Quote

It feels presumptuous to think of writing for adults.

I know I'm writing better now than I ever did for adults because I'm writing for an audience who know that they don't know everything.

Anyone who says that writing for children or teens is easier than writing for adults has never tried it, because they are so much more critical than adults. You cannot get anything past them.

Young readers are the most challenging, demanding, and rewarding of audiences. Adults often ask why I write for the younger set. My reply: 'I can't think of anyone I'd rather write for.'

I've been criticised for writing in too complex a manner for younger people.

Writing for adults and writing for young people is really not that different. As a reporter, I have always tried to write as clearly and simply as possible. I like clean, unadorned writing. So writing for a younger audience was largely an exercise in making my prose even more clear and direct, and in avoiding complicated digressions.

Kids are naturally inventive and curious and creative, but most adults have had that beaten out of them. Writing is a form of play; you have to get rid of all those internal censors that we adults have, the things that say, 'Don't go there, that's not allowed.'

I love writing for young adults because they are such a wonderful audience, they are good readers, and they care about the books they read.

I write with teenagers in mind.

At this stage I am not involved with young adults as closely as many other writers. My children are grown up and my grandchildren are still quite young.