Avi’s 2024 Summer Blog Series
Gordon Korman
From Avi: As I did in the summer of 2023 and the summer of 2022, I’ve invited 13 admired middle grade authors to write for my blog for the next three months. I hope you’ll tune in each Tuesday to see who has answered these two questions we’re frequently asked by readers. You should have a list of terrific books to read and share by the end of the summer … along with new authors to follow!
Where did you get your idea for a specific book of yours?
Let me say this first: I’m not a criminal. I don’t have a dishonest bone in my body. I speak up when a friend hands me an extra two dollars change in a game of Monopoly. But I got the idea for Faker when I started wondering: What happens when fate forces ordinary people to break the law? How would it feel to be an honest kid in a crooked world? Trey, the main character, has always known what his father’s job is: Professional con artist. But as he gets older, he comes to realize that he’s Dad’s main partner in crime. All writers have to be a little cruel to their characters – that’s what makes a story interesting. I put Trey in an impossible bind. He knows his father’s business is wrong, but how can he go against it without destroying him, maybe even landing him in prison? How do you get you family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?
If you had one piece of advice to give to a young would-be writer, what would it be?
My advice would be to start thinking of full stories, rather than just ideas. An idea can be anything; a story has a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning is the starting point, but where are you planning to go from there? Is there a goal, a journey, a problem to solve, or a conflict that needs resolution? You don’t have to know the exact ending, but you want a sense of where the plot is heading. And once you have that, try to come up with two or three big scenes or moments that can happen along the way. At least that’s what works for me. Kids tell me things like, “Oh, I’m too lazy to make an outline,” but I think the opposite is true: I make outlines because I’m lazy. Planning your story will save you far more work — and heartache — in the long run.
1 thought on “Summer Blog Series: Gordon Korman”
Another great blog post! Teachers have a substantial resource here to promote books and writing tips. A+++