I just got a set of questions from a 4th-grader who is an aspiring author. She sent this set of questions to my friend Shelley Tougas, who sent them on to Kirstin Cronn-Mills and me.
Here are the questions and my answers.
How did you get ideas?
From everywhere, and from everything. I keep a notebook with me ALL the time (a little one that will fit in my pocket or purse or backpack), and I write down weird things I see. I call these “crooked pictures.” Things that aren’t quite right in the world. Because, after all, nobody wants to read a story about a perfect life and perfect people. Nobody cares, there’s no problem to solve, and that’s not interesting. So things that go wrong make for good story ideas. I collect them all the time.
What do you do if you get stuck?
I haven’t been stuck for a long time. I don’t have enough time to write all the ideas I have in my head and in my notebooks. However, if I do get stuck—for instance, I don’t know one of my characters well enough to make him or her sound believable—I consult my notebook. What are some whacky ideas that might fit into this story? I also have a questionnaire about creating characters that I fill out if I’m stuck on what somebody in my story is really like. I will attach that for you. (I do workshops on creating characters, and I use this sheet).
What was the editing process like for you?
That’s the most fun. My agent in New York said, “Revise, revise, revise, and then the music comes out.” Revising takes what could be a good story and makes it into a story that anybody would like to read. We have to get rid of the stuff that slows the story down. We have to get rid of stuff we like a lot sometimes, but doesn’t belong in this particular story. Once I cut 80 pages of a story because it slowed the story down too much. It was a really, really fun scene, and it was one of the first parts of the book that I wrote, but it just did not belong there.
How long did it take you to write the book?
Oh, wow. The first draft of all my books I wrote in less than a year. However, revising and revising (one book twelve times; one book fifteen times) took several years. The fastest from beginning to completion was a short book, and that took four months. Medusa Tells All: Beauty Missing, Hair Hissing.
Did you start in a notebook or did you use a computer?
Both. For some books, I just start writing in the computer because I need my fingers to keep up with my brain. I always edit at least once on paper. I write down ideas for editing or adding in my notebook. Sometimes I write whole scenes in my notebook. I wrote Medusa on paper the first time. The others, I’ve only written parts on paper.
Tell me about the publishing process for your first book.
This is the longest answer, but it’s so different for everyone. My first novel isn’t published. That’s true for quite a few people I know, actually. I sent that novel out to about twelve places, and everybody rejected it. One editor said, “You write very well, and you have a great sense of teenagers, but your story is too much like others I’ve seen. If you write something more idiosyncratic, send it my way.” The first thing I did was look up “Idioysyncratic,” and then I started a new book. I finally found an agent for that book, and an agent will send your story to lots of publishing houses. About six months after I got an agent, he sold my book Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged to HarperCollins. My next novel, Chasing AllieCat, was sold by my agent, too, but he had to send it quite a few places before that happened. My other books (for younger kids) came from Capstone Publisher, and those editors asked me to write the books for publication.
Subscribe To Rebecca'sNewsletter
Join the mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from Rebecca.
You have Successfully Subscribed!