now add a new terrible thing (maybe even though your sock is by far the stinkiest,
the judges all have colds and can’t smell anything).
Keep going! See how many times you can go from wonderful to terrible and back
again before wrapping up the story on a great (or awful) note.WRITING & DRAWING / 100 Things
39. ____________________________________ 59. ____________________________________
Make a list of 100 things you are interested in. Try to be as specific as possible, ie.
persian cats vs. cats or fedoras vs. hats. 40. ____________________________________ 60. ____________________________________
1. ______________________________________ 20. ____________________________________ 41. _____________________________________ 61. _____________________________________
2. _____________________________________ 21. _____________________________________ 42. ____________________________________ 62. ____________________________________
3. _____________________________________ 22. ____________________________________ 43. ____________________________________ 63. ____________________________________
4. _____________________________________ 23. ____________________________________ 44. ____________________________________ 64. ____________________________________
5. _____________________________________ 24. ____________________________________ 45. ____________________________________ 65. ____________________________________
6. _____________________________________ 25. ____________________________________ 46. ____________________________________ 66. ____________________________________
7. _____________________________________ 26. ____________________________________ 47. ____________________________________ 67. ____________________________________
8. _____________________________________ 27. ____________________________________ 48. ____________________________________ 68. ____________________________________
9. _____________________________________ 28. ____________________________________ 49. ____________________________________ 69. ____________________________________
10. ____________________________________ 29. ____________________________________ 50. ____________________________________ 70. ____________________________________
11. _____________________________________ 30. ____________________________________ 51. _____________________________________ 71. _____________________________________
12. ____________________________________ 31. _____________________________________ 52. ____________________________________ 72. ____________________________________
13. ____________________________________ 32. ____________________________________ 53. ____________________________________ 73. ____________________________________
14. ____________________________________ 33. ____________________________________ 54. ____________________________________ 74. ____________________________________
15. ____________________________________ 34. ____________________________________ 54. ____________________________________ 75. ____________________________________
16. ____________________________________ 35. ____________________________________ 55. ____________________________________ 76. ____________________________________
17. ____________________________________ 36. ____________________________________ 56. ____________________________________ 77. ____________________________________
18. ____________________________________ 37. ____________________________________ 57. ____________________________________ 78. ____________________________________
19. ____________________________________ 38. ____________________________________ 58. ____________________________________ 79. ____________________________________WRITING & DRAWING / 100 Things Con’t WRITING & DRAWING / Random Idea Prompt
CHOOSE 3 NUMBERS (1-30)
80. ____________________________________ 91. _____________________________________
81. _____________________________________ 92. ____________________________________ A B C
82. _____________________________________ 93. ____________________________________ NOW FLIP THE PAGE OVER AND USE THE NUMBERS
TO DETERMINE YOUR CHARACTER
83. _____________________________________ 94. ____________________________________
YOUR CHARACTER:
84. _____________________________________ 95. ____________________________________
.
85. _____________________________________ 96. ____________________________________ A B C
86. _____________________________________ 97. ____________________________________
87. _____________________________________ 98. ____________________________________
88. _____________________________________ 99. ____________________________________
89. _____________________________________ 100. ___________________________________
90. ____________________________________
Now that you have a list of 100 things you like, you will never have creative block! Can’t
figure out what to draw? Pick something from your list, can’t figure out what to write
about? Pick something from the list!WRITING & DRAWING / Random Idea Prompt Con’t THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK FOR DOODLING!
Choose one item from each column, then draw it! When you’re done, write a story
starring the character you created! Now do it again but this time, write the story first,
then illustrate it.
COLUMN A COLUMN B COLUMN C
1. Hairy 1. Dog 1. Dancing
2. Sad 2. Unicorn 2. Roaring
3. Scared 3. Dragon 3. Jumping
4. Angry 4. Robot 4. Flying
5. Happy 5. Octopus 5. Eating
6. Polka-Dotted 6. Elf 6. Sleeping
7. Fat 7. Car 7. Marching
8. Thin 8. Plane 8. Kicking
9. Itchy 9. Elephant 9. Talking
10. Jittery 10. Toast 10. Painting
11. Dizzy 11. Apple 11. Reading
12. Sparkling 12. Plant 12. Throwing
13. Tired 13. Cat 13. Sitting
14. Grumpy 14. Sandwich 14. Laying
15. Wide-Eyed 15. Vampire 15. Cooking
16. Fancy 16. Squirrel 16. Playing
17. Old-Fashioned 17. Skeleton 17. Swimming
18. Clean 18. Flower 18. Falling
19. Bewildered 19. Caterpillar 19. Building
20. Monochromatic 20. Walrus 20. Running
21. Scrawny 21. Potato 21. Climbing
22. Nervous 22. Pillow 22. Swinging
23. Unkempt 23. Bat 23. Driving
24. Glamorous 24. Snake 24. Drawing
25. Fierce 25. Beaver 25. Pushing
26. Dapper 26. Cloud 26. Lifting
27. Scary 27. Boat 27. Laughing
28. Mysterious 28. Tree 28. Crying
29. Elegant 29. Book 29. Knitting
30. Smelly 30. Sword 30. Celebrating
FOR MORE IDEAS VISIT WHATSHOULDIDRAWNEXT.COM© 2021 ZARA GONZÁLEZ HOANG & ERICA S. PERL
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