Abbi Waxman

How did you become a writer?

I had always written, and was constitutionally incapable of much else.  I graduated from college with a degree in Anthropology (excellent degree for nosy people who want to stick their beaks into other people's motivations) and went into advertising. It seemed like a good choice: I spent all day writing, I could wear jeans and get drunk at lunchtime and no one cared if I swore like a long distance trucker. Perfect, really. I did that for many years, and I definitely recommend it as excellent training for any professional writer, because your work gets thrown away constantly, and you get very blasé about it. 

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

My mother was a murder mystery novelist, so she was my greatest influence, largely because I saw it being done every day. It seemed highly attainable, pleasant work, with very little risk of personal injury.

When and where do you write? 

Early mornings, in a coffee shop near my house. Ideally I go straight to work as soon as I wake up, but as I have three kids my work is often pre-empted by pretty much anything else.

What are you working on now? 

My fourth novel. I'm still in the honeymoon stage where it's going to be the greatest thing I've ever written, largely because I've barely started. It's all downhill from here.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Yes, of course. I try to think of it not as a block but as a self-imposed period of reflection. I clearly don't know what to write next, so my brain unplugs my hands so I don't type a load of shit I'll need to throw away later. Sometimes I push through and write a load of shit anyway, and sometimes that works and sometimes it just complicates matters. I find writers block usually means I'm trying to either do too much with the story or not enough, but don't quote me. It's painful, but it's not like I'm a child soldier in Rwanda, so I try to keep things in perspective. 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Wear layers. It's easy to get cold when you're sitting still.

What’s your advice to new writers?

You mean apart from wearing layers? Don't take yourself too seriously. Take the work seriously, take the time to do it everyday, but don't get all bent out of shape about being a struggling artist. If the pleasure doesn't outweigh the pain then stop, for goodness sake. Life is too short. Oh, and disconnect from the Internet; that bugger will distract the living daylights out of you.

Abbi Waxman is a writer who learned her craft writing the ultimate fiction: corporate advertising. After working for a variety of ad agencies in London and New York, she quit her paying job to raise three kids and write novels. One of those things turned out to be a lot easier than the other. She lives in Los Angeles with her daughters, three dogs, two cats, seven chickens and one very patient husband.

Deborah Hopkinson

How did you become a writer?

I’m a huge proponent of keeping your day job if you need to, but not giving up on the goal of writing full-time. My first picture book was published twenty-five years ago, but I’ve only been writing full time since 2014. Prior to that, I also worked in academic fundraising. I wrote a lotin my career—grants, speeches, press releases. All of it taught me a lot about being flexible and open to revision.  

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

I don’t usually read fiction when I’m writing fiction. And I’d have to say that my writing influences have come primarily from film. For my nonfiction, I try to pay attention to how story and context intersect. I love how Ken Burns zooms in on an individual, then backs up to provide context. And though I’ve read a ton of “craft” books, I always tend to return to Save the Catby Blake Snyder. That beat sheet has saved me several times.

When and where do you write? 

Years ago, I purchased a huge, handmade dining room table from a friend. Her ex-boyfriend had made it. Now it’s my desk. I sit under the 1970s-era dining room chandelier that was here when we purchased our house. But I can look out the back window at a bird feeder and our kitchen garden. Our two dogs keep me company. (They both appear in my forthcoming spy mystery for young readers.) My cat, Beatrix, is always creating havoc on my desk. She’s named for Beatrix Potter, about whom I wrote a picture book entitled Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig.

What are you working on now? 

I sometimes work on more than one thing at a time, since I write picture books, historical fiction for 8-14 year olds, and nonfiction for elementary and teen readers. I’ve written three longer nonfiction books on World War II, and am just finishing a fourth, which will come out in Spring 2020. It’s entitled Refugees and Survivors: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport. I have one more WWII book to go. When I’m not speaking to students in schools around the country, I’ll often work on picture books in the midst of long projects.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

I’m really not sure writer’s block is a real thing, at least for me. I slog through, no matter what. Sometimes I go off and take the dogs for a walk and let things jiggle around in my brain, and then I come back to the computer and slog through some more.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

My longtime editor Anne Schwartz once commented: “You have to want it more than sleep.” That’s especially true when you’re trying to write with young kids. 

What’s your advice to new writers?

Don’t listen to advice that doesn’t work for you. Not everyone can write every day, or set process and output goals (something that worked for me), or write before work, or all weekend long, or whatever. Each of us finds our own way to write. Find yours—and don’t give up.

Deborah Hopkinson has written more than fifty books for young readers, including picture books, middle grade historical fiction, and nonfiction. Her award-winning titles include Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, Sky Boys: How They Built the Empire State Building, Apples to Oregon, and Courage & Defiance: Stories of Spies, Saboteurs, and Survivors in WWII Denmark. Deborah’s new books include D-Day: The World War II Invasion that Changed History, Carter Reads the Newspaper, a picture book illustrated by Don Tate, and How I Became a Spy: A Mystery of WWII London. She lives near Portland, Oregon.

Ellen Hopkins

How did you become a writer?

I became a writer the day I learned how to put a decent sentence (or maybe an indecent sentence) down on paper. I've always been drawn to words and loved that I could share my dreams and nightmares, successes and failures, hope and despair, with others. I wrote when it didn't mean a paycheck, but found my way into writing as a career through freelance journalism, then nonfiction books, and finally fiction.

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

First was my mom, who read to me every day when I was very young, and had me reading chapter books before kindergarten. She loved classic lit and poetry, which is why verse speaks to me. I went to a private middle school and my 6th-8th grade English teacher, Mr. Mechling, gave us lots of interesting writing assignments and convinced me then I had a talent for words. As for authors, Stephen King, John Irving and Ken Kesey. They write very different things, but all use character to drive their stories forward. To me, character is everything.

When and where do you write?

Usually I write in my office, and I dive in as soon as the family is out the door for the day. On a good day, I write at least six hours (with too much social media distracting me). But I also write on the road. Hotel rooms are great because there are fewer distractions.

What are you working on now?

At the moment I'm revising the 2019 YA, SANCTUARY HIGHWAY. It's near future, and paints a not-quite-dystopian picture of the United States of America, which has been declared a Nation of Evangelical Whites. A group of young people must first escape the NEW hierarchy, then form an underground network to thwart it.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

Of course, though it's a temporary problem. I step away from my computer and do something physical--work in the garden or run with my dog. When I work my body, that creative space in my brain unlocks itself. Best alternative: the hot tub. Something about all those bubbles.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

To write the stories that scare me, without thought to censorship, either self-imposed, or from the outside. To write fearlessly and honestly.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Spend a lot of time on craft. Once, an editor might have seen a spark somewhere and taken the time to fan it into flames, regardless of story structure or pacing or even details like grammar. Those days are no longer. Not with so many excellent writers submitting. Don't shortchange yourself by sending off work that isn't your best.

Ellen Hopkins is a former journalist and the award-winning author of twenty nonfiction books for young readers, fourteen bestselling young adult novels, and four novels for adult readers. She lives near Carson City NV with her extended family, an exceptional German shepherd, a lazy rescue cat, and two ponds (not pounds) of koi.