I think I'm way too much of a control freak to co-author anything with anyone. I have a hard enough time writing with myself! I admire people that can do it, but it's not for me.
I think the most important thing is just to write. It sounds so simple, but sometimes it's not. You can get so distracted - -by having to work other jobs, or what other people have to say about your writing - -but the one thing that really matters is that you just keep going, especially when you're working on a novel. It's so easy to get discouraged and give up.
I write thank-you notes the minute I throw the wrapping paper away.
I am never happy when I finish a book. I always start feeling good, and then I get to about Page 75 and start losing momentum - and I kind of pull it together at the end, but by then I think it's just all over. It's become almost a running joke among my agent and my editor - I always say that, so they don't take me seriously anymore.
Each time, I think I'm never going to write another book. It never gets easier.
Writing a novel is like childbirth: once you realize how awful it really is, you never want to do it again.
I love YA, and it's been a really good fit for me. But at some point, I would like to try something else: a collection of short stories, or writing about something other than high school. A lot has happened to me since I was eighteen.
I just can't ever be a free spirit and just relax. When it comes to work, this is good. I'm very disciplined, which with writing is often half the battle, or more. But it also means that if I want to, say, play hooky and chocolate and watch Bravo all afternoon, I feel horribly guilty. I wish I could find a nice balance.
I think having a good agent is key. I've been with mine for ten years now, and she's very honest with me. There are a lot of times I've sent her books that were not so good because I was tired of writing, or panicked about money, and she's told me flat out, "You don't want this to be your next book. Trust me."
I don't talk about my books while I'm writing them: not even my husband knows what a novel's about until it's done.
I used to worry I was entirely uninteresting, but the truth is I think if my life was more exciting I'd never have any time to write.
I just have to be super strong when it comes to my work time. Shut the browser, ignore the email alerts, and just WRITE.
I've found in my own life that if my writing isn't going well, not much else will. It is the one constant, the key to everything else.
Teaching was great for me, because I got to show people how writing can really change the way you see not only yourself but the world.
I think I'm too lazy a writer to do something like historical fiction. You have to do so much research. I just write what I know.
I never really know what I'm going to write next until it comes to me. So we'll just have to see what happens.
I'm just writing what I know. I've never been much of a reader of fantasy, and I think you write what you, personally, enjoy reading.
Usually when I finish the draft of a book, I'm sure I'll never write another one. I'm just that tired and sick of myself. But then another idea starts percolating. It usually begins with the narrator's name, then some idea that intrigues me about her life or situation. I try to ignore it as long as I can, because I know when I start writing, I'll be right back into it, every single day. But eventually, I just have to. It's a compulsion!
In school, writing was the only thing that really came naturally to me, but it wasn't until college that I realized that I could do it for more than just fun.
Some writers pick a topic and write around that, but I like to include it all.
I was actually pretty miserable in high school. I couldn't wait for it to be over. And when it finally was, I remember sitting at graduation with all these classmates getting nostalgic and emotional already and all I could think was, "Get me out of here. I never want to see you people again." So it's ironic that I spend half my day putting myself back there by choice [while writing].
I honestly don't have many creative outlets. I'm not crafty - although motherhood has forced me to try to be - and I can only draw trees, beaches, and clouds. I'm a so-so cook except for deviled eggs. Writing has always been the one thing I feel that I am pretty good at doing. But it's enough, thank goodness.
