I used to tell my writing students that they must write the books they wished they could come upon - because then the books they hungered and thirsted for would exist.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I was always writing the books that I wanted to write, books that demanded to be written at the time. But, like most writers, you start off feeling your way.
I have written a book. This will come as quite a shock to some. They didn't think I could read, much less write.
The idea there were kids out there who didn't love to read and write just as much as I did struck me. So I went around schools and tried to make other kids love to read and write.
I think people become consumed with selling a book when they need to be consumed with writing it.
I became fascinated by the fact that people write to give away rather than write to be read. It's the difference between playwrights and novelists.
I come to writing the same way I come to teaching, which is that my goal is always to create life-long readers.
I always talk to my students about the need to write for the joy of writing. I try to sort of disaggregate the acclaim from the act of writing.
The conclusion I came to was that even if I couldn't sell books, I still liked the process of writing.
My mission as a writer is to give my readers hope to carry with them, and to promote a belief that they can do anything they set their minds to.
I always wanted to write for children. When I was growing up, we were really poor. My mother had left, and it was all a mess. So I lived in my head a lot, and I would get lots of books for Christmas - from librarians and teachers - and they just fed my imagination.
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