This summer, I invited twelve successful writers to comment on one of their recent books and to give some advice about writing. For you teachers and librarians and new writers there is enough wealth of insights and ideas to suggest a re-reading. And using.
I come from a huge family. Eleven, plus my grandfather. So whenever we would get together to trade stories, there were usually twelve sides to every story.
The general idea to do a funny book came to me during a writer’s workshop. The writers in the room wanted to know my answer to the question, “What kinds of books need to be published nowadays? What should we be writing?”
Let me say this first: I’m not a criminal. I don’t have a dishonest bone in my body. But I got the idea for Faker when I started wondering: What happens when fate forces ordinary people to break the law?
Here’s a little secret. I love to write, but it’s not always easy. Sometimes writing a book feels like an impossible task. When that happens, I stop using the “w” word entirely.
You might, or might not, love words. And you might, or might not, know it. Words that are delicious alone. Words that fit together like a puzzle. Words that say something to soothe your heart or make you think or make you laugh out loud.
“One of the most common questions I get in school visits is, ‘How long does it take to write a book?’ … I think the truest answer is that the time it takes to write a story is how old you were when you finished writing it.”
Ideas are like Legos. One is just a plastic block but put many together, and you have a castle or a ship — or a story.
I thought that by writing about a day that is stressful and overwhelming, I would help some readers see themselves in this book and I would help others understand what being overwhelmed feels like.
People often say you should “write what you know.” Yeah, maybe. I think it’s more important to focus on something that fascinates you, something that really fires your curiosity.