One of the things that I talk about in schools a lot is, where do writers get ideas? My presentation many times is called “What Makes a Writer?” Readers make writers, and writers are someone who keep looking, who listen.
I was recently in a school in Washington state, and after I left, the teacher told me that the 4th graders had all decided to go and do historical fiction based on buildings in their community. I think of a writer as someone who has their antenna up — you’re always looking for ideas for stories.
It might be something you see in the newspaper. It might be something you hear on the radio. It might be something you experience. I always keep my eyes and ears open that way. But what I choose to write about sometimes doesn’t always end up in a book.
That’s another thing that I think is important for young readers and young writers to know, that writers — it’s a process. I don’t magically have one idea and then it becomes a bestselling book. I have lots of rejections and I have lots of editors that help me make my work better.
I think it’s important for young readers to do that. I try to find stories where there’s a child protagonist — there’s something interesting that it might fit in with what teachers and librarians are studying in school. And also something that fascinates me because that’s what makes it fun to research.
A question I ask students a lot in classrooms is how do you do your research. It’s very interesting. It doesn’t really matter what grade it is or where I am in the country. People will say the computer, dictionaries, libraries. I have to really elicit an answer of seeing it, going someplace, and seeing with your own eyes. That’s something that I try to focus on.
