My parents were avid readers. Both had ambitions to write that had been abandoned early in life in order to get on with life.
From Rodman Philbrick
So long as you tell a story that falls within the fairly generous boundaries of the suspense novel, you're free to make the novel as good as you can. You're allowed to challenge the reader. You can experiment with voice and style.
I assumed 'Freak the Mighty' was probably too weird and melodramatic to find a publisher. I certainly never expected the book to have a profound influence on my career as a writer, but indeed it has.
You can't mess around with young readers - you have to cut straight to the heart of the story. The character can be complex, the plot can have some surprises, but the emotions have to be clear.
What surprised me most about the Donner tragedy was that, given the terrible circumstances, how anyone survived at all.
There is no greater compliment for a writer than to have pleased a troubled child.
As a young, ambitious novelist, writing for kids never crossed my mind.
Soon after publishing a book for kids, my mailbox began to fill with letters from children all across America. Not because my novels for young readers are bestsellers - they're not by a long shot - but because today's kids love to write to authors.
I was never forced to write. At least, I was never forced or even encouraged to write fiction. Creative writing wasn't in the curriculum at my school when I was in sixth grade.
I've always known that writing plays is very difficult, because I've written three or four that have never been produced.
2 perspectives
1 perspectives